Britain's largest funeral provider reports 80% decline in religious funerals since 2011

There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3:18

The figures quoted in the following article don't surprise me, but this blogger is surprised by the fact that the decline has occurred in such a short time; eight years is not a long time. The collapse of societies once nominally regarded as Christian is accelerating; as reported by Gabriella Swerling of the London Daily Telegraph, August 29, 2019 (link in original):

An all-black dress code, pallbearers marching in unison, and a steady stream of tears are not often associated with golf courses, zoos and Chinese takeaways.

Yet according to the most extensive ever report on UK funeral trends which, the religious funeral is dying a death.

Instead of services in crematoriums, churches and cemeteries, Britons are instead opting for increasingly quirky ways to mourn their loved ones.

The Co-op, the UK’s largest national funeral provider which conducts more than 100,000 every year, has today published a report revealing that since 2011 there has been a 80 per cent decline in religious funerals.

Eight-years-ago 67 per cent of people requested traditional religious services and just 12 per cent were non-religious. However by 2018, just 13 per cent wanted a religious funeral.

Undertakers have reported a “staggering shift” towards unique, secular ceremonies. Among the more niche requests, there have been milk floats, canal boats, converted steam trains and quad bikes being turned into hearses.

The location of funerals has also provided opportunities for the more imaginative mourners. Zoos, buses, a cattle auction house, next to the 18th hole on a golf course - and even a McDonald’s Drive Thru - have hosted processions for the deceased. A total of 77 per cent of Co-op’s employees have had requests for funerals to be held outside of traditional religious settings.

Among the 4,000 people surveyed for the report, researchers have found that tributes to loved ones have even extended to creative ways of immortalising or memorialising their ashes; some mourners opt to place them inside the furnace of a steam train, create a tattoo or scatter them during a skydive, while others choose to keep them inside a rucksack so they can take them everywhere they go.

Funeral directors also reported that 22 per cent of people have already decided what they want inside their coffins. Among the more unusual requests are Chinese takeaways, a false leg, a moble phone, a Wizard of Oz costume, a broomstick and an Argos catalogue.

The report, entitled Burying Traditions: The Changing Face of UK Funerals, revealed that experts noted that this “shift” towards more unique funerals was because “people feel more able to act on their loved ones’ personal wishes than they would have previously” as the nation becomes increasingly secular.

In July The Telegraph reported that atheism was on the rise in the UK as Christianity is suffering a “dramatic decline”.

According to the National Centre for Social Research, the number of people who define themselves as "confident atheists", rose from 10 per cent in 1998 to 18 per cent in 2008 and hit its record high of 26 per cent in 2018.

Teddy Prout, director of community services at the charity, Humanists UK, said that the trend for bespoke, personalised funerals “is reflective of the huge societal shift of more people identifying as non-religious than ever before and with that, perhaps, comes more open attitudes towards death”.

In the last five years, the report found that requests for traditional pallbearers to carry coffins has dropped from 91 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent in 2019. Furthermore, requests to arrange obituaries have declined by over a third (37%) and asks for traditional limousines have declined by a sixth (16%).

Samantha Tyrer, managing director of Co-op Funeralcare, said: "The funeral sector is rapidly changing. Whilst 16.5 million of us still feel uncomfortable talking about death, we're clear on what we want and, in the majority of cases, it's no longer a traditional funeral service.

"Our funerals represent the unique life an individual has lived. More so now than ever before, we're seeing requests for wonderfully personalised ceremonies, whether that be on the 18th hole of a golf club, or having a pet dog present on the day. The choices are endless."