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Next are brief profiles of celebrants (in alphabetical order) who participated in this study and whose contributions are explicitly featured in this thesis. As I explained in Chapter Two, many celebrants participated, and I am immensely grateful to all who contributed generously to this study. Regretfully I am unable to include everything from everyone.

Pinky Agnew

Pinky Agnew is a Wellington-based registered marriage and civil union celebrant who began working as a celebrant in 1996. A member of both the Celebrants

Association and the Celebrants Guild (North Island), she contacted me in response to articles I placed in these organisations‟ newsletters. I had become aware of Pinky‟s involvement in the field from other celebrants who had suggested that I make contact with her, but she contacted me first. I recorded two oral history interviews with her, in August and October 2006, at her home in Central Wellington. Pinky is a self- employed entrepreneur. She is Pakeha, in her early fifties, and describes herself as a business woman: an entertainer, performer, actor, comedienne, and celebrant. Her background includes working as an organiser for a trade union and she has also trained in journalism. In addition to the hundreds of weddings she has solemnised, Pinky also does a wide range of other ceremonies including commitments, funerals, namings, and civil unions. She has published two books of readings: Heartsongs: Readings for Weddings (2004) and Lifesongs: Readings for Milestones (2006).

Marian Barnes

Marian Barnes is acknowledged as the first secular funeral celebrant in New Zealand. Having contacted Marian and invited her to take part in the study, I travelled to Ngunguru in Northland to record an oral history interview with her in 2006. In 1979, when she was fifty, Marian set out to establish an acceptable and readily available non-religious funeral alternative in Auckland. Earlier, she had worked as a registered

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nurse. She is Pakeha and describes herself as an atheist and a humanist. Marian worked as an Auckland-based celebrant for eleven years, from 1979 until her retirement in 1990. She became involved in other aspects of celebrant work, too: marriages and naming ceremonies. Couples devised their own ceremonies for those occasions, whilst Marian provided support and resources. Although these areas were not the main focus of her celebrant work, they were ones which, she says, gave her status and respectability. Marian‟s priority was funerals and she was always aware that plenty of other people were available to perform the other ceremonies.

Marian set up the first training course for funeral celebrants. She was also

instrumental in setting up a national association of secular funeral celebrants, which published a newsletter for members, Lifetimes. Marian wrote a booklet about funeral work, Funeral for a Friend (1987), then later Down to Earth: The Changing Funeral Needs of a Changing Society (1991). She was keynote speaker at CANZ 2001

conference. Retired and no longer an active member of celebrant professional bodies, Marian continues to write on celebrancy. Her most recent publication, God or

Godswallop (2003), includes perspectives on the potential roles of „religiously neutral‟ celebrants in contemporary society. Marian was most surprised when I told her the proportion of marriages officiated by celebrants, how many civil celebrants are understood to practice now, and how extensive the memberships of the

professional bodies had become.

Rhys Bean

Rhys Bean is a member of CGNI and responded to publicity about my study in the CGNI newsletter in mid 2005, offering to take part. Rhys has been a funeral

celebrant since 1990, and believes herself to be one of the longest serving celebrants in New Zealand working exclusively in funeral celebrancy. She became involved in funeral work at the invitation of a funeral director in South Auckland when Marian Barnes retired in 1990. She works almost full time as a celebrant across the Auckland region. Rhys is in her mid fifties, a New Zealander of European descent. Her

previous primary occupation was as a radiographer. She continues to work one day a week in radiography. Rhys comes from an Anglican tradition and at times has been deeply involved in the Anglican Church, serving on the vestry at her local church and as Synod representative for the Diocese of Auckland as well as being elected to the

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General Synod. Later she moved away from her strong church affiliation and

described the circumstances surrounding this in our interview. She has been involved in a bereaved parents‟ group and talked about her knowledge and interest in how people grieve and the processes which happen in communities when people are coping with death. Rhys includes the Presbyterian Church and the National

Association of Loss and Grief (NALAG) among the places where she has obtained knowledge and resources relevant to her celebrant work. I travelled to Rhys‟ home in South Auckland to meet her and record an oral history interview (my first in this study) in October 2005.

Julia Cameron

Julia was President of CGNI when I interviewed her in Auckland in November 2005. She trained in Celebrant Studies in 2000, registered as a marriage celebrant shortly afterwards, and subsequently gained considerable experience across a range of ceremonies including marriages, funerals, baby namings, and reaffirmation

ceremonies. Julia‟s recent professional background prior to entering celebrant work was in radio, advertising, and 16 years in television production. Earlier she had been a school dental nurse. Julia is New Zealand European in her mid fifties.

Lynne Ewart

At the Celebrants Association of New Zealand conference in 2003 Lynne spoke about children and grief and ways celebrants can encourage greater involvement of children in funeral services. This was when I first became aware of Lynne‟s work as a celebrant. I approached Lynne and invited her to record an interview and take part in this study.

Lynne is another New Zealand European in her fifties, who lives in Wellington. In addition to directing and officiating at funerals, Lynne performs some weddings. She has been a registered marriage celebrant since 2001 and registered civil union

celebrant since 2005. Lynne‟s background is social work and bereavement

counselling, specialising in working with children. Her role just prior to becoming a funeral director and celebrant was managing the Counselling, Social Work, and Spiritual Care Service at Mary Potter Hospice. She is a former president and lifetime member of the National Association of Loss and Grief (NALAG) and was

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instrumental in establishing Skylight (previously the Children‟s Grief Centre), which provides support and counselling services for grieving children. While establishing new services, Lynne undertook considerable public speaking and fundraising work, the former being particularly useful as preparation for the role of funeral celebrant. Also, at Mary Potter Hospice, part of her spiritual care role over a five-year period involved running five or six remembrance services a year. In 1999 she took on the joint role of funeral director and funeral celebrant in a full-time paid employment capacity for a funeral directing company. In her first year there she also became involved in the Old St Paul‟s Annual Service of Remembrance, which around 500 people attend. Despite her initial nervousness about putting together the ceremonies and standing up and speaking in front of people, Lynne discovered that celebrancy was her passion. She chose the role of celebrant over that of funeral director when this opportunity arose with clients of her company. Lynne is a member of the Celebrants Association of New Zealand (CANZ), and a past-president of its Wellington branch.

Barbara Goodman

Dame Barbara Goodman became registered as a marriage celebrant in the early 1990s. She is European, in her mid seventies, and lives in Central Auckland. For 12 years she was Mayoress of Auckland. She was an elected to the Auckland City Council, and involved in several community and charitable organisations, including NZ Breast Cancer Foundation, Odyssey House, and the Rationalists and Humanists Society. Dame Barbara describes herself as a Jewish atheist. She is a member of CGNI. Barbara approached me after publicity about the study, offering to take part. I travelled to Auckland to record an oral history interview with her in August 2006.

Mary Hancock

Mary taught me how to be a celebrant. I met her when I enrolled in the AUT Certificate Course in Celebrant Studies in 1999. She has supported and encouraged me in my studies, and agreed to participate when invited to record an oral history interview in November 2005. Mary began her formal work as a celebrant around 1990. Her tertiary training prior to celebrant work was in teaching, education, and research. She has a master‟s degree in education and a diploma in teaching. For around ten years of her adult life, she was informally involved in ritual-making:

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marking seasonal celebrations and exploring ritual in the context of expressing and celebrating women‟s spirituality. There was a strong spiritual tradition in her family when she was growing up, too, as her father was a Methodist lay preacher for 65 years.

When Mary attended a funeral officiated by Marian Barnes, she realised that she wanted to do the same work, and that she had the relevant skills. She contacted Marian and asked if she could apprentice herself to her. Marian agreed, and Mary embarked on funeral work. Later she took other ceremonies, such as baby blessings and weddings, for families for whom she had previously led funerals. She became registered as a marriage celebrant around 1990. Increasingly she has become involved in leading ceremonies for a wide range of rites of passage including ceremonies marking first menstruation, menopause, eldership, retirement, house blessing, house cleansing, separations, divorces, re-partnering, as well as gay and lesbian coming-out ceremonies.

Mary lives in West Auckland, is Pakeha, and in her mid fifties. She is self-employed, working full time in celebrant work, both as celebrant and celebrant lecturer. She has a Graduate Diploma in Celebrancy from a tertiary celebrant training organisation in Australia. Mary is the founder of tertiary-level celebrant training in New Zealand, having developed and taught the Certificate Course in Celebrant Studies at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) which was offered from 1996 until 2008. She is now the director of her private celebrant training establishment, The Celebrant School. Mary is a foundation member of CANZ and an executive foundational member at the International Federation of Celebrants.

Bill Logan

Bill is celebrant and counsellor in Wellington. I knew Bill from training sessions he had run at the CANZ 2003 conference in Wellington. This training focused on funerals for people who had suicided. I also had met him at other funeral training workshops he ran for the Wellington Branch of CANZ, to which we both belong. I developed an admiration and respect for Bill, and when I was starting out in celebrant work I sought his advice, particularly in relation to funeral work. I discussed my ideas for this study with him, as a way of identifying and working

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through its implications for my professional peers. Bill is Pakeha, in his late fifties. He is an atheist. He began conducting funerals in the early 1990s. His entry into the work was gradual. He had a public role in homosexual law reform and other political activism in the mid 1980s. Prior to that, he taught politics at university. Bill was confident in the public speaking and performance part of funeral work. He had also done some training around grief and bereavement counselling and was involved in supporting people dying of AIDS and had other roles in the gay community. Bill became involved in leading the funerals of people who had died from AIDS and, with the support, encouragement, and training of a number of funeral directors and celebrants (notably Rod Murphy), Bill‟s funeral celebrant work increased. For several years he was doing one funeral a day. He continues to work as a celebrant, performing funerals and marriages, as well as civil unions, name-givings, memorial ceremonies, divorce ceremonies, dedication ceremonies, and unveiling ceremonies. He also works as a counsellor, having trained for this role in the late 1990s. Bill was active in the establishment of the celebrant professional bodies. His experience as a celebrant has been extensive, and by writing papers, providing training and

professional development activities, and maintaining his website, he has shared his ideas about and approaches to celebrant work, funeral celebrancy, and „difficult‟ funerals. I recorded an oral history interview with Bill in September 2006.

Barrie Mason

Barrie performs weddings and funerals. He is New Zealand European, in his late sixties. He lives on the North Shore in Auckland. Barrie was one of the first marriage celebrants to be appointed when the Marriage Act (section 11) created the provision for the Registrar General to appoint JPs as civil marriage celebrants. Barrie applied and was accepted for registration on 11 July 1977 and conducted his first wedding 12 days later. For 20 years, celebrant work was additional to his full-time position as a company manager and later director. In 1997 he moved to self-employment as a celebrant, which has been his primary occupation and full-time role for several years. Barrie contacted me after publicity about the study, and offered to take part. I

travelled to Auckland to record an oral history interview with him in November 2005. Barrie is a member of both CANZ and CGNI.

130 Eddie McMenemy

Eddie McMenemy responded to my article in the June 2005 CANZ newsletter. He introduced himself as the „father‟ of funeral celebrancy, explaining that it was his belief that when he started taking funeral services 30 years ago, the only other funeral celebrant in Auckland was Marian Barnes, and that he had heard Marian referred to as the „mother‟ of funeral celebrancy. Eddie emigrated to New Zealand from Glasgow in 1974. His primary occupation now is as a celebrant in suburban West Auckland, mainly doing funeral work. Eddie‟s first funeral as a celebrant was in May 1980, and for over 30 years he has conducted weddings, commitments, re- affirmations, and naming ceremonies as well as funerals. Eddie is in his mid sixties. Before becoming a funeral celebrant, he was a funeral director and has also served in the British army. He has worked in show business, and does some work as a

comedian. He is a member of both CANZ and CGNI. In 1999 he was part of the steering committee for the formation of CANZ. His long service as a celebrant and his contribution to the profession was recognised with an award at the 2005 CANZ conference. I interviewed him at that conference. Later that year I met him again to record an oral history interview, at his Auckland home.

Pratima Nand

Pratima Nand is a registered marriage celebrant in South Auckland. She is a member of the Celebrants Guild (North Island) and responded to an article I wrote in June 2005 for their newsletter, inviting participants for this study. I recorded an oral history interview with her in late 2005. Pratima is a New Zealander with Fijian Indian descent, having lived in New Zealand for 32 years. She is in her fifties. Her background includes community work, Justice of the Peace work, and radio and television broadcasting. Pratima is Hindu and many of her wedding clients are Hindu couples from south and central Auckland. She speaks English, Fijian Hindi, and Indian Hindi. She has been a registered marriage celebrant for about eight years.

Ruth Pink

In 2005 Mary Hancock introduced me to Ruth, who had just completed the AUT Certificate in Celebrant Studies course. Ruth introduced herself to me as a writer, celebrant, and student. She had recently finished writing a novel and was setting up her celebrant business as well as studying for a qualification in counselling. I invited

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Ruth to take part in this study and she agreed. I visited her at her home to record an oral history interview in March 2006. At that time she had conducted eight weddings and two civil unions. Since then I have continued to meet regularly with Ruth as we have developed a peer-support relationship in regard to our celebrancy work. She sought permission from some of her clients to share their ceremonies with me for the study. Ruth worked as a policy analyst for Creative New Zealand before changing to a career in celebrant work. She is now a registered marriage and civil union

celebrant, and a counsellor. Her marriage celebrant registration was in 2005. Ruth is Pakeha, in her mid forties. Her transition to celebrant work was „a natural

confluence‟ of the public-speaking experience gained in her previous work and the „blossoming‟ of the spiritual aspect of her life. Ruth talks about how the traditions of two great faiths, Buddhism and Christianity, influence the way she works as a celebrant.

Marie Preston

Marie describes her first love as tutoring. Trained as a midwife, she worked as a nurse educator and doing family therapy in her roles as a senior Plunket nurse and family health counsellor, prior to becoming involved in celebrant work part time. Marie began performing weddings in 1991. She also performs funerals, civil unions, naming ceremonies, renewal of marriage vows ceremonies, significant birthday ceremonies, house blessings, and other ceremonies. Spirituality can be important in the ceremonies Marie creates, and in my interview with her, she discussed her beliefs and how these relate to the relationships she forms and the ceremonies she creates for her clients. Marie lives in Wellington. She is Pakeha, in her late fifties.

Heather Scott-Worsley

Heather is a marriage and funeral celebrant. She began working as funeral celebrant in 1990, after 18 years in the funeral business (including being a funeral director). Prior to that, she was a social worker. As a registered marriage celebrant she has performed marriage ceremonies since 1998. Heather is New Zealand European, in her fifties, and lives in central Auckland. In addition to celebrancy she works as a Justice of the Peace, a co-ordinator of police volunteers, and as a volunteer for the Citizen‟s Advice Bureau. She has been an active organiser and member of the Celebrants Association, later CGNI, including time as President of CGNI in 2003–

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2004. I invited Heather to take part in the study, based on her long involvement in the Auckland celebrant community and with CGNI. When Heather agreed to an oral history interview in November 2005, she asked for Julia Cameron, who was then President of CGNI, to be included in the interview, and I agreed to this.