Over the weekend I read a couple of articles on different subjects that brought me to the question, “Can a funeral/memorial celebrant on staff increase revenues?”  You might be wondering how I got to that question or even why I might ask it.  Let me explain.

I first came across an article on church attendance in America.  After reading it and finding it interesting I looked for and found some other articles on the subject just to argue or reinforce what the first article hypothesized.  What I found about church attendance and membership is really not surprising and you will, at a anecdotal level, agree with me.

I did find that America is still a highly Christian country with a percentage almost as high as 80% believing in Christianity, a god, and a probable life after death.  The argument goes on that about 40% of Americans attend church “regularly”.  I further found out that the term “regularly” can be looked at in different ways and found one study that says only about 20-23% of Americans attend church three times in two months — about a 3 Sundays of 8 Sundays formula – those are the people that actually feel “at-home” in their church of choice.

The second topical article I read was one about what funeral homes are up against in the rapidly growing direct cremation only category of death calls.  While price was certainly one item cited, it is important to note that the fact  is that fewer and fewer families are simply not asking for any type of memorialization of their loved one.

It may be that families really don’t want memorialization for a loved one.  However, a thought popped in my head that if only 20-23% of Americans attend church enough to get to know their clergy, is the unfamiliarity with clergy a possible reason that families leave this option out — possibly a decision is made for direct cremation only because of this as often as made by the low price component?

I come from a pretty churchy rural area where the church has traditionally been used for family social functions such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals.  Many times we have teased that the family in need only used the church for “marrying and burying”.  However, the custom and precedent had been set and the family either agreed to meet the new pastor they had never met or we told them we could get a retired pastor and do the service at the funeral home.  Families seemed to go along with that in order to have the service.

So, let’s get to the time we are in now — almost the 3rd decade of the 21st century.  I believe that many families – especially if we believe the 20-23% statistic above – are far enough away from having a relationship with a clergy and that they just don’t want to go thru that process of meeting one.

What would be that families reaction, say, when they came in for the cremation arrangement (especially if the family intended for direct cremation with no services) and you introduced them to your “Staff” celebrant and said it was his/her job to help them thru the memorial service process?    Would they flat out tell you that they want a cremation and no services — some will — or would they listen to the process and now have someone sitting in front of them that they could ask questions to about the process knowing that they don’t have to reach out to that pastor they really don’t know?

My guess is that you would have some families who would continue to say, “No, just direct cremation”.  But I also believe that you would have some families who look around the table and say, “Maybe we should have some type of service for Grandpa.”  Someone asking that question could easily lead to double or triple the revenue of a direct cremation.

The question, as with most other decisions when you are in business, is a business one.  Can I afford to have a celebrant on staff to meet my families at the time of arrangements to offer this option?  That is a tough question — questions like that are what individual operators face every day in this fast changing business climate.  The flip side is what do I lose if I don’t have someone in this position?

I have no real answers here other than the perspective is that death care keeps evolving.  These are the tough decisions that good business people have to make.  Those that figure out the right formulas will continue to reap success and those that don’t . . . . . . .

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