Funerals: almost anything goes
The first time I conducted a funeral for a biker whose hearse was a motorcycle and side-car, a long procession of his fellow bikers roared through the town behind it. The conductor (the person in charge from the Co-op) rode pillion, wearing his top hat. The chapel filled with men and women in motorcycle gear and the sound of leather creaking as they moved about. Such events are no longer unusual, and the people who provide the motorcycle hearses are kept very busy.
Today, The Co-operative Funeralcare has released a report into changing funeral customs, The Ways We Say Goodbye, which shows that, among other things, “Half of todays funerals (49%) are a celebration of life and one in ten includes no religion at all.” In a relatively short period of time, maybe twenty years, attitudes towards funerals have changed as most people have realised that a traditional Christian funeral isn’t compulsory, and has little relevance to the lives of a majority of people.