Editing Ceremony (section)

==History of secular ceremony==
[[File:Lionel Murphy 1970.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Senator Lionel Murphy, founder of the civil celebrant movement in Australia, which has now spread to the rest of the Western World]]
The main impetus to the development of quality civil ceremonies in the Western world was the foresight of the Australian statesman, senator and High court judge [[Lionel Murphy]]. In 1973, Australia's [[Celebrant (Australia)|civil celebrant]] program entrusted carefully selected individuals with the responsibility of providing non-church people with ceremonies of substance and dignity. This initiative to a great extent has now been largely adopted by New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and some states of the US.<ref name=messenger/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Messenger III |first1=Dally |date=July 13, 2009 |title=The Power of an Idea: The History of Celebrancy |url=http://www.collegeofcelebrancy.com.au/Articles/keynote_afcc09.html |access-date=12 January 2020 |publisher=International College of Celebrancy |archive-date=7 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307005330/http://www.collegeofcelebrancy.com.au/Articles/keynote_afcc09.html |url-status=live }}</ref>