Celebrants & Chaplaincy

The Scottish Pagan Federation campaigned and worked towards Pagans being able to have legal Pagan weddings in Scotland. Louise Park, our Presiding Officer between 2009 and 2015, ensured that our organisation became a recognised religious body authorised able to nominate Celebrants to conduct legal Pagan marriages in Scotland in 2004. Louise was our Celebrants Coordinator until 2019 and she also successfully campaigned for same-sex marriage equality, leading to her conducting one of the first-ever same-sex marriages in the country.

The SPF has 20 celebrants across Scotland who are able to solemnise legal Pagan weddings for couples of any gender. The names of our celebrants are recorded in the Register of Approved Celebrants, which is maintained by the office of the National Records of Scotland. Our celebrants can also provide other ceremonies such as baby namings, funerals and other life rites.

The SPF is currently able to nominate Celebrants for NRS once every three years. We are limited to 20 celebrants who can perform legal weddings. This means we are unable to consider nominating new Celebrants outside of the re-nomination period. We are happy to accept applications for consideration at our next re-nomination which will be in late 2023 however, please note that we have a waiting list of people wanting to be nominated celebrants. For further information about becoming an SPF celebrant please click here.

Please see our interactive map below to find out about our celebrants and how to contact them. Please note that not all our celebrants are currently on our map. If you do not see a celebrant near you, please contact us.

What we do

The SPF has several chaplains who provide support for Pagans throughout Scotland in different areas.

Our Chaplains

Healthcare Chaplain

Our Healthcare Chaplain offers support for patients and staff in hospitals and other medical settings. The SPF has previously collaborated with the NHS with materials including information about Paganism. Our healthcare chaplain can also provide information to healthcare professionals who would like to better support Pagans they work with.

Prison Chaplain

Our Prison Chaplain is there to offer support, advice, and guidance to both people in HM Prisons and to staff working in HM Prisons. This includes working with both adults and young offenders. This role requires a PVG.

University Chaplains

We have chaplains at St Andrews University, Edinburgh University and Glasgow University who are able to meet with students at their respective universities. They can offer support, advice and guidance to students and faculty around Paganism and issues relating to Paganism. These Chaplains are PVG checked by their universities.