Memorial Garden - Columbarium
Interment at the church is not new. The English kings, heroes, and notables have, for centuries, been interred within the churches and cathedrals of England.
The Columbarium allows similar disposal of the cremated remains of our loved ones or their families who are faithful members of the church. This attractive alternative to burial in a cemetery offers the family immediate access at almost all times, to the interment site of their loved ones. We have “brought them home to their church.”
So called perpetual care is also greatly simplified and assured, since the Columbarium as an integral part of the church property is maintained, repaired, and protected just as the church building itself.
The Columbarium ministry is a Christian ministry of loving service to our members and their immediate families, and the church must always seek to serve people at their points of need.
Church grounds are the natural repository and final resting place of deceased members of the Christian community. In earlier times, churches maintained cemeteries on their property. Today, cremation makes having a Columbarium or Scatter Garden possible, since it has become the accepted alternative to burial.
Theologically, burial at the church makes a statement that the deceased were believers—a witness of their faith.
Liturgically, it sets aside a place for remembrance and love for the departed. The simplicity, elegance, and permanence of granite in the traditional design assure that it harmonizes with the spirit and architecture of First Presbyterian Church.
The Memorial Garden is an area on the church grounds located between the sanctuary and the chapel for the placing of ashes of individuals in a Columbarium or under the sod in a Scatter Garden.
The Columbarium is a group of niches which contain the cremated remains of the departed.
The Scatter Garden is that portion of the Memorial Garden reserved for the scattering of ashes.
When one selects the Scatter Garden, there will be a memorial plaque with the individual’s name, year of birth and year of death. The cost for this service is $200.
A niche in a Columbarium is modest in cost, liturgically satisfying, and ecologically sound. The quiet design of a Columbarium invites solitary contemplation and meditation; provides a gathering place for families and friends to assemble in prayer, love, and remembrance, and creates a consoling link between life and death. First Presbyterian Church members and their immediate family (spouse, parents, and children) are entitled to lease and use the niches.
The lease price of a niche is $600 single or $900 double which may be paid with your application. This is a total price and includes perpetual maintenance, granite faceplate with names and year of birth and death.
There is no cost to the operating budget of First Presbyterian Church for maintaining of the Columbarium. The monies acquired through the lease of niches are placed in a “restricted fund” to specifically handle the actual cost of any short or long term maintenance to the Columbarium.