[Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles about columbaria. Read the first and second articles.]
In the past two months, articles were presented in The Vine defining what a columbarium is and describing why there are so many of them being constructed on church grounds. If you missed these articles, here is a brief review:
A columbarium is a place for storage of a person’s cremated remains. The choice of cremation over preserved body burial has risen 40 percent in the past 10 years. It is estimated to rise to 75 percent by 2050. With state laws modified in Texas to allow churches to provide columbaria, many are doing so as a service to their membership. The desire to be laid to rest near one’s church home is increasing as well.
For these reasons, a committee has formed to determine the feasibility of offering such a service at Arborlawn. Although the committee has only met twice, we wanted to share with you some initial concepts that we are considering:
Location: After joining with the Labyrinth Committee, we all agreed that a garden location bordering the labyrinth in the area between the Elizabeth Cramer Chapel and the Sanctuary would be ideal.
Design: The current concept is of a semi-circular 6- to 7-foot wall at the north end of the labyrinth, possibly separated from the labyrinth by landscaping. Embedded within the wall would be sections containing the columbarium niches. Each section, conceptually containing between 50 to 100 niches, could be completed as needed, in a phased approach after the initial semi-circular wall is built. We hope to have conceptual drawings done by early 2014 to better explain this concept.
How: We are still discussing funding for the project. We know that to move forward, detailed design and construction drawings will need to be prepared. We plan to continue discussions of funding options into next year with the goal of presenting a funding plan to the Arborlawn Trustees and the Arborlawn Foundation early in the year. Our hope is to begin construction next year.
In summary, if you believe a columbarium would be a beneficial service to the Arborlawn community, we invite you to consider making a donation toward its construction by designating a portion of your year-end church support gift for the AUMC Columbarium Fund. Thank you for considering this option.
Any questions, suggestions, and concerns may be directed to Paula Thomas.
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ArborlawnUMC.org