Arborlawn’s Ascension Garden Committee is proposing the construction of a columbarium and labyrinth within a prayer garden to be located outside the Elizabeth Cramer Chapel. The goal is to create an outdoor space that is conducive to prayer, thanksgiving, and healing.
What Is a Labyrinth?
Labyrinths have been around for centuries as tools for contemplative prayer and meditation. A prayer labyrinth is a spiral path that calmly invites one to connect with the Holy Spirit through a healing process of leaving the outside world, clearing the mind, and opening the heart.
What Is a Columbarium?
A columbarium is a place for the respectful storage of urns holding a deceased person’s cremated remains. Choosing cremation in our area has increased from 5 percent to 40 percent in the last 15 years. Furthermore, cremation is expected to increase to 75 percent in the next 10 years because it is an environmentally friendly option which costs significantly less than burial.
Additional information is available through the church office. A congregational church conference will be scheduled in the coming weeks to vote on moving forward with the project. We hope you will consider supporting this effort to provide an Ascension Garden at Arborlawn, where so many meaningful memories have been made for so many people over the years.
Ascension Garden Team: Paula Thomas (Chair), Dana Cook, Patricia Johnson, Charlene Johnston, Kelly Keller, Bill McCann, Lynn Newman, Greg Shannon, Tom Stoker, Kathy Wilcox.
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ArborlawnUMC.org