From the earliest times, the Church has set apart, by blessing, eternal resting places for the faithful departed. Departed loved ones rested eternally in the hallowed grounds of church yards near where they had been baptized, married and nurtured in the faith.

Now, in keeping with this tradition, Emmanuel Church has established a columbarium and garden space in the area between our classroom building and the historic Masur/Holter/Big Dog building to the south. The 40 niches - each with space for two urns - will be set in the east garden wall directly behind a fan-cooled cedar pergola. The verde granite face plates will be simply engraved with names and dates of birth and death. The area will be lighted at all times, and visitors may come whenever they wish as often as they like.

Cremation, a long accepted practice in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, is dignified, theologically and ecologically sound, and economically sensible. A columbarium on sacred church grounds gives witness to the risen life and the deceased's place among the Communion of Saints.

The cost for a double niche is $2,000 and includes the cost of two simple, unadorned machine-fabricated metal urns, should you wish to utilize them, and the engraving costs for two interments. The cost for a single niche is $1,500, including one urn and engraving costs for one interment. Of these amounts, $200 covers costs, and the remaining $1,800 (double) or $1,300 (single) may be considered a donation for tax purposes.

The Columbarium Rules allow Interment in the Columbarium for any Communicant in Good Standing of Emmanuel Episcopal Church; the immediate family of a Communicant in Good Standing, i.e., spouse, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, brothers, sisters, children or grandchildren by marriage, blood or adoption; and, with the approval of a majority of the Columbarium Committee, Christians without any familial affiliation to a Communicant in Good Standing or without any affiliation to Emmanuel Episcopal Church.

If you and your family have made other final interment arrangements, please consider gifts to the Columbarium and Garden Fund in memory of or to honor friends or loved ones. These donations will be used to purchase benches and other needed items and for the ongoing maintenance of the Columbarium and Garden.

We hope you will join your brothers and sisters in Christ as we step out in faith in this wonderful new venture. Contact the church office for a Niche Application, a copy of the Columbarium Rules and any other information you may need.