Memorial Garden
The purpose of the Central United Methodist Church Memorial Garden is to provide a consecrated and maintained memorial site for the interment of ashes for Central United Methodist Church congregation and their families.
Memorial Garden
It is anticipated the Memorial Garden will be available for interment of ashes in perpetuity. In the event that all spaces are used, ashes may be reverently interred in previously used spaces. It is intended, to the extent practicable, that interment of ashes in previously used spaces be accomplished in the order in which the spaces were initially used.
The Garden will be maintained in perpetuity by a Memorial Garden committee serving under the guidance and direction of Central United Methodist Church’s trustees committee.
Interment fees will be designated and used solely for the maintenance of the Memorial Garden.
Should the church determine the present location of the Memorial Garden is needed for church expansion, the church reserves the right to relocate the Memorial Garden to another site on the campus. Care will be taken to assure any ashes presently in the garden are reverently relocated to the new site.
My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
Exodus 33:14
Internment of Ashes
Interment of ashes will be extended to Central United Methodist Church congregation and clergy, past and present, and their immediate families. Exceptions to this policy may be made upon request to the Memorial Garden committee.
Interment may be by scattering in designated landscaped areas within the garden or interred in the sodded areas around the cross. A grid noting occupied and reserved spaces will be maintained in the church. Upon request spouses and partners may be interred in the same plot.
The ashes are to be interred in a biodegradable container or directly in the ground.
Services
Funeral and/or memorial services must be conducted by a current pastor of Central United Methodist Church or others qualified to perform the service with the permission of the senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church. The service may be held in the church or in the Memorial Garden.
Nameplate
A permanent bronze memorial plaque with nameplates affixed will be the only memorial in the garden.
Individual bronze nameplates for each person interred in the Memorial Garden with date of birth and death will be provided by the Memorial Garden committee. A standard format will be used. Upon request of family members, memorial nameplates for those who are buried elsewhere may be included.
Application
Application for future interment with appropriate fees can be made at any time. Fees are currently $500. Payment in full is to be received prior to interment. The purchase of interment rights is not tax deductible. However, donations to CUMC for the Memorial Garden are tax deductible and can be made at any time.