CONCEPT
PURPOSE
CREMATION
ARRANGEMENTS
POLICIES
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
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CONCEPT |
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The Memorial Garden, which was established in 1982, is a place for those who love this church and have a senseof closeness to it which they would like to preserve even after death.
It is hallowed ground, sacred to the memory of those who have departed from our midst.
The Garden is to be maintained in quiet dignified beauty, a place of peace and serenity.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the Memorial Garden is to provide a spiritually appropriate place on the church property for the interment of ashes from cremation. Ashes are placed directly into the soil without container so that they become a part of the living garden. Those who planned the garden felt that such a garden is ecologically responsible as well as an answer in part to the age-old concern of the Christian community to participate in the proper disposition and identification of the earthly remains of those who have shared the fellowship.
Cremation is an acceleration of natural processes accepted in the modern church and generally believed to be consistent with the belief in resurrection and eternal life. It is accomplished in the Detroit area in any one of five crematories which can be identified in the telephone directory. The services of a mortician are necessary because Michigan law restricts the transportation of bodies to licensed morticians. Embalming is not required if cremation is done within 48 hours of death. A casket is not necessary, although a container or box is required by the crematory.
Arrangements for interment can be made through the church office or a minister, anytime prior to use. There is great emotional, spiritual, and psychological value in the time tested traditions surrounding the way we have buried our dead. Cremation can be used as an alternative to cemetery burial while maintaining the traditional funeral home visitation and funeral service. The Memorial Garden simply increased our choices by providing a place of burial on the church grounds.
Any arrangements, when possible, should be made in advance of need so that decisions can be calm and devoid of a sense of emergency. Prepayment for the interment of ashes in the Memorial Garden can be made at any time. A Certificate of Acknowledgement will be issued at that time.
These policies have been adopted by the Session of this Church. They can be changed only by subsequent action of that body.
Those wishing to use the Memorial Garden must sign a written application indicating a knowledge and acceptance of these policies. Upon acceptance of the application and receiving payment, the church will issue a receipt and make plans for the interment of ashes. The application of any church member, when accompanied by a fee of $300.00 per interment, will be automatically accepted and approved. The fee for members' spouses, parents and children who are not members shall be $400.00. Applications for non-members are to be submitted to the Minister of this Church and the Memorial Committee whose decision is final. All others will be $1000.00 per interment.
Each applicant using the garden agrees and understands that ashes will be interred by burying directly into the soil, in the presence of a minister, and will not be recoverable or preserved intact. No applicant or other person may acquire any right to the physical location or appearance of the memorial garden. It is understood that a variety of events and activities may occur within the memorial garden if pursued with quietness and dignity and individual and group meditation will be encouraged.
It is part of the agreement that nobody other than the church shall have any property rights to the memorial garden. The church will maintain accurate records of the memorial garden showing all uses and reservations for future use. The names of all persons whose ashes are interred in the memorial garden will be entered in a permanent memorial book maintained by the Grosse Pointe Woods Presbyterian Church.
In addition, the name, birth and death dates of those whose ashes are interred in the garden will be recorded on a bronze plaque permanently attached to an exterior wall of the church adjacent to the garden.
No interment of ashes or memorial service shall be conducted, nor shall any flowers, plants or other decorations be placed in or about the memorial garden without the prior approval of the memorial committee.
A memorial service can be arranged at a time mutually convenient to the family and the church. It is not necessary to have a memorial service in the garden, either at the time of interment or otherwise. No memorials other than the plaque are to be placed in the garden. However, other suitable memorials, including flowers for the chancel, gifts to the church, as well as gifts for the improvement of the garden, will be welcome and can be arranged through the church office.
Members $300.00
Members' spouse, parents and children $400.00
All others $1,000.00Included in this fee :
1. Interment of ashes
2. Bronze ribbon on plaque
3. Recording in Memorial Book
4. Maintenance and Perpetuation of Garden
All financial considerations must be paid prior to interment of ashes.
The Grosse Pointe Woods Presbyterian Church is a non-profit service to members and the community.
Revised and effective May 3, 2000
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