The Memorial Garden

Trinity’s Memorial Garden is a place of peaceful reflection and joyful remembrance, where ashes are interred directly into the earth to become one with creation again. Visible to all as they enter or leave the church, the Memorial Garden is also a place where people gather before a Sunday service, a wedding, a baptism, or a funeral.

Location

The Memorial Garden faces Trinity’s west entrance. As you leave the church from the narthex, the garden is directly in front of you. It consists of a central area of stone, ringed by pachysandra in which unmarked cremains are interred. There are quiet seating areas there, as well as to the north and south.

Purpose

The garden is a place of peaceful beauty and reflection, where parishioners and others have elected to have their ashes interred in as natural a way and with as little personal fanfare as possible. No spaces are individually reserved and no name-markers exist in the garden. The names of those interred  are, however, inscribed on plaques in the Unity Chapel inside the church.

Interment Procedure

When someone dies, the family will make plans for interment with the priest, and records and outstanding fees will be paid to the Parish Administrator. This covers sexton’s preparation of the garden, interment, preparation and installation of a plaque in Unity Chapel, and ongoing maintenance needs of the Memorial Garden. Some people elect to contribute more, and others—at the Rector’s discretion—may donate less. Some parishioners have registered in advance.

The Memorial Garden Committee Chair receives information from the Parish Administrator, orders and follows up on the plaque, and maintains her own set of records on all activity in the garden.

Annual Remembrance Day

At one Sunday service in early- to mid- May, the parish honors those interred in the garden. Individual families are invited, names are printed in the Sunday bulletin, and the Rector adjusts the service for this occasion. Traditionally, at the conclusion of the service, the congregation follows the clergy and choir outside, where the priest says some appropriate prayers and a brief homily, and the names of those interred are read aloud.

Memorial Garden Committee

This group maintains the garden (which they designed in 2000), improves it as needed, orders nameplates and other memorial items, oversees plans for the annual Remembrance Day, and assists the Rector and Parish Administrator with accurate and timely record-keeping.

Contact

Kari Jenson Gold at karijensongold@mac.com
Beverly Leach at beverlyleach@hotmail.com  or (609) 532-0221