First of all – for those who don’t know what a Columbarium is … it’s a series of niches in which the human remains of someone who has been cremated may be place. Typically, after cremation, ashes are placed in an Urn and the Urn is placed into a Columbarium. The front panel of a Columbarium can be engraved with personal information, similar to a gravestone, to help family and friends located the correct niche.
For as far back in time as there have been church buildings, the bodies of the deceased have been placed in graves located within or immediately outside the church. While the practice of putting cemeteries around churches has been largely discontinued, the practice of installing Columbariums in churches has seen a resurgence in recent decades. For instance, not far away from Lord of Life, Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nissua has a Columbarium.
We are still a long way away from deciding if we will proceed with such a project, but the first step along the way will be to hold a discussion to help identify if there are people even interested in the project. After worship on August 9th and 13th we will hold a Table Talk to explore the topic of what Columbariums are in more detail and discuss the pros and cons of having a Columbarium at Lord of Life.
Table Talks are dedicated discussions held after worship services – usually in the Commons – about current topics of potential interest to folks. There is one rule for the discussion: “No one will be asked to sign up for anything during the discussion.” This rule is in place to encourage folks who are on the fence – who are not sure if they want to be involved or not – to not be put “on the spot” during the discussion regarding their participation.