Scarsdale Congregational Church Memory Garden Proposal Our Governance

On June 15th, the consulting landscape architects Peter Gisolfi Assoc. presented their plans for a proposed Memory Garden to be possibly constructed on our church property. The Memory Garden is a combination of a columbarium (a place where containers of cremains, the ash remaining after a body is cremated, may be permanently placed), and a memorial where plaques commemorating persons whose remains are located elsewhere may be permanently displayed. The Memory Garden would also serve as an attractive outdoor gathering place for the church community. Unlike cemeteries, where the living only go to bury or visit the remains of the dead, the Memory Garden would be a place where the remains of the dead could rest where people are still living.

The Memory Garden started out as a small matter. Our senior minister, Phil Washburn, was considering what to do with the ashes of his late wife Nancy, and had asked if a place could be designated to bury an urn containing Nancy's ashes on church property, perhaps with a flowering shrub inconspicuously marking the spot. It was the type of arrangement that could have been approved at any trustees meeting and arranged by our facilities manager, without most of the congregation necessarily being aware that it had been done. As you can see from the conceptual drawings prepared by Peter Gisolfi Assoc. the Memory Garden is not a small matter. It isn't about Phil or Nancy Washburn, or anyone else in particular, either.

After hearing about Phil's request, some members of the congregation felt that others within our fellowship might also want the Scarsdale Congregation Church to be their final resting place, particularly with the increasing popularity of cremation as a disposition for human remains. Traditionally in this country cremation was uncommon. Until the mid-20th century cremation was not approved for the disposition of human remains by most Christian denominations. The Jewish and Islamic faiths still don't allow it. Once cremation was allowed by the Catholic church and other major denominations it became more popular and is now used well over 10% of the time. Some industry observers expect that cremation will be used as much as one third of the time by the mid-21st century. Cremation has advantages over traditional burial, the most obvious being that it is significantly less costly. It also appeals to an increasing number of people, including a significant number within our fellowship, for less practical reasons.

While the cost of constructing the Memory Garden is likely to exceed $175,000; this expenditure is intended to be an investment in the church property, and the future of the congregation. Fees for the purchase of spaces in the Memory Garden to inter cremains, or mount commemorative plaques, would be expected to more than recover the initial investment over time as well as cover the operating expenses of the Memory Garden. The Memory Garden would add an attractive architectural element to a rather unremarkable part of the church property, thereby enhancing the appeal of the church property. It is also expected that the Memory Garden will help build closer ties between the fellowship and its members. If someone has invested money and made plans to make the Scarsdale Congregational Church their final resting place, they will have another good reason for the rest of their lives to support and be a part of our church community.

The Memory Garden committee has worked hard for over a year to produce the proposal presented here, but it is still a work in progress. It is now moving to the next phase where the congregation-at-large gets to contribute its ideas to the framework that has been created. Nothing is set in stone (no pun intended) at this point, and the current proposal certainly isn't perfect. If you have any ideas about how to improve the proposal, it certainly isn't too late to articulate them. Actually, now is the appropriate time. Toward that end, each member of the congregation will be receiving a survey in the mail to complete. The survey forms are also available in the narthex of the Sanctuary, so you can complete one after Sunday service if you wish, and have not already done so. Some members of the congregation received the survey at the June 15th presentation of the Memory Garden proposal.  A preview of the survey is on scc-ucc.org now so that you can start thinking about it while the church office prepares the mailing, and the Post Office does its job. We have a questions and answers page that explains the proposal in more detail. We also have the architect's design drawing in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) that you can view on-screen or print if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader software on your computer. There is also a design drawing in PDF format for an alternate proposal mentioned in the Q&A that would eliminate all vehicular traffic through the Memory Garden. Lastly, if you are interested, there is a breakdown of the construction costs, also in PDF format.

When you complete the survey, make sure to include any comments or impressions that you have in the space at the end. Does the current proposal seem like a place that you would want to place the remains of, or a memorial to, a loved one? Does it seem like a place that you might like to have your remains placed? If so, what are the things that you like about it? If not, why not? Since the Memory Garden is primarily for the church community to use, it is essential that the congregation provide this feedback to the committee if the Memory Garden is to be successful, and if it is to become a reality at all. The survey results will be sent directly to the Memory Garden committee, and will not be publicly available; but if you have any comments that you would like to share with the congregation as a whole, e-mail them to us at webmaster@scc-ucc.org, and we will create a feedback page for them.