Funerals and Memorials at UPC

POLICY STATEMENT ON THE USE OF THE ANNE McCLAMROCH McFALL MEMORIAL GARDEN

1. The Memorial Garden will be open for meditation during office hours of the Church and at other times by special request to one of the pastors.
2. Functions to be held in the Memorial Garden shall follow the policy for the use of other areas of Church property and shall be in keeping with the beauty, sanctity and size of the Memorial Garden. Permission for use for other than Church functions should be sought from the Church office.
3. The Memorial Garden, as a place for the interring of cremated ashes, shall be used in accordance with the following resolutions of the Session:
   1. Through the use of the Anne McClamroch McFall Memorial Garden, University Presbyterian  Church is able to offer a dignified and suitable place for interring the cremated ashes of deceased communicants and the members of their families.
   2. A statement of policies concerning the interment of ashes seems necessary.  Therefore, it is stipulated that:

i.   The cremated ashes of members and their families, and former members who filed the appropriate paperwork while their memberships were still active, may, with the approval of the Pastor or Associate Pastor, be buried or scattered in the garden.

ii.   Any burial services or rites shall be planned with one of the Pastors.

iii. Buried ashes shall be in a biodegradable container or no container.

iv. Names and dates of the deceased person may be inscribed on to the granite wall along the burial site. Full names may be inscribed with no titles or nicknames. Names will be placed in chronological order by date of death on a panel close to, or adjacent to, the area of burial. If requested, every effort will be made to retain space on the panel for the future inscribing of a spouse’s name.

v.   There is no cost for the burial or scattering of ashes, or for the inscription on the granite wall.  A family representative will be required to sign and verify on a church form as to the correct date of birth, date of death and spelling of the name of the decedent.

vi.  We welcome gifts to honor a family member or in remembrance of a loved one. These can be made to the restricted Memorial Garden maintenance endowment and will be received for general upkeep rather than for a specified or designated use. Consistent with the UPC Gift Acceptance Policy, non-monetary gifts or named gifts are not ordinarily accepted.

vii.   In keeping with the natural setting of the garden it is preferred that, in lieu of artificial arrangements, only living plants or cut flowers be left by the granite wall in memory of loved ones.

By these resolutions no cemetery is created; no rights or special privileges are granted to families of those whose ashes are buried or scattered, and full right is reserved by the Church to make any necessary changes in years ahead without removing interred ashes or providing for continuation of the property as a burial site.

Adopted by the Session May 2006

Revised September 2008

Revised October 2011