The Session of Yorkminster Presbyterian, at its August 2006 meeting, established a subcommittee consisting of: Dennis Dicus, Becky Davis, Charlene Diggs and Mike Walsh, Chair, (with Co-Pastor Field Russell ex-officio). This subcommittee of the Campus Improvement Committee is asked to prepare recommendations regarding placement, design, and budget of a combination Memorial Garden with Columbarium in an appropriate location on the Yorkminster campus.

See the "Memorial Garden / Columbarium Sub-Committee Report to Session" dated January 8, 2007, for related information, available for download here.

Below are some of the most frequently-asked questions and answers prepared to help inform the congregation and officers regarding a possible columbarium ministry.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a columbarium? - A columbarium is a place for the respectful storage of cinerary urns (i.e. urns holding a deceased’s cremated remains).
2. Where did the word Columbarium come from? - The word "columbarium" or the plural “columbaria” comes from the Latin for dove or pigeon and refers, literally, to a place where doves or pigeons live; if you will, "Pigeon holes."
3. Why not establish a cemetery? - For many centuries cemeteries were commonly found in churchyards, allowing churches to minister to the spiritual needs of its members, from baptism through life to death. It is not practical for a church to establish a cemetery today.
4. How is a columbarium different from a mausoleum or cemetery? - The church is permitted by right to establish a columbarium, but not a repository for deceased bodies. An alternative to establishing a mausoleum or cemetery is a columbarium built as a collection of niches designed to house urns inscribed with the persons' names and dates of birth and death.
5. Is this something new to this area and the Presbyterian denomination? - More and more churches are offering as a ministry or service. Several in our area established within the past ten years include: Trinity Lutheran Newport News, St. Joan’s Catholic in Yorktown, St. Andres Presbyterian in Suffolk and Bayside Presbyterian in Virginia Beach.
6. Can a columbarium be inside as well as outside? – Yes, although we have focused on the exterior because we have acres of campus to work with at Yorkminster. Many churches incorporate a Columbarium in a garden setting affording church members and their families the opportunity to select their final resting place in the shadow of the church which has been central to their lives, a sacred site of beauty and dignity where their loved ones can visit and meditate at any time they visit the church.
7. Is cremation practiced in the Presbyterian Church? Yes, and increasingly so, and also in most reformed churches and in Roman Catholic. According to Cremation Association of North America, the rate of cremation is increasing steadily. Between 2003 and 2005, the rate increased by 22%. The percentage of cremations in the US is trending toward a third of all deaths in 2006. This is compared to roughly 1% of all US deaths in 1900.
8. If I am cremated can I have my ashes scattered? - Possibly; it depends on local ordnances and may or may not be permissible here. An alternative to inurnment in a columbarium niche or scattering is to use a cemetery plot already owned and to purchase a memorial plaque or marker to be placed in the prayer garden.
9. Can cremation and the final arrangements be pre-planned? - Yes, including discussion on memorial services with the Pastor or a chosen funeral director if you desire. The purchase of a columbarium niche eliminates the pressures of choosing a burial site, casket, vault and monument; also, there is no need to plan for interment and memorial services at different locations and times.
10. How about the costs? - Many find substantial savings by avoiding customary funeral and burial expenses. With a columbarium, costs are limited to cremation, the niche and the obituary. These costs may be paid in advance of death.
11. What are the costs to the church? Typically a Columbarium is self-funded; that is we would pre-sell niches using the income derived from the sale for construction and operation. Income above that required for initial construction would be retained for perpetual care.
12. What are other advantages of columbarium interment over traditional interment? - Columbariums require less land.    Columbariums typically do not require permits. Columbariums are less expensive to operate than a cemetery. Columbarium niches are typically less expensive than plots for buyers.
13. Why is Yorkminster considering this now? - There is an increasing awareness of the benefits of cremation, and through a columbarium, the church could provide its members a dignified, beautiful setting for housing the cremains, all at considerable cost savings.
14. Who could use a columbarium? - Inurnment in a church owned columbarium is ordinarily limited to present or past members of that church and members of their immediate families, including spouses, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren.

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