The Columbarium

Have you noticed the wrought iron fencing and gate around the courtyard area near the office entry at Mountain View Lutheran Church?  If you have the opportunity to take a closer look, you might find it rather interesting as I did.  Cindy, the church secretary, opened the locked gate and gave me some insights about the area, helping me to remember the name COLUMBARIUM.  "The wall is arranged in columns and it is where you bury 'em," she explained.  I looked it up and sure enough she was exactly right.  

The middle section was part of the church structure near the time that it was built.  The drawers hold the ashes of folks who were members of the church and wished their ashes rot be placed near where presumably, they were actively involved.  Each drawer contains the remains of one person whose name is displayed on the brass plate on the front of the drawer.  

Later, when all of those brass drawers were chosen or spoken for, the church decided to add two additional sections on either side and this time to make the drawers large enough for the remains of two persons.   Each of the drawers in all three sections can be reserved for $600.  There are no additional expenses and friends and family members are welcome to come to the area, spend time on the bench, meditate and share memories of their departed loved one.  

Over the years only one of the drawers has been opened, Cindy recalled.  It happened that a family purchased another site back home closer to other family members, so the urn and the brass plate were shipped off to that location.  

When I thought about it, the idea of having my remains at the church has some appeal.  I do have a burial plot in Portland, Oregon, but there is no reason that must be my final resting place since none of my immediate family members live there anymore.  My wife's case is even more extreme.  Her first husband's ashes are in a canister near the top of Mt. Baldy, a mountain he named near the Goodpaster River which flows into the Tanana River about 30 minutes by boat from Delta Junction, Alaska which is 80 miles from Fairbanks.   Not many people know the mountain by that name, but when Jesus calls for the end of the world, I am sure he will know where my wife and her first husband are located.

Submitted by Dan Seim