With Thanksgiving coming in just a few days, we all start thinking about our families even more. Where are you going to spend Thanksgiving? I always go to my parent’s house; my mom makes the best stuffing. But not all of my grown children will be there this year and my younger sister’s family spends one year with us and the next with her in-laws; so they won’t be with us this year either. What family members are you spending Thanksgiving Day with? Will family members who live out of town be coming or are you traveling to a family member’s house? Is there a family member who won’t be there this Thanksgiving because they have to be somewhere else or have they passed?
Families are so important to us, and especially at the holidays. Gathering together brings back good warm feelings, a lot of conversation and laughter from fond memories. But it also brings pain from missing those we’ve lost and who are no longer with us. It is at this time that we remember them most and feel their lost.
Not that having a columbarium at your church will take away the pain of not having your loved one with you, but it does make it convenient for you to go and honor their memory. Maybe your loved ones cremains are not in your church’s columbarium but you can still have a place of memory for them there with a memorial plaque.
We are a nation that remembers and memorializes our departed loved and that name on the niche front, tribute tower or memorial wall is the most meaningful step in the columbarium program process.
Most committees work with their columbarium partner for the selection, design, ordering and installation of the memorial plaques making the process very simple.
There are different options for the memorization; including a cast bronze plaque, individual bronze letters and numbers both work for the niche front as well as the tribute tower or memorial wall. The niche front can also be sand blasted or incised, or have the name etched into the stone, depending on the type of stone selected. Images of the different types of memorization should be provided to you by the columbarium company you have selected to partner with.
Cost factors for the different types of memorization are very similar across the board. The columbarium committee needs to look at the different options, examine the pros and cons of each different method and make their selection based on good sound facts provided by their columbarium company partner. Ordering the memorial plaque is easy and is accomplished by working with your columbarium partner. Depending on the method and the material selected for the memorial, the time to produce or have the memorial incised can take anywhere from a week to 6 weeks. Your columbarium company partner can advise and consult with the committee for proper information and direction.
The family usually selects to have the surname, first name, middle initial, date of birth and date of death for each member installed on the plaque or on the face of the niche front. Of course there are options, and these options can be considered and discussed by the committee.
Typically a columbarium committee member or someone from the church installs the memorial plaque. The ease of the installation of the memorial is accomplished by proper training, the use of the correct materials and by following a printed checklist. The installation process is easy and rather quick and when done correctly, provides the family with a loving memorial, properly installed, forever.
Comments
No one has commented on this article. Be the first!