ALLIANCE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHColumbarium photo and link
Columbarium Program

Members of the Alliance United Methodist Church may wish to have their cremated remains interred in the columbarium located in the chapel.  For a fee of $800.00 members may purchase a niche in the columbarium which will be maintained in perpetuity by the church.

The columbarium at the Alliance United Methodist Church appears in the photo on the right.  It consists of forty niches.  Click on the photo for a larger view.

This is the way the program works:  Upon the death of members who have purchased a niche and willed their remains to be cremated, the funeral director transports the body to a funeral home which has a crematorium -  usually Scottsbluff.  The funeral director returns with a plastic bag containing the ashes of the deceased individual.  The funeral director gives the ashes to the pastor or family who places the bag inside a polished aluminum cylinder.  At the close of the memorial service, the family gathers at the columbarium while the pastor performs the internment ceremony.  The cylinder is then placed in a specially designed niche which is then sealed and covered with a plate engraved with the name, birth and death dates of the individual.

There are several advantages to this type of internment.  First, it tends to be much less expensive than a traditional burial.  Persons who are cremated within 24 hours of death do not have to be embalmed, therefore there is no related expense.  Further, there is no casket or other costly trappings of a traditional burial.

Chapel AlterSecond, the columbarium is located inside the church building.  This makes visitation more convenient, and therefore, more frequent for friends and relatives.  In addition, there is no need to go to the cemetery for burial.  This eliminates concerns about weather and traffic.

Finally, columbariums can be moved.  If a new church building is ever constructed, the columbarium will move with the congregation.

This works at the individual level, too.  Spouses or other close relatives who move away may opt to take the remains of their loved ones and reinter them elsewhere.

If you would like additional information, please contact one of the committee members listed below, or the church office.




Example documents:
Application FormStained Glass
Contract Terms
Certificate

Credits

The Columbarium was dedicated on Sunday, December 18, 2005.  Columbarium committee members include Jerri Tomlin, Kevin Wilkinson, Rita Moravek, Marv Pebley, and Dave Ocken.  Installation was provided by Marv Pebley and Bob Moravek.  The manufacturer was Armento.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Terms and conditions of the contract between the Donor, whose name appears on the receipt and the Board of Trustees of The United Methodist Church, Alliance, Nebraska, relating to the Columbarium of said Church:

1. The Columbarium and its niches, their use and maintenance, are at all times subject to the management of the Board of Trustees of The United Methodist Church, Alliance, Nebraska as constituted from time to time, or of its duly organized committee in whom is vested the right to control the maintenance and use thereof, and the terms of this contract with respect to such maintenance and use may be changed, modified. varied, amended or altered at any time in the sold discretion of the Board of its committee. The Donor agrees that by the donation herein made, said Donor does not acquire any property rights of any kind whatsoever in or to the niche referred to in the annexed receipt.

2. The Donor may designate the ashes of such person as the Donor desires to have interred in the niche referred to, but the Board shall have sole discretion as to the persons whose ashes may be interred in the Columbarium. Upon the death of the Donor, such privilege of designation shall pass as the Donor shall by Will direct, or in the absence of testamentary direction, to the heirs at law of the Donor, but the right of interment shall continue to be subject at all times to the approval of the Board. If the Donor desires to assign or transfer any right of interment hereby given, the Donor shall submit the name or names of the assignees or transfer to the Board, which reserves the right to withhold consent to such assignment or transfer for any reason which it in its sole discretion shall deem proper. If consent is given to such assignment or transfer, or if the Board shall recognize any right of heirs, distributees or devisees of the Donor, with respect to this contract, or if the Donor shall make a designation as herein proved which is acceptable to the Board, the assignee, transferee, designee, heir or heirs, distributees or devisees shall be bound by all the terms and conditions hereof.

3. The type, size, shape and design of any urn containing ashes to be interred in any niche shall be subject to the absolute control of the Board in all respects. No urn containing ashes placed in a niche may be removed except by and with the consent of the Board. In the event of removal, all rights to the space in the niche shall cease and terminate, and any rights given hereunder shall revert to the Church. In the event that it shall be necessary at any time to Change the location of the Columbarium or to discontinue the use of any portion thereof, the Board may in its discretion remove the urns in any niche or niches whose use is discontinued, and may place such urns in other suitable niches in such location in the Columbarium as in its sale discretion the Board may deem fit and proper.

4. The material, size, shape and character of the marker or other designation for each niche, and the legend and lettering thereon, shall be subject to the absolute control of the Board. The Donor shall be charged with the actual cost of such marker, designation, legend or lettering, and agrees to pay for the same upon the rendition of a statement therefore.

5. The Church agrees to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of the Columbarium; No liability of any kind or character whatsoever is assumed by the Church or Board for the maintenance or preservation of the ashes of any person interred in the Columbarium or for any loss or damage to the urns or ashes of such deceased persons, nor is any liability of any kind whatsoever assumed by the Church or Board for any matter or thing relating to the Columbarium, its use or subsequent maintenance, except for failure to exercise such reasonable care.

6. The clergy suggested by the deceased whose ashes are interred, or by the family of the deceased, will be allowed to officiate at the placing of the urn in the niche when accompanied by one of the clergy of this Parish, but the Board reserves the right to approve at all times of the clergyman suggested by the deceased or suggested by the family of the deceased to so officiate.

7. Flowers may be placed in the Columbarium only in such places as may, from time to time, be designated by the Board or its duly organized committee and may be removed at any time by like authority, and shall at all times be subject to the control and regulations of the Board or its committee.

8. Visitation hours will coincide with regular church hours and may be changed at the discretion of the Board of Trustees. Special visitation arrangements may be made by contacting the church office or members of the Columbarium Committee.


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