Columbaria
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 “Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord: And let light perpetual shine upon them” I Corinthians 15:43 |
Burial in a churchyard or in a cathedral has been a venerable and ancient custom throughout the centuries of Christendom. It was once commonplace to find a cemetery surrounding a village church. Memorial crypts, columbaria and cineraria exist in parishes throughout the Anglican Communion. Burial on church property, consecrated ground, provides a sacred space that honors the body, and underscores the reality of the Communion of the Saints, the living and the dead who together make up the community of God’s Kingdom.
In ancient Rome a columbarium was a nesting place for doves. When Christians, relegated to the Roman catacombs, began using these cliff-side niches to seal away the remains of their faithful who had died, “columbarium” took on a new meaning.
 Columbarium: The Undercroft Crypt |
The new St. Peter’s Anglican Church will house three columbaria: the crypt (in the undercroft of the church), the apse (immediately behind the reredos in the main church), the sanctuary (in the floor before the high altar). Simple committals may then be held in a columbarium cloister, or funerals in the church followed by immediate interment in one of the columbaria.
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Cremation, while new to some in American culture, has been practiced for centuries in other cultures and within the Christian Church. The larger Anglican Communion has made clear that cremation in no way conflicts with Biblical tenets regarding the honoring of the body as the temple of God’s Spirit, or the resurrection of the body at the consummation of history. As Christians we fully realize that all bodies return to ash however much we may try to preserve them, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, and that when the New Heaven and the New Earth of God’s final Kingdom come, our “glorified bodies” (I Corinthians 15:43) will not in any way be dependent on the physical condition of our earthly remains. In a time when environmental consciousness prods us to use less space for burial, a columbarium allows us to inter human remains with reverent respect in a sacred space that is both convenient and compact.
 Columbarium: The Apse |
Our columbaria will feature single and double niches in all three locations. We will be offering preconstruction prices until a construction date is established.
Columbarium niches are available to members of St. Peter’s Anglican Church at the time of purchase, former clergy, and their immediate families. Immediate families are defined as spouse, parents, step-parents, natural or adopted children, stepchildren, or grandchildren and siblings.
Download Contract and related documents
- Contract
- Exhibit A: Policies and Procedures
- Exhibit B: Application for Niche
- Exhibit C: Fee Schedule
For additional information, please call 850-701-0664, extension 16.
O God, whose blessed Son was laid in a sepulcher
in the garden: Bless, we pray, this columbarium, and grant that
those whose remains are here interred may dwell
with Christ in paradise, and may come to thy
heavenly kingdom; through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer p. 487