Memorial Garden... 

Many years ago the idea of a Memorial Garden for the burial of cremated remains of parishioners and their families at Saint David's was suggested. In 1999 the thought was rekindled and a Memorial Garden Committee was formed to begin to realize this idea.

The committee was carefully chosen to represent all people of Saint David's to act thoughtfully and prayerfully in this effort. Many Memorial Gardens were visited to see what other churches had done. Their people graciously shared their garden stories with us.

We learned that through centuries of Christian history, the churchyard has been a traditional resting place for those who have gone home before us. Our Memorial Garden was created to receive ashes so that we may return to and continue that custom of returning our earthly remains to Saint David's sacred ground.

With Vestry support we venture forth and created our Memorial Garden to the Glory of God and as a resting place for our loved ones who have gone home. Saint David's Memorial Garden is intended to be a place of peace and natural beauty. It is separate from our Celebration Garden that is located by our Great Hall. The Memorial Garden site is located to the right of the church as you drive in from Route One, off the lawn and in the woods. It receives the cremated remains of our loved ones and is a quiet place in which we may honor and remember them.

The site is a Circle. A semicircular stonewall was built with open arms facing the church. A stone altar was also placed on the wall to allow for services to be held there. Curved stone benches complete the circle.

Because of Saint David's rich Celtic heritage, the committee determined that the central focus of our Memorial Garden would be an authentic stone Celtic Cross. In front of the cross a millstone has been placed over a communal vault that holds cremated remains. Cobblestones surround the millstone and the cross. The names of our interred loved ones are inscribed, along with their birth and death dates, on a granite panel on the stone wall in front of the altar.