In 2007, the Black Forest Lutheran Church added a columbarium on its property to accommodate the urns of church members.ìThe term columbarium comes from the Latin word for a ëdwelling place of a dove;í Christians believe the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit,î according to https://stmaryscathedral.org/columbarium. A columbarium is a vault, or wall, with niches to store the cremated remains of the deceased. A†niche†is a shelf-like space in the columbarium structure that holds the urns.The Black Forest Lutheran Church columbarium consists of 96 units ó two units of 48 each ó with space on the property to build two more, depending on the desires of the church members, said Duane Steinke, a columbarium committee member.The church started exploring the idea by visiting other columbarium sites. In 2005, they made recommendations based on their findings and started the process; two years later, they completed the structure.ìMost of the places they visited had columbariumís [sic] that were attached to or connected to the building, but we have a lot of property so we chose a hill a ways from the church buildings amongst the trees where it is quiet and peaceful,î Steinke said.ìMost people still hold a funeral in the sanctuary and a brief service at the site just like a traditional service; but they choose to have a quiet, private place to come and spend time with their loved ones in the future.îSteinke said he and his wife originally made more traditional funeral arrangements for themselves but once the church agreed to have its own columbarium, they changed their minds. ìIt just made sense to be there since we are associated with the church, itís close for our family and could be a common place for our own children and grandchildren to also use if they want to; and itís more reasonably priced than more traditional places,î Steinke said.The church brochure states that the columbarium is tended to by members of the congregation, and it is available for church members and their extended family, along with former members. Lavonne Hidy, a member of the church, said her husbandís urn is at the Black Forest columbarium. ìJim and I wanted to make it easier on our children by having our funeral arrangements made ahead of time; he since passed away in 2013,î Hidy said. ìI feel closer to him because when Iím at church, which is often, I can look over at the columbarium and know he is there, and even though itís very emotional, itís also very comforting.
