A Memorial Garden can meet a need in today’s busy world, where people tend to move from place to place, often having no enduring ties to any one community. What better site, then, for a final resting place than near to a church which held meaning during life? At the Church we dedicate our children to God in Baptism and hear the Good News of God’s love for His children. How natural that the Church should be the site for committal of ashes and the last rites of comfort.

Through the Memorial Garden, the Church offers a means of proclaiming our faith and serving those in need. First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor formed a committee in 1979 to establish a Memorial Garden. Dedication of the area took place on Memorial Day Sunday, 1981, after months of praying and planning. Formal consecration of the Garden was November 8, 1981.

In 2006, we joyously celebrate the Memorial Garden's 25th Anniversary!

INTERMENT OF ASHES

The Memorial Garden Committee will observe specific burial procedures.  Each person’s ashes will be buried directly in the soil in a separate, undesignated location. At the time of interment a short prayer service will be conducted by a minister of First Church and a member of the Memorial Garden Committee. Family members are welcome to be present at this ceremony. Ashes are interred from April 1 to November 1, as the weather permits. Names of those most recently interred will be inscribed on the Garden Wall twice a year; once in spring and once in autumn.

Please contact the church office, 662-4536, for information on fees and to fill out an agreement for yourself or a loved one.

Contributions to the Garden are always welcome. Spring flower donations are received each May for Memorial Day. Specific gift ideas will be reviewed by the Memorial Garden Committee. Families may wish to designate the Memorial Garden for memorial contributions. Other memorial gift opportunities are available.  Please contact the church office.