The St. James Memorial Garden is located behind the sacristy north of the chapel. The Garden was built as a sanctified location to be used by communicants of St. James Episcopal Church and their immediate families for interment of their ashes (cremains) either in the ground or in a columbarium. There are diagrams of the Garden Plots and wall Niches in this booklet in addition to Subscription forms.
The Garden measures 50 feet east to west, and 25 feet north to south. A low brick wall with a centered altar marks the east end of the Garden. The Garden is appropriately landscaped to offer a quiet place for family and friends to gather in love and remembrance. To maintain a feeling of simplicity, beauty and dignity in the Garden, there will be no vases, flowers, emblems, or flags except during a commitment ceremony if the family so desires.
The brick wall is comprised of 8 sections, with each section containing 9 niches. Each niche is designed for two urns containing the cremains of two individuals. Attached to the granite exterior of each niche containing cremains is a bronze plaque with name and dates of birth and death of those interred. The cost of a niche subscription is $1500 which includes 2 urns and 2 bronze plaques. This can be made in 3 payments of $500: with $500 initially, and 2 payments of $500 at six month intervals.
The ground is divided into plots of one-square-foot each for those individuals choosing a plot instead of a niche. The names of those interred are located on individual bronze plaques attached to larger bronze plaques on the brick gate posts. The cost of a plot subscription is $400 which includes one bronze plaque. This can be paid in two installments of $200: with $200 initially, and one payment of $200 within six months.
The Saint James Memorial Garden is designated as a registered corporation legally entitled to dispose of cremains and is licensed by the city of Fairhope as a cemetery. The Garden is managed by a Board of six or more members elected by the parish under the guidance of the Vestry. The Memorial Garden Board is responsible for keeping the financial records, assisting parishioners in choosing a Niche or a Plot, and providing for the maintenance of the Garden.
Burial within church grounds was once a common practice, but recently cremation has become much more common. Cremation is modestly priced, esthetically satisfying and ecologically sound, and the Memorial Garden's atmosphere provides consolation between life and death.
The feeling that some have about cremation is that it destroys the body as a living organism, but that is not reasonable. Whether the body is buried or incinerated, it passes from our sight, but never from God's sight. God receives the remains of every human life regardless of what has been done to the body. The Episcopal liturgy for the dead is suitable for both burial and cremation.
The cost difference of cremation compared to burial is quite significant, as illustrated below; however each subscriber will decide on the procedure.
1. Cremation costs less than $2000 including transport of the deceased to the crematory, filing of legal documents, obituary announcements, placement of cremains in the garden and the church memorial service.
2. Cremation with visitation, embalming, and viewing of the body followed by church memorial service would cost about $5000 or more.
3. Visitation and traditional burial varies greatly depending on costs of the casket, visitation location, cemetery selection, grave monuments, etc., but could range from $6,000 to $15,000.
A Memorial Garden board member normally transports the cremains from the funeral home to the priest and receives a Certificate of Cremation, which is placed in the deceased's file. The priest receives an urn if appropriate. Obituary notices from local papers and the Memorial Service bulletin are also placed in the file.
Board members provide a Guest Book in the Narthex. They open the niche and assure that the garden is clean, and, if a plot interment, they locate the correct plot, dig the hole, place green carpet over the hole and save the dirt for later use. Board members may be asked to perform a variety of tasks during or after the service by ushering or otherwise assisting the priest and the family.
The St. James Memorial Garden board, with vestry approval, has adopted the following regulations, which apply, as appropriate, to the board and to subscribers of the garden.
The Board selects its Chairman and Secretary at its annual meetings. The Chairman is responsible for calling meetings, directing the board's work, seeing that interments are organized and carried out appropriately and other board duties. The Secretary maintains records and coordinates the Board’s work with the Parish Administrator.
Subscription Certificates are issued to parish members and their immediate family, including parents, spouses, siblings, and children. Subscription prices include two urns and two name plaques for a niche, and a square foot of the Garden and a name plaque for a plot.
3 Subscribers should contact the church office a minimum of 48 hours prior to an interment, which is generally not scheduled on national or church holidays. If the family does not choose to have the interment of the cremains at the time of the Celebration of Life Service, the cremains will be stored in the office by the Memorial Garden Board. If the family chooses to have visiting clergy for an interment this would be subject to the Rector’s approval, given that the Rector is ultimately responsible for all services at St. James.
4. The Garden Board is solely responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of the Garden. The Board reserves the right to re-survey, enlarge, diminish, and otherwise modify the Garden with respect to reserved niches or plots.
5. St James Memorial Garden is a licensed cemetery and will continue in the future to be a Christian burial site for our members’ final place of rest.
6. Legal title to the Garden is held by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, Inc.