The death of a loved one is never easy.  A wide range of emotions and thoughts come to people when a loved one dies.  For some there is a depth of grief that feels so overwhelming that they do not know what to say or do.  For others, there may be a sense of relief, for the pain and suffering that your loved one experienced will now be over. Planning a funeral can be a very difficult thing to do especially when going through the loss of a loved one. One of the difficulties faced by loved ones of the deceased is deciding what kind of service to hold, or what kind of content to include.

Pre-planning your funeral or memorial service is one of the best ways to help your family during their difficult time of grief and loss.

You will be giving your family guidance and direction about the things that are most important to you for your own funeral service.

You will be helping to alleviate a great deal of the burden, stress, guilt and difficult decision-making associated with planning a loved one's funeral.

You will save your family from over-spending on options that do not reflect your wishes.

And, you will have the opportunity to carefully consider just how you would like to be remembered

At FUMCOR, we offer guidelines for you and your family to assist you as you consider having a funeral or memorial service at FUMCOR.

We refer to a funeral service as “A Celebration of Life and Resurrection.”  It is our belief that the love and the life that you shared with the individual who has died is a gift from God.  The service that is planned by family and clergy is a time in which we give thanks to God. 

We have Funeral Guidelines and Policies with basic information that we share with families when planning for the funeral service. For assistance with planning or pre-planning a funeral or memorial service please contact one of the pastors. 

We also assist in burial. We will go to the graveside for the committal or we have a Memorial Garden here at FUMC. If you wish for your loved one’s remains to be buried in the Memorial Garden we have a policy statement that will guide you in your decision. The ashes are to be interred in a biodegradable container or deposited directly in the ground. FUMC will furnish a linen bag for you. A permanent bronze memorial nameplate inscribed with the name of the person and dates of birth and death will be the only memorial in the garden and will also be provided by the Memorial Garden Committee. The fee for interment is $500.00 per person. There is a Memorial Garden application and a Request for Bronze Nameplate that you will need to fill out and turn in to Terrie Schneider.

The Funeral Meal Ministry group, which began in 2011 under the Congregational Care Ministry, provides meals, serving, and cleanup to families before and after funerals at FUMC. When a family experiences loss and meets with a pastor to discuss the arrangements, the pastor shares the menu choices with them.  At this time, the family can choose to have a meal served before or after the funeral in the Fellowship Hall or a meal can be delivered to the family's home (no serving or cleanup provided). The group is limited to serving families up to 30 people. If there are more then we can provide names of catering groups in the area. But through this ministry, we hope to share the love of Christ with grieving families during their time of need.

Enduring Gifts provides our members and friends with the opportunities to support our church programs, missions and facilities through wills, charitable trusts/annuities, life insurance policies, cash or property, stocks or bonds. You can either designate your gift to an endowment or you can create your own. The minimum amount required for the church to be able to use the funds is $25,000. There are some of our endowment funds that do not have $25,000 in them yet so that money cannot be used by the church, but you can add to those specific funds if you wish.

Another thing to think about is memorial gifts. Many people will ask that in lieu of flowers, gifts be made to the church. You can specify a certain ministry—for example Music, Adult Choir, Youth Choir, Youth Ministry, Missions, etc. -- or it will go to the general fund. 

If you would like for information on your enduring gifts, please see either Terrie Schneider or Mayme Crowell.