Funerals and Memorials

Columbarium and Rose Garden

The Country Club Christian Church Columbarium and Rose Garden provide two beautiful settings that will honor and perpetuate cherished memories of deceased loved ones. The Columbarium serves as a living memorial to those who have gone before us. The lovely Rose Garden offers a more secluded setting for remembering. The warm design of each invites meditation and prayer and honors the deceased.

The Columbarium

It is located on the west side of the George Hamilton Combs Chapel. This lovely place invites prayer and is a peaceful gathering spot for family and friends.

The columbarium is to be used exclusively for the inurnment of human remains. Inurnment is limited to persons with a relationship to Country Club Christian Church.

For more information, DOWNLOAD THIS BROCHURE. If you are interested in an application or the fee schedule for the columbarium, please contact the church office. A member of the staff will contact you to answer questions and help you with your arrangements.

The Rose Garden

A permanent memorial for a loved one satisfies an immediate need and helps to preserve our heritage. This lovely garden with memorial bricks serves as a living memorial to those who have gone before us. The warm design invites meditation, prayer and loving honor of the deceased. Download the form HERE to begin your Memorialization.

The Christian Funeral: Preparing and Planning for Death

Christ has promised:  I will not leave you comfortless:  I will come to you.”  –John 14:18

The scriptures promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death.  (Romans 8:39)

Country Club Christian Church stands ready to plan a service designed to comfort those who mourn and hold in grateful memory a loved one. To that end, we have provided a list of scripture readings and hymns, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. In addition, we have provided a list of books related to grieving that might be helpful now and in the future.

List of Suggested Scripture Readings

The Bible has much to say about God’s promises related to death and resurrection. The following are passages that Christians have found meaningful in funeral services. If you have a favorite passage not listed here, be sure to visit with the clergy about other possible readings.

Isaiah 25:6-10 God will swallow up death forever.

Isaiah 40:28-31 Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd.

Psalm 46:1-5, 10-11 A very present help in trouble; be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 90:1-10, 12 You have been our dwelling place in all generations; teach us to number our days.

Psalm 91 The one who dwells in the shelter of the Most High.

Psalm 103 Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

Psalm 139:1-12 Where shall I go from your spirit?

Matthew 5:1-12a The Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who mourn…”

John 6:37-40 I will raise them up on the last day.

John 11:38-44 Lazarus raised from the dead.

John 14:1-6, 25-27 Let not your hearts be troubled.

Romans 6:3-9 Baptized into Christ’s death, raised to live with him.

Romans 8:31-39 Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 Death is swallowed in victory.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The comfort of Christ’s coming again.

1 John 3:1-3 We are children of God.

Revelation 21:1-4 A new heaven and a new earth; death will be no more.

List of Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

Our hymnal contains many of the great hymns of the faith, including some more appropriate for the Christian funeral. If you do not see a favorite hymn, please directly contact the designated musician which will be provided to you by the clergy.

Amazing Grace!  No. 546

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today  No. 216

Fairest Lord Jesus  No. 97

For All the Saints  No. 637

For the Beauty of the Earth  No. 56

Great Is Thy Faithfulness  No. 86

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!  No. 4

I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry  No. 75

In the Bulb There Is a Flower  No. 638

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee  No. 2

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling  No. 517

Precious Lord, Take My Hand  No. 628

There Is a Balm in Gilead  No. 501

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross  No. 195

What Wondrous Love Is This  No. 200

On Eagle’s Wings, No. 77

Frequently Asked Questions

In a time of grief, persons often have many practical concerns. If you have questions not addressed here, please be sure to ask the clergy person from our church.

Please contact the clergy of the church who will check the availability of the worship space, reception space, parking space and clergy/musicians prior to confirming the time/date of the service. The main number is 816-333-4917.

The church will prepare and print a standard funeral bulletin. Information, such as participants, scripture readings, music titles and composers, photo, etc., must be received by the church at least 48 hours before the service. If the family prefers to print its own bulletin, please include the church information as follows: church logo (will be provided in jpeg, png or eps format by the church Communications office), and name and title of Country Club Christian Church clergy and musicians.

Country Club Christian Church has a staff of professional musicians who are here to counsel and serve. One of our music staff will provide the service music or delegate duties to a reliable sub. If a guest soloist (vocal or instrumental) is requested, please discuss this with the staff musician. An additional fee for the staff musician may be charged if extra rehearsal time is required. If you wish to have a referral for a soloist, our staff is glad to facilitate. Guest soloists are required to provide legally purchased PDF copies of their music (in the key they wish to perform) to our music staff by 48 hours prior to the service. Failure to do this may result in an additional fee.

Yes, the officiating minister at the church may invite another minister to assist in the service with readings, prayers or personal remarks. The officiating minister at Country Club Christian Church will deliver the message or homily/sermon.

If a funeral home is involved, flowers may be delivered to the church and will be held until a representative from the funeral home arrives to arrange them. If no funeral home is being used, the church funeral guild will work with the family to arrange and display flowers. Families are encouraged to consider asking for donations to a cause or charity in lieu of flowers.

We support military honors at the graveside or the cemetery.

If there is no funeral home personnel at the service, we can invite members of the funeral guild to assist with welcoming guests and distributing bulletins.

Yes. Memorial gifts will go into the church’s endowment (undesignated), which are used to support the church now and into the future. The Endowment Trustees disburse the funds according to the Declaration of Trust approved by the official Congregational Board. If donations are requested for a specific church ministry, please contact Rachel Clement ([email protected]), Director of Finance in advance. If you list a variety of causes as options for friends and family, such as your loved one’s alma mater, a health-related 501(c)(3), or an animal shelter, the gifts should be made payable to the organization and sent to them directly.

It is recommended that a statement regarding memorial gifts be listed with the obituary and the service bulletin.

Examples:

Memorial donations may be made to Country Club Christian Church.

Yes, if the funeral home personnel are here to assist.

Our church has a columbarium where members and other persons associated with the congregation may be inurned. Please contact the church office for information regarding fees and availability.

Receptions can be held before or after the service, or even the day before the service. The date and time will need to be checked against the church calendar before confirming. Smaller receptions (example: cookies and punch) can take place in the church parlor. A larger reception could be held in the church Social Hall. A kitchen is adjacent to the Social Hall. The family is responsible for any food, catering arrangements, and any associated costs. We do not have staff or a funeral guild to assist.

Yes, we can set up tables and have easels available.

The church has a screen in the parlor and in the Social Hall where a slide show could be shown during a visitation or reception. Please contact the church to find out the format that would be required to interface with the technology.

Country Club Christian Church has the capacity to record and/or privately livestream funerals and memorial services.

All requests for streaming and recording must be submitted to Dan Warneke, Director of Production, for review in advance; all final amendments and needs for taping must be determined on a timeline at the direction of the Director of Production.

As necessary, the party(s) involved in the event will meet and discuss the needs for said event with the staff person tasked with operating the streaming/recording equipment, including but not limited to scenes for the video and special needs for audio.

All performers of any kind must be both aware of the recording and consent to being broadcasted.

The staff person operating the streaming/recording devices will schedule the recording and secure the stream upon request, providing the event coordinators with the necessary url to access the online broadcast.

AT TIME OF EVENT
The staff person from the church will be present at the tech booth in the balcony throughout the entirety of the event, troubleshooting as necessary for the recording. Any assistance outside of this scope of work, including custodial and administrative tasks, is considered extra and can result in an additional cost on a time and materials basis. Any occurrences during the event which might be classified as “ad lib” will not be accounted for; the staff person will stay true to the predetermined video plan for scenes throughout the event.

FOLLOWING THE EVENT
Within 24 hours of the stream/recording, the facilitating staff person or Director of Production will make available an unedited MP4 file of the event accessible publicly online through Google Drive. If the event coordinators elect to have editing done to the video file, the requested materials will be available within one week of the event.

ERRORS IN ENCODING OR RECORDING
As recording and streaming is contingent upon the connectivity of the Internet, in the case that there is a local area outage or some other failure in the audio/video technology which would compromise the ability for the church to stream/record the event, all costs associated with said service would be refunded.

Facility Charges
  Sanctuary, Chapel, Narthex, Parlor* $300
  Social Hall $200
  Kitchen $150
  Recording/Livestream $350 1st hour/$125 each additional hour
      Any post-production work $60/hour
Honorariums 
      Minister – suggested range $250-$500
      Organist – suggested range $250-$375
      Pianist – suggested range $250-$375
      Singers/instrumentalists $200

*Includes set-up, service bulletin, beverage service (coffee, tea, water), easels, tables, funeral guild (ushers).

One check can be made to the Country Club Christian Church to cover the total expense based on the summary of expenses provided above.

Resources on Grief

When the funeral is over, the grieving process continues. This can be an especially hard time after family and friends leave. The following resources are recommended in hopes they help you on the journey ahead:

Nicholas Wolterstroff, Lament for a Son

Ann Weems, Psalms of Lament

C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Alan Wolfelt, Understanding Grief: Helping Yourself Heal

John Claypool, Tracks of a Fellow Struggler

Jerusha Hull McCormack, Grieving: A Beginner’s Guide

Stephanie Ericsson, Companion Through the Darkness: Inner Dialogues of Grief

Harold Bloomfield, Melba Colgrove, and Peter McWilliams, How to Survive the Loss of a Love

Click HERE to view sample funeral/memorial program.