July 2, 2026

WHAT IS THE COLUMBARIUM?

The Northminster Church Columbarium and Memorial Garden 

The Garden provides a peaceful and welcoming garden for meditation, visitation and

worship and a safe and secure site for cremated remains

The Northminster Columbarium and Memorial Garden provides a valuable ministry to the congregation, a site for the departed, and an accessible site for family and friends’ visitation. It provides a safe, secure, and theologically appropriate way of remembrance. The site is a peaceful, welcoming garden that provides a final earthly resting place, as well as a place for visitation, meditation and worship. It stands as a reminder to us that those who went before us are not forgotten and they have found rest and peace with God.

The Northminster Columbarium and Garden provides members with an alternative to traditional in ground burial in a beautiful church setting. Memorial and inurnment services can be tailored to meet the needs of members and family through preplanning directives in consultation with church staff. More information including time payment options and preplanning details can be obtained by contacting the Columbarium Coordinator, members of the Columbarium Commission, or Northminster ministerial staff.

Eligibility

Interment is limited to members of Northminster Church and their immediate family, present and former clergy and their immediate family. Immediate family includes parents, spouse, children and domestic partners. Former members may apply for a Certificate of Reservation within five years of transfer of membership.

Right of Use

All rights and legal title to all niches and plaques remain with the church. A Certificate of

Reservation entitles the holder only the right of use of the niche for interment of cremains.

The cremains of only one individual may be interred within a niche. A sealed container is provided.

Service of Interment

Any service of interment must be planned by a minister of Northminster in consultation with the family of the deceased or preplanned with a member before death.

Cost

Each niche is priced at $1500. This payment may be made in full at the time of reservation. You may choose our payment plan where your bankiaccount may be debited in monthly installments not to exceed two years and a deposit of $150 is required to hold the niche. Under this plan the total cost is $1600.

HOW CAN I RESERVE MY PLACE IN THE NORTHMINSTER COLUMBARIUM?

You may contact the church office at any time to discuss the purchase of a niche in the columbariium. Currently there are three niches in the center section for sale by the current owner. These niches are: F3, A5, A6. Also in the center section the following niches are available for puchase: B8, C8, D8, E8, F8. Most niches on the left and right sides of the center section are still available.

If you are interested in a tour of the Northminster Columbarium and Memorial Gardens, (even if you do not plan to puchase a niche) contact the office and Renee will be glad to open the gate for your viewing

Niches F3, A5, B5 are for sale by their owners. Contact the church office if you are interested in these or any others.

FUNERAL PLANNING

None of us enjoys thinking about funerals or memorial services. It's not an easy conversation, and many of us would rather put it off for another day. Yet one of the most loving gifts we can give our families is the gift of preparation.

When a loved one dies, those closest to them are often making difficult decisions while carrying the weight of grief. Having your wishes written down can ease that burden and help your family focus on remembering, celebrating, and grieving rather than wondering what you would have wanted. At Northminster, we have a Funeral and Memorial Planning Form available in the church office and on the hall table. The form provides a place to record your preferences for scripture readings, hymns or other music, people you might like to participate in the service, and other details that will help your family and your church honor your life and your faith.

Completing the form does not lock you—or your family—into every decision. Rather, it serves as a thoughtful guide, giving your loved ones the confidence that they are honoring your wishes during a difficult time. If you would like a copy of the Funeral and Memorial Planning Form, please pick one up off the table or contact the church office. You are welcome to complete it at your own pace and return it to be kept on file at the church.

As you consider your plans, you may also want to know that Northminster is home to a beautiful columbarium. Located at the sanctuary end of our building with its own private entrance, it offers a quiet, holy place where those who choose cremation may rest in the care of the community that has nurtured them in faith. For many families, it is a meaningful reminder that even in death, we remain surrounded by the love of God and connected to the people with whom we have shared the journey of faith.

SUNDAY WORSHIP

July 5 at 10:45 am

Rev. Jillian Hanamer preaching the series:

Women of the Hebrew Bible

Daughters of Zelephehad

Numbers 27:1--11

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to stream service

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to view Order of Worship

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to view last Sunday

MUSIC MINISTRY

Opening Hymn: All My Hope on God Is Founded British composer Herbert Howells studied with Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music in London and later taught there. The tune was composed for an English school and was named for Howells' son who died in childhood.

The Middle Hymn: Teach Me, O Lord, You Holy Way William Matson, English poet and Congregational minister, wrote a poem of 321 four-line stanzas titled "The Inner Life" (1866). This hymn of obedience to Christ has been drawn from that extended poem.

The Anthem: All Good Things arranged by Douglas Wagner and set to the tune O WALY WALY.

The Communion Anthem: The Lord Bless You and Keep You by John Rutter and based on Numbers 6:24.

The Closing Hymn: How Firm a Foundation In 1787, John Rippon, English Baptist clergyman, identified the author ofd this hymn as "K"; no one has yet verified a complete name. The pentatonic melody has been known by several names since it first appeared in Funk's Genuine Church Music in 1832.

Human Family

by Maya Angelou

I note the obvious differences

in the human family.

Some of us are serious,

some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived

as true profundity,

and others claim they really live

the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones

can confuse, bemuse, delight,

brown and pink and beige and purple,

tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas

and stopped in every land,

I've seen the wonders of the world

not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women

called Jane and Mary Jane,

but I've not seen any two

who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different

although their features jibe,

and lovers think quite different thoughts

while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,

we weep on England's moors,

and laugh and moan in Guinea,

and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,

are born and die in Maine.

In minor ways we differ,

in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences

between each sort and type,

but we are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

WEDNESDAY CHOIR REHEARSALS ON HIATUSe

The choir will not meet on Wednesday nights through the month of July but will still rehearse on Sunday mornings at 9am during this summer hiatus.

If you are considering choir membership, please join us when regular rehearsals resume in August! We are always excited to hear of folks interested in choir and you will be embraced regardless of your skill level! 

OUR JOYS AND CONCERNS

Megan Proffer 4th

Robert Crawford 9th

Vickie Krutzer 9th

D.H. Clark 10th

Tim Legan 10th

CUBA CONTAINER PROJECT A SUCCESS!

Many thanks to all of you who donated money, said prayers and offered good thoughts for Northminster’s part of the Cuba container project. We met our goal! Currently lots of requested humanitarian items are headed to the collection site in Miami. Also, Eduardo and Queen are back in Miami. He is arranging this week to purchase the solar panel system, which is the major part of our contribution, and have it delivered to the collection site. As previously mentioned the solar panel system will fulfill all of Enmanuel’s requirements for electricity.

Humanitarian items from the other dozen or so Alliance of Baptists churches participating in this effort are also arriving at the collection site. The tentative plan is for the container to arrive at the collection site on July 20, be packed, and then carried to the port for loading on the container ship. The container should arrive at the port in Cuba sometime later in July.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

VBS COMING JULY 26-30 5:30 - 7:30



Northminster's Vacation Bible School will run July 26 - 30 for preschool through 5^th grade. There is a sign-up sheet in the hall for volunteers either during VBS hours (meals, activities, etc...) or you may sign up to help in other ways not associated directly with the VBS schedule. See Beth Mayfield for more information.

YOUTH AT CAMP BE-LOVED

Our Youth left for Camp Be-Loved, formerly known as Baptist Youth Camp (BYC) last Sunday. They will return this Saturday. The camp is hosted in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The camp is supported by a network of progressive churches across the country. It offers an "unplugged" environment (no phones/devices), where youth participate in daily youth-led worship, Bible study, and interest groups like art, sports, and outdoor adventures.

CHURCH LIFE

DON CINCONE BOOK SIGNING

Recently Northminster Church was priviledged to host the P.E.O. Chapter V Spring Talent Showcase featuring the art of Don Cincone. Not only an renowned artist, Don is also an author. His bok titled "Time Was Not My Burden: The Artist Memoir" . It details his incredible life journey, starting from his birth in a Richland Parish cotton field to his rise as an internationally celebrated expressionist painter.

The book chronicles:

• Early Life: Growing up under segregation and discovering European masters through books checked out by his mother.
• Artistic Journey: His global travels, studying in Europe, and his prominent career, including creating 85 original paintings for the 1965 Universal Studios film The Art of Love.
• Philosophy: His agrarian work ethic and the spiritual and natural themes that influence his art.



The book signing will be held at Northminster on Sunday, August 16 following worshp from 12 noon - 2pm. The public is invited.

PUB THEOLOGY

Pub Theology is held on the third Thursday of each month at 7pm at Melvyns, 1128 Oliver Rd., Monroe.

COMING UP

THE FLORAL OFFERING

Sanctuary Flowers:  As is customary during the summer months of July, and August, altar flowers will only be by memorial or honorarium. If you would like to give flowers during the summer months, please contact the church office. Suggested cost $125.

Arrangement by Marilyn Decker

AWAB  RESPONSE TO SCOTUS RULING

The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists (AWAB) is deeply grieved by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision and by the continuing efforts across our nation to exclude transgender people—especially transgender youth—from full participation in public life.

While the Court has ruled on a legal question, the Church is called to answer a deeper moral one: How will we respond to our transgender neighbors?

For far too long, transgender people—and especially transgender youth—have been singled out for suspicion, exclusion, and political exploitation. This decision does not stand alone. It joins a growing number of laws and public policies that portray transgender people not as beloved children of God, but as problems to be debated, regulated, and excluded.

It is also important to keep this issue in perspective. The number of transgender girls participating in school athletics represents only a tiny fraction of the millions of young people who participate in school sports across the United States. Yet these few students have become the focus of sweeping legislation, courtroom battles, and relentless public attention.

If our collective concern were truly centered on strengthening youth athletics, we would expect to see the same urgency devoted to the challenges affecting millions of young athletes every day: equitable funding, safe facilities, quality coaching, access to equipment, mental health resources, and opportunities for every child to flourish. Instead, an extraordinarily small and vulnerable group of young people has become the center of a national political and cultural debate.

It is also telling that these efforts overwhelmingly focus on transgender girls while seldom raising comparable concern about transgender boys. That imbalance invites a larger question: Is this debate truly about athletics, or has it become another means of regulating and marginalizing transgender people?

AWAB rejects the growing narrative that transgender people are threats to be managed rather than neighbors to be loved.

We affirm that transgender people are created in the image of God. Their identities are not moral failings to be corrected, nor are their lives political talking points. They are human beings whose dignity is inherent, whose gifts enrich our communities, and whose lives are worthy of protection, celebration, and love.

As Baptists, we have long cherished freedom of conscience, the priesthood of every believer, the autonomy of the local church, and the conviction that every person stands directly before God. These historic Baptist freedoms were never intended to justify exclusion. Rather, they call us to defend the God-given dignity of every person and to uphold the freedom of congregations to welcome and affirm all whom God has created.

For more than three decades, AWAB has walked alongside congregations proclaiming that LGBTQ+ people are not obstacles to the Gospel but living testimonies to its expansive grace. Today’s decision does not diminish that witness. If anything, it deepens our resolve to continue supporting churches and communities where every person can live authentically, worship freely, and participate fully in the life and ministry of the local congregation.

The good news of Jesus has never been about narrowing the circle of belonging. Again and again, Jesus crossed boundaries, dismantled barriers, and drew near to those whom others sought to exclude. The Gospel continually expands our vision of who belongs. It invites us to see one another not through fear or suspicion, but through the transforming love of God.

To our transgender siblings, especially young people and their families: we see you. We love you. We stand with you. Your life is not a controversy. Your humanity is not up for debate. You are beloved by God, and there are welcoming & affirming congregations across the Baptist landscape where you will be embraced, affirmed, and invited to participate fully in the life and ministry of the Church.

We call upon our member congregations and all people of faith to reject fear with love, exclusion with hospitality, and silence with courageous public witness. This is not merely a matter of public policy; it is a matter of Christ-like care.

The exclusion of transgender people is not the good news we know the Gospel to proclaim. The Gospel does not ask people to become someone other than the person God knows, loves, and calls them to be. Rather, it proclaims abundant life, the restoration of human dignity, and the widening—not the narrowing—of the human family. It reminds us that every person bears the image of God and deserves to live with dignity, safety, hope, and joy.

In this moment, AWAB renews its commitment to stand alongside transgender people, to advocate for their dignity and safety, and to defend the freedom of churches to proclaim God's radically inclusive love. We will continue to encourage Baptist congregations and all faith communities to become places where every person is welcomed, affirmed, and empowered to participate fully in the life and ministry of the Church.

Until that day when every transgender person can live openly, safely, and with the assurance that they are fully loved by both God and neighbor, AWAB will continue to bear witness to the Gospel that refuses to make outsiders of those whom God has already called beloved.