The Church ministers to people throughout their lives, especially at turning points such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death. Therefore, the Church has always sought to bury the dead reverently, in consecrated places. With population density increasing and less land available for cemeteries, cremation is becoming more popular. In response, churches have established facilities for the respectful safekeeping of cremated remains. This space is called a Columbarium, from the Latin for “dovecote,” columba; the dove is a symbol of God’s Spirit and of peace.
The Columbarium at the Disciples Center at Tawakoni was entrusted to us from First Christian Church in Wichita when that congregation closed its visible ministry. It is a fitting place for the safekeeping of cremains, especially for those who learned of the love of God through church camp or in other outdoor ministries of the regional church, for those whose life in the church has involved a number of congregations, and for those whose spiritual lives are nurtured in the experience of God’s natural world.
In addition to internment, ashes may be scattered in specified areas of the grounds with memorialization of those whose ashes are scattered here. Names, with dates of birth and death, are engraved on a plaque in the Columbarium.
The Columbarium is the responsibility of the Christian Church in Kansas, administered through the office at Disciples Center at Tawakoni. The Columbarium is in the Chapel prayer room.
More information can be found in our columbarium brochure or by calling the Disciples Center Administration Office.