cemeteries at churches

[Sleestak]

Hi there,

In my experience, it seems new church construction, in say the past 4 or 5 decades, has not also included an associated church cemetery. Is my experience unique? If my experience is common, any thoughts on why cemeteries are not part of the design anymore for the overall plans in church development?

My two guesses are the following:

1) Given the trend in "church hopping" the past several decades, the situation of generations of one family attending the same church is no longer the norm. So, there is no longer a need for a "family plot" at a single church when such a plot is available at the town/county cemetery.

2) Government regulations/fees are too tough/expensive for a single church to maintain a cemetery.

The reason I bring this question up is I just happened to think about it last night. I thought this would be a good place to get some answers, or at least some guesses.

[StinkerBell]

Never thought about it until you mentioned it. Your answers seem like the logical/practical reasons.

[Old 33]

Perhaps because churches don't want to tie up a sizeable chunk of their property with a cemetary.

Having a cemetary on the church property effectively eliminates a church's ability to ever use that part of the property for any other reason. If the church wants to build a new sanctuary or fellowship hall, it can't tear up the cemetary to do it without really tearing the church apart. It's not like a parking lot that you can always tear up to build something new...

I've been a part of a couple churches which were unable to expand or build new sanctuaries because of a church cemetary taking up the available land.

[Daisy Cutter]

I've got a question... why did people keep getting buried in the back of my school? it had a cemetery, and was packed to the brim. we had to do gym in it, and there was not one free slot.

[GloryBound]

The reason that there are no cemetaries at newer churches is because they are not allowed. I went to a church once that had a lot of beautiful property and really wanted a cemetary. But the only way to be buried on the grounds was to be cremated. People would be cremated, then bury the remains and plant a tree there. Sad, but the only choice they had.

[By Grace Only]

Were I live there are plenty of small "country" churchs that still have graveyards, you can still even bury your loved one's on private property in the county area's. I have a grave across the road from me, it is on private property and it is a 32 year old woman, her name and her husband's name and children are on the headstone, she died in 1991, the sad thing is, no one maintains the grave anymore, the husband whom was also young went on to remarry and have another family....I use to try to mow and help keep it clean with a neighbor of mine...my neighbor passed and my health is ill now, so the grave is grown up and in bad repair..really sad...

[blitzkreig]

Zoning bylaws...

[StinkerBell]

Well I had this image after reading this....what a great way for our churhc to earn some extra revenue. In every parking spot we have someone barried. He parked permantley Joe Smith. Kinda a cemetary parking lot.

[blitzkreig]

Well I had this image after reading this....what a great way for our churhc to earn some extra revenue. In every parking spot we have someone barried. He parked permantley Joe Smith. Kinda a cemetary parking lot.Hey if stacking is permitted you can likely do both... :thumb

[antsinmypants]

This would only be part of the reason:

2) Government regulations/fees are too tough/expensive for a single church to maintain a cemetery.

Not to mention the fact that in most states, if you're buried, you need a vault as well. Then you have to factor in the back hoe and all the other equipment used, and the fact that in some cases, the ground sinks in some cemetery areas.

In some places, anymore- it's the state/city/county's government that decides it's best to leave that sort of thing "to the professionals".

[Sleestak]

All,

Thanks for you comments/answers. Most of them unfortunately were in line with what I surmised. Government/Regulations seem to know best when concerning the dead.

As an aside, I wonder where all the "seperation of church and state" people are concerning this? Afterall, isn't government telling a church what type of facilities in can have on its property?

Ye ole' double standard.

[Old 33]

All,

Thanks for you comments/answers. Most of them unfortunately were in line with what I surmised. Government/Regulations seem to know best when concerning the dead.

As an aside, I wonder where all the "seperation of church and state" people are concerning this? Afterall, isn't government telling a church what type of facilities in can have on its property?

Ye ole' double standard.
Not at all...the government is simply setting standards so that things that are put in the ground are sealed and won't leak into the ground water supply. Churches shouldn't be exempt from that...if they want to bury people behind the church, they should have to comply with the same laws and regulations as a cemetary.

[Mark Armstrong]

Another factor is that churches often relocate as neighborhoods change. If a church commits itself to staying in one spot, which would happen with a cemetary, it could find in a few decades that it's in an industrial zone, commercial zone, or a blighted inner-city location. Lots of chuches have declined and died by not relocating as people relocate.