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"Family" is a treasured feature of Zion. We are part of the world-wide family of Anglican Churches. We take seriously our membership in the family of congregations known as the Episcopal Church in the United States. Without that family, we are also part of the Diocese of New York, with our "mother Church", the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Most importantly of all, Zion Parish is family. As members of this Parish, we are committed to each other. But always, "family", is an inclusive quality. For a century and a half, Zion has been a place of comfort and aid for all people in our area. We are family to our immediate neighbors and no less to our sister parish in Darbonne, Haiti.
The construction of Zion's Columbarium is the product of many factors. Important among these is that the very site of our Columbarium has been a burial place for over 200 years. This cemetary was closed shortly after Zion Church was built in 1834, but gravestones dating from the 18th century are still present, and some stones mark the graves of early Zion parishioners.
With the increasing availability of cremation, Zion believed that a Columbarium was an ideal way to preserve this very old burial place and to continue the Christian custom of interment in or near the Church.
A variety of alternatives is available for interment in Zion's Columbarium. Interment may be either in a niche in the Chapel or in the outside garden wall, or there may be direct, in-ground interment of ashes. Each niche can accommodate two interments.
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