Memorial Service by Northbrae Minister or Family/Friends
We are happy to offer the Cross Memorial Chapel for memorial services as our calendar allows. Our minister is available as well. She will consult with you regarding the service, Check with the Church Office about specific dates and times.
If family and friends wish to conduct their own service, please designate a contact person and be sure we have his/her phone number, email address and address. Check with the Church Office about possible dates and times.
Costs
•The cost for use of facilities for a memorial service in the chapel is $675. This may be given by the family as a gift in memoriam if you wish.
•The costs for staff are: Minister $300 (if using Northbrae's minister), Organist $200. We ask the family to pay these rather than asking the church to bill the estate. We will provide an itemized list of costs if you request.
•Many times, there is a simple reception following the memorial service, either in the Parlor (up to 80 guests) or in Haver Hall (up to 250 guests). The charge for the Parlor is $500, Haver Hall $700. We presume your caterer will prepare the food elsewhere, bring it to the kitchen, and use the kitchen as a staging area from which to serve food at the reception.
•Plan to pay these fees to the church prior to the day of the service.
The service
•The family should consult with the minister regarding their wishes and preferences for the service. The minister will want to obtain information, recollections, etc. about the person to be remembered. If there are favorite songs (or preferred styles of music) to be played on the organ, or favorite poems or readings for the minister to incorporate into the service or to be read by others, bring these to the consultation with the minister. The consultation may last 30 to 60 minutes.
The day of the service
•One family member should be at the Chapel one hour prior to the service to make decisions as to the placement of floral arrangements which may have arrived. Prior or following the service someone should remove the cards that come with flowers, and write a brief description of the arrangement on the back of the card.
•The rest of the family should plan to arrive at the Church no more than 30 minutes prior to the service. If you wish, you can tell arriving family members to gather in the Parlor until all have arrived, then the family group can proceed to the Chapel to be seated on the left side of the front of the Chapel seating area. Let the Church know how many pews should be reserved for family.
•If a funeral home is involved, they may provide a guest book for your guests to sign as they arrive at the Chapel. If none is provided, you may want to get one at a stationary store.
•At the conclusion of the service, the minister will come down from the pulpit and greet family members and ask that they leave the Chapel before the guests are excused. If there is to be a refreshment time following the service, the family should go directly to the reception area in the other building. If there will be no refreshments following, the family should remain in the entry of the Chapel to greet guests.
•Before leaving the Church grounds, you may want to make some decisions about flowers. Please take any or all the arrangements. If you would like, one or two arrangements can be left at the church for other groups to enjoy in the following day or two. If a funeral home is involved, they may have some mechanisms for delivering floral pieces to nursing or convalescent homes.
Memorial Gifts
If memorial gifts are given to the church by friends of the family, we will notify the family that these gifts have been given and by whom. We will also thank the donors for the gifts to the Church.
Noise
It is the policy of Northbrae Community Church that since Northbrae is in a residential area, no 21-gun salute or loud noises are permitted inside or outside of our facilities