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Over the forty plus years of Eliot's existence, gifts of money, time, plants, etc. have been made to honor those who have gone before. Some of these gifts are well documented and many others exist only in the memory of members and friends. A succession of interested individuals have worked as ad hoc Memorial Garden committees over the years to consider the possibility of establishing a Memorial Garden at Eliot and explore possible options. At the December 2002 meeting of the Eliot Chapel Board of Trustees, a Memorials Committee was established to deal with memorials at Eliot. Members of the committee are Rich Vaughn, David Brown, Faith Williams, Jan Chamberlin, Bruce Williams, and Tom Evans.
The immediate concern of the Memorials Committee was to address the tasks assigned to it by the Board. These task were completed on schedule.
The Memorials Committee was directed to obtain an appropriate Memorial Garden Book to be kept in the Chapel Library to record past and present memorials.
The Committee was also directed to organize, publicize and conduct not less than two open forums to determine the wish and will of the congregation and to discuss all aspects of the Memorial Garden and associated policy including funding, by March 15, 2003. The specific plans, Proposed Terms and Conditions of Use and cost estimates developed by the previous Memorial Garden Committee prior to November of this year were used as a starting point with the clear understanding that everything is open to discussion and change. It was further recommended that an outline of probable issues for discussion be posted prior to these meetings and given to each participant to be used to stimulate, but not limit discussion. The Committee presented a formal proposal to the Board in April 2003 so it can be presented to and voted on by the congregation at the annual meeting in May 2003.
Three facilitated open forums were scheduled and a congregational survey was distributed.
Survey Information
The survey and supporting documentation was distributed at the Sunday services on February 23 and March 2, 2003. Survey forms were also available in Visitor's Corner, the office and on the website. Surveys were to be returned by Sunday March 2 to be included in the tabulation of results.
The results were presented at the April 2003 Board meeting. The congregation will vote at the May 2003 on a Memorial Garden proposal resulting from the survey and forum discussions.
The following documents are now available online:
- Memorial Garden Survey Results - Tabulated results
- Memorial Garden Survey Comments - All comments organized by survey number