Immediately following worship on Sunday, April 27, we will gather in the Remembrance Garden for a prayer of thanksgiving and rededication. We will give thanks for the ministry this space has provided over the years, honor the many lives memorialized there, and reaffirm our commitment to caring for this sacred place in the years to come.
With gratitude,
Carol McEntyre
Remembrance Garden Celebration—April 27, 2025
It is hard to believe our Remembrance Garden has reached its 25th year! Its history began with Hardy Clemons appointing a research committee of Charlie Bryan, Jim Neal, Lisa Stamm, Fletcher Kirkland and myself to study the addition of a columbarium for First Baptist.
Following site visits to other area churches the committee was led to the design by Robert Hayter, a Pinehurst, NC, landscape architect and principal partner of Columbarium Planners Inc. Robert’s design was a 250-niche columbarium with 80 memorial plaques within a garden located among the campus historic oaks, azaleas and magnolias. Presentations were made to the Diaconate and church town hall meetings resulting in special donations by several church members toward its construction. The columbarium with its stack stone facade and gracious garden plantings became a reality with its dedication on April 16, 2000.
The columbarium has a wrought iron cross locally crafted by the late Howard McCall. The Good Samaritan statue designed by Charlie Pate was added as a part of the “Giving Because We Care” stewardship campaign along with the addition of a labyrinth designed by Joel Kirby.
The church Property and Grounds Committees give top priority to the Remembrance Garden for its maintenance and care funded by niche and plaque sales.
A place of reflection, peace and comfort is experienced when walking through its gates to hear the church bells and sounds of children on the playground.
As a church organization with carefully developed guidelines, found on the church website, the Remembrance Garden Committee consists of Charlie Bryan, Wofford Green, Janice Johnson, Stephanie Wright, Ryland Brown and Jenna Manning. It is a true calling to assist the Pastoral Care Ministry in honoring those interred and memorialized there, as well as aid in future planning within this sacred space.
Hardy’s prayer of dedication 25 years ago is the Garden’s foundation now and for its future:
O God, you have been our help in ages past.
You are our hope for years to come.
Be thou our guide while life shall last
And our eternal home. Amen.
Thanks be to God.
—Janice Johnson