Funerals & Churchyard
Funerals at Caroline Church
A funeral in the Episcopal Church is seen as a celebration of the life of the departed. “In sure and certain hope of the resurrection” we, as a community, give thanks for the life of the one who has died. Familiar spoken anthems, psalms, and other prayers are offered. They can provide comfort at a time of loss. Our ability to give thanks at this time grows out of our faith that For God’s faithful people, "life is changed not ended.”
Caroline Church has a Grief Support group that meets on a regular basis. If you feel the need to have others walk beside you on your grief journey, we are here to help and we invite you to join us. More information can be found here:
If you are interested in visiting Caroline Church to explore the possibility of holding a funeral / memorial service / celebration of life on-site, please call the church office at (631) 941-4245 or use the Contact Form on the website to let us know of your interest.
Caroline Churchyard
The burial ground around Caroline Episcopal Church, the churchyard, was acquired in 1734. Since the first burial, the churchyard has been “hallowed ground,” and our forebears have worked faithfully to honor and care for the resting place of all who have worshipped here. For many, many years records of the burials have been kept on file cards and large maps. Keeping track of all that information was a huge task, and it has long been the goal of the church leadership to find a way to safeguard that information and make it available to all of us.
Over the past few years, the cemetery committee has “walked” the cemetery to verify that the names, dates and location of each headstone was accurate. They also verified the locations of cemetery plots and cremains spaces which are available for future use.
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we have been able to reach our long-time goal. We have contracted with Chronicle, an online cemetery management company, to digitally map our churchyard and consolidate all our records into a secure single database. This program provides the opportunity to search for a grave, view a photo of the headstone, and learn more about the person buried there. If someone is interested in reserving a plot for future use, the map of the cemetery indicates available plots.
We are currently in the process of adding additional information for each person’s record i.e. date of birth, gender, maiden name, military service, burial or cremation. We would appreciate the help of the church family in checking the information we have and letting us know if a change is needed, something needs to be added, or if they have a better photo of the headstone.
To access the map and records of our churchyard on Chronicle, please click the link below. There, you will be able to utilize their search engine to locate specific graves, browse available plots, and even submit Life Chronicle Online Memorials (stories / obituaries for your loved ones), for a small fee which goes to support the church and Chronicle.
Caroline Episcopal Church’s graves are also on record at Find-A-Grave.com.
If you are interested in reserving a burial plot or niche in our churchyard, please call the church office at (631) 941-4245 or use the Contact Form on our website to let us know of your interest. In the future, your family will undoubtedly be very grateful for your thoughtfulness in making advance arrangements.