Wedding Services

wedding at grace A set of "Principles and Guidelines for Services of Marriage at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church" provides the necessary information a couple needs to know in planning and preparing for a wedding service and entry in a marital relationship recognized and supported by this congregation.  Accordingly, the pastors of this congregation have no obligation to serve in the role of a civil servant such as a "Justice of the Peace" and perform weddings simply at the request of a couple desiring to be married in this congregation's beautiful sanctuary.  Before plans are made and dates selected, couples should contact the church office and speak to one of the pastors.

Funeral Services

The first call made at the time of death in one's family should be to one of the pastors.  It is the practice of our Lutheran expression of the Christian faith that members' funerals be held in accordance with the liturgical guidelines of the "Service of the Burial of the Dead" taken from the Lutheran Book of Worship.  Accordingly, plans for a church funeral service need to be coordinated with the pastors prior to making arrangements with funeral director.
The pastors welcome and encourage any member to discuss funeral arrangements.  This is an act of mature faith and a way of being sensitive to one's family and friends.  The pastors are willing to be with the family at any time to help make final decisions.

Grace Lutheran Church Memorial Garden

The Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Memorial Garden is a place especially set aside within the dimensions of the remains of the original Lutheran Church sanctuary located in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia.  It is hallowed ground to the congregation and sacred to the memory of the many saints who have faithfully served Christ through the missiona nd ministry of Grace.  As hallowed and sacred property of the congregation, it will be maintained in quiet and dignified beauty and will be treated as a place of peace and serenity.
The purpose of the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Memorial Garden is to provide a spiritually, theologically and ecologically appropriate space on the property of the congregation for the inhumation of ashes from cremation.
Inhumation means that ashes from cremation will be either scattered directly on the surface of the garden or placed directly into the earth of the garden without container so that the ashes become a part of the life cycle of a living memorial garden.