By the 90s, the board of trustees began looking for alternatives that could be placed on church grounds. In 2003, a columbarium project showed promise.

Cremation has surpassed embalming as the preferred method for honoring loved ones in the U.S.: according to the Cremation Association of North America, the percentage of people who chose cremation reached 61.8% in 2024. As a scalable, above-ground structure that houses urns inside individual, sealed niches, a columbarium seemed like a long-term, tailor-fit solution. However, progress stalled due to challenges presented by constructing an accessible location in the cemetery.

Years later, an offhand conversation between church leaders provided the way forward. They reasoned that placing a columbarium near the church entrance would provide families of the departed a dignified, contemplative location for honoring loved ones. So, they settled on a spot centered beneath the three stained-glass windows facing Harrison Avenue.