Christian Cemetery

Definition and Meaning

A Christian cemetery is a burial ground where the bodies or cremated remains of Christians are laid to rest. The term includes cemeteries owned by individual churches, Christian memorial parks operated by denominations or Christian foundations, columbaria that house cremated remains (in Korea officially called bongandang and commonly known as napgoldang), and tree burial sites where remains are interred beneath trees. The English word "cemetery" derives from the Greek koimētērion, meaning "sleeping place." The word is commonly explained as reflecting the early Christian understanding of death as a sleep awaiting the resurrection.

Biblical and Historical Background

• Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah to bury his wife Sarah (Genesis 23). Joseph gave instructions that his bones be carried to the Promised Land (Genesis 50:25).
• After his death on the cross, Jesus was buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60).
• The New Testament refers to deceased believers as "them which are asleep" and speaks of the hope of their future resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).
• During the period of the early church, Christians in Rome buried their dead in underground cemeteries known as catacombs. In medieval Europe, the custom of burying believers in the churchyard surrounding the church building became widespread.
• In Korea, the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery, established after the burial of the missionary John Heron in 1890, is regarded as a representative example of an early Christian cemetery.

Practice in Korean Churches

Gravestones of Korean Christians commonly bear a cross and a Bible verse, and the deceased's church office, such as "elder" or "senior deaconess" (gwonsa), is often inscribed before the name. A committal service is held at the time of interment. When visiting graves on traditional holidays or on the anniversary of a death, many Christians hold a memorial service with hymns and prayer instead of setting out a table for ancestral rites.

As cremation has become common, a growing number of churches and Christian foundations have established columbaria in place of burial cemeteries or operate natural burial sites such as tree burial grounds. Current Korean law uses the term bongan ("enshrinement") rather than napgol ("depositing of bones").

Attitudes toward cremation differ by tradition, as follows:

• Protestantism: The major denominations are generally understood not to prohibit cremation on doctrinal grounds. In the past, some church members preferred burial because of their belief in the resurrection. Many pastors and theologians, however, explain that the resurrection does not depend on whether the body is preserved.
• Catholic Church: The Holy See permitted cremation in 1963. In 2016 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an instruction forbidding the scattering of ashes and directing that cremated remains be kept in a sacred place such as a cemetery.