Pregnancy Loss Support: ECS Remembers Through Interment of Fetal Ashes

The Garden Columbarium at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Downtown Salt Lake City

In the quiet garden columbarium of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Mark in Salt Lake City, there exists a sacred space dedicated to the smallest lives.

Twice each year, the Episcopal Community Services Spiritual Care team gathers at this cathedral, the namesake of St. Mark's Hospital, for one of their most tender ministries: the Interment of Fetal Ashes. It is a service born from understanding that pregnancy loss, no matter how early, represents a profound grief that deserves recognition and professional spiritual care.

"When someone experiences pregnancy loss, it is a sensitive situation," reflects an ECS chaplain. "ECS Spiritual Care provides a tender and sacred avenue to inter the deceased remains."

The garden columbarium at the Episcopal Cathedral holds a special section specifically for these little ones, children who died in utero or whose families, overwhelmed by loss, had no other burial plans. Here, their cremains find a peaceful resting place, with costs covered by ECS according to families' wishes.

Chaplain Christina Gringeri and Chaplain Resident Amy Russian, and Rev. Dr. Mari Chollet, ECS Director of Education and CPE

In June, Rev. Dr. Mari Chollet officiated at this beautiful biannual service, leading readings and prayers that honored lives that were brief but deeply loved. The ceremony is intentionally simple yet profoundly moving, creating space for both reflection and closure for grieving families.

"This beautiful and simple service of readings and prayer is always a moving opportunity for families to remember lives lost and grief that becomes part of the human experience," noted one observer of the June service.

The gatherings draw not only families but also ECS chaplains and other spiritual care providers who understand the weight of such loss. Together, they create a community of bereavement support around grief that is often suffered in isolation.

Spiritual Care Services for Grieving Families

This unique practice is deeply rooted in the Episcopal history that connects St. Mark's Hospital with the Cathedral. The partnership reflects a longstanding commitment to honoring the full spectrum of human experience, from birth through death, including the losses that occur along the way.

For families who attend, the service offers something that medical care alone cannot provide: acknowledgment that their grief is real, their loss matters, and their child, no matter how briefly known, was precious and worthy of remembrance.

The garden setting itself provides comfort, offering a place where families can return to reflect and remember. In a world that often struggles to know how to respond to pregnancy loss, this sacred space in Salt Lake City provides clarity: these lives mattered, and this grief deserves honor.

Episcopal Cathedral Burial Services in Utah

The Interment of Fetal Ashes represents ECS's broader understanding that spiritual care must extend to moments of profound sadness and loss. When families face pregnancy loss, they often encounter a complex mix of medical procedures and emotional devastation. The interment service acknowledges that healing requires more than clinical care. It requires recognition of the spiritual and emotional dimensions of loss.

"We remember these little ones who died in utero," the service reminds all who gather. In doing so, it transforms what could be a purely medical event into a moment of sacred remembrance.

For the hospital chaplains who serve in this ministry, the biannual service reinforces why their work matters. They witness firsthand how simple acts of acknowledgment and grief counseling can provide comfort in the midst of profound loss.

Professional Chaplain Support in Utah

As families gather in the Cathedral garden, they discover they are part of a larger community, one that understands loss, honors grief, and provides ongoing bereavement care. The service creates connections between families who might otherwise feel isolated in their experience.

The presence of ECS chaplains and other spiritual care providers demonstrates the organization's commitment to walking alongside families through their darkest hours. It's a reminder that professional spiritual care doesn't end when medical treatment concludes. It continues as long as healing is needed.

In the garden columbarium of St. Mark's Cathedral in Salt Lake City, surrounded by prayers and presence, the smallest lives find their place in the larger story of human experience. Here, grief becomes part of the sacred narrative, loss finds meaning, and families discover that even in their deepest sorrow, they are held by a community that cares.

The Interment of Fetal Ashes stands as a powerful example of how spiritual care services can transform loss into sacred remembrance, ensuring that no life, no matter how brief, goes unacknowledged or unmourned.