Remembering The Creator Through Outdoor Worship
As soon as the weather permits, outdoor worship would begin in the Garden of Remembrance at Mission Hill Church (formerly First Congregational Church) in Traverse City, MI. However, this tradition was in jeopardy. The existing patio was wearing out, and it was time for a redesign.
The new layout, inspired by the symbol of the Trinity, blends the patio’s curvilinear form into the existing garden beds. The concrete aisle-ways depict the interconnected rings of the trinity symbol. Brick pavers define the adjacent seating areas. The preacher, worship team or wedding party can be easily seen on the raised stage at the front of the outdoor worship patio.

The Garden of Remembrance is an interment garden where people’s ashes have been buried. Therefore, we carefully designed the patio to fit within the boundaries of the existing planting beds. Carefully placed shade trees, planted in and around the patio, help keep people comfortable on warm summer days. Additionally, we surrounded the patio with planting beds to seamlessly integrate the newly designed patio into the existing garden.
Raising Funds
We worked closely with Mission Hill’s Garden and Landscape Board to develop the conceptual design for the new outdoor worship patio. Then we created 3D perspective renderings of the patio set into the existing garden. This enabled the congregation to easily understand the vision of the project. The Garden and Landscape Board used the Concept Landscape Plan and the 3D perspective renderings to raise funds for the project.


Construction
During the spring of 2015, construction commenced in the Garden. On June 28, Mission Hill Church held their first outdoor worship service on the new patio. The congregation was overjoyed to, once again, worship the Lord outdoors. With the Garden of Remembrance as a stunning backdrop, the congregation is continually reminded of God’s incredible majesty.







Elements Studio was our selection to make our vision for a new church patio become a reality. Their attention to detail and innovative thinking exceeded even our high expectations. The entire congregation is now enjoying what has become a showpiece for the entire community. Thank you for all your efforts.
Rick Smith, Chairperson of the Garden and Landscape Board