Grief Ministry

Learn to balance the professional demands of your ministry with your personal needs No amount of research, study, or planning can prepare pastoral care givers for the stress placed on their personal lives by the demands of their ministries. But Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry can help anyone involved in pastoral counseling close the gap between their professional and personal needs, encouraging them to use the stress, loss, and grief that accompanies pastoral care giving as opportunities to humanize their ministries and reaffirm their faith. This unique book offers comfort and solace to those in the chaplaincy who are torn between professional obligations and the limits and boundaries of the shadow side of their ministry—the human side. The shadow side of ministry shoots a bullet through the brain that does not kill or prevent thinking or feeling. But the bullet creates a hole, a long, hollow, empty wound that thinking and feeling must somehow bypass. The wounded minister does not recover the previous self, cannot remember what the old self thought or felt. Like a veteran of a secret war, there may be a new life after the shameful wound, but no public way to heal. But there is a public way of speaking about it and this may help relieve some of the shame and some of the self-blaming. —Author Halbert Weidner Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry can help in your search for the answers to questions you may have already found yourself asking, including: Do I prefer co-workers or friends? How did I lose focus of my original goals? How did I become isolated? How can I share authority without giving up responsibility? How do I cope when family issues arise? The book also addresses issues of illness, death and suicide, funerals, the confrontation between joy and sorrow, and how life’s stages are often like the Stations of the Cross. Grief, Loss, and Death: The Shadow Side of Ministry is help against despair. Newcomers to the profession can use the book as a guide to the difficulties that lie ahead, and experienced pastoral care givers can employ it as a catalogue to be consulted when all hope seems lost.

Emily was oh so very happy! She loved school. She loved her pup. And she especially loved her family! But one day the very worst thing happened. Emily lost someone she loved. And after that nothing felt the same.From debut author Kathleen Fucci comes a story about adorable, vivacious Emily and a loss so big it threatens everything she knows. But one night when Emily cries out, "Where is God?!" she learns He is much closer, and loves her so much more, than she ever realized. Emily Lost Someone She Loved is a story written from personal experience. It communicates real emotions children feel when they lose a loved one. It's a book that can be read over and over again, restoring faith in God and hope for the future.

Melissa Gould's hopeful memoir of grieving outside the box and the surprising nature of love. When Melissa Gould's husband, Joel, was unexpectedly hospitalized, she could not imagine how her life was about to change. Overwhelmed with uncertainty as Joel's condition tragically worsened, she offered him the only thing she could: her love and devotion. Her dedication didn't end with his death. Left to resume life without her beloved husband and raise their young daughter on her own, Melissa soon realized that her and Joel's love lived on. Melissa found she didn't fit the typical mold of widowhood or meet the expectations of mourning. She didn't look like a widow or act like a widow, but she felt like one. Melissa was widowish. Melissa's personal journey through grief and beyond includes unlikely inspiration from an evangelical preacher, the calming presence of some Real Housewives, and the unexpected attention of a charming musician. A modern take on loss, Widowish illuminates the twists of fate that break our world, the determination that keeps us moving forward, and the surprises in life we never see coming.

Your heart is crushed. Finding it even difficult to breathe, you wake up to the reality that someone you treasure is gone. Death has stolen your loved one from your arms. Now the seemingly insurmountable difficult work of living through grief begins. Is there anything that can soothe this overwhelming ache? Is there a safe place for the anger? Will depression become a constant companion? Does the painful malaise last forever? How can I just get through the day? Comfort for the Day offers a personalized grief recovery experience, drawn from the source of all comfort– God. His Word will become a guide and friend as the reader lives through the confusing and painful seasons of grief. Comfort for the Day is what each grieving heart longs for. Used either as a gift for the bereaved or for your own personal needs, Comfort for the Day brings real help for really hurting people.

A handbook to enable ministry leaders to help others through bereavement Grief is a difficult topic that ministry leaders deal with on a regular basis. Do they have confidence in helping those who are suffering the loss of a loved one? Do they feel equipped to meet the differing needs that occur in the life of a survivor? Can they lead someone through a process of grief reconciliation? Are they able to plan and implement a bereavement ministry in their church or parish? Here is a book that can help leaders in a practical way to minister to those who are grieving. In addition, they will discover essential tools to deal with grief’s difficult questions. Drawing upon his thirty years of experience as a pastor and as a professional grief counselor, Dr. Michael provides a valuable resource for pastors and other grief leaders to use within their churches and organizations, and their surrounding communities. This work is a practical guide that will bring a greater understanding of the impact that loss has upon individuals and will provide competent counsel for ministering to them. In addition, it will equip the leader to implement a ministry of grief education and bereavement within a church or organization.

Isaiah. 53:4 tells us, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Because Jesus has redeemed us from grief and sorrow, we are not obligated to respond to the tests and storms of life like those in the world. Too often, believers have taken their cues and views on tragedies and the storms of life from the world and have opened the door to depression, grief, and sorrow. When a Christian's mind is renewed with the Word of God, they know too much to respond to tests and the storms of life like everyone else. People become entrenched in a flow of depression, grief, and sorrow when they operate out of the emotional and mental arenas, but if believers will stay in the spirit arena, the faith arena, they will be able to yield and draw on the faith, peace, and joy that is in them. In this important book, Nancy Dufresne teaches from first-hand experience the all-conquering force of peace. Even death is no match for the mighty force of peace that is available to every believer. Find out how to take your place in the peace that Jesus left you as an inheritance and live totally free from grief and sorrow.

Offering solace and encouragement to those who grieve is a critical aspect of the church's ministry of mercy and love. To find your place within grief ministry and plan this important ministry from first response to spiritual guidance, there is no better mentor than Fr. Terence Curley. In this guide, Fr. Curley pays attention to all of the factors contributing to a grief minister's multifaceted work, including parish support and his or her own loss history. Symptoms of loss, trust, and hints for conversations with the grieving are topics touched by this detailed and sensitive guide. This book, a fully revised edition of Fr. Curley's earlier book The Ministry of Consolers, is a necessary tool for parishes, hospices, educational institutions, and all those attending to the bereaved.

This complete leader's guide makes it easy to use Dr. Haugk's practical book to build community and train church members in distinctively Christian caring and relating skills.