We have been working through a summer series about sharing Jesus with others at our church. One of the things we wanted to get across that this is about the whole of life and so we have picked up on a few examples of life circumstances and how to live for Jesus and speak for… Continue reading Sharing your faith in the face of death, dying and bereavement
Tag: bereavement
Grief … Two years in
I’ve been sharing a few posts recently on pastoring people through seasons of grief. We are just coming in to the second anniversary of what was a challenging time for our family. Today marks two years since my father in law died. A few weeks later my mum also died after going into hospital for… Continue reading Grief … Two years in
Pastoring the grieving: walking with a family when the decision comes to end treatment
I’ve been sharing a few articles about how we pastor people through bereavement. In a previous article, I wrote about walking with a family through a coroner’s investigation and inquest process. In that article, I alluded to the fact that the time leading up to death may not be straight forward. When it comes to… Continue reading Pastoring the grieving: walking with a family when the decision comes to end treatment
Pastoring the grieving: walking with a family through a coroner’s and inquest process
One almost inevitable responsibility and privilege for pastors is to walk with church family through bereavement. I’ve been starting to put together some materials helping church leaders to think through and prepare for pastoring church members through bereavement. I write having been both sides, having both pastored church members when they came to the point… Continue reading Pastoring the grieving: walking with a family through a coroner’s and inquest process
Can’t you just say “they died”?
I recently saw someone complain on social media about Christians using euphemisms for death such as: passed away, gone home to be with the Lord and promoted to glory. “why can’t we just say that they have died?” They asked. Well having both pastored people through bereavement and experienced it myself, I thought I would… Continue reading Can’t you just say “they died”?
Grieving Together
We have experienced a significant amount of bereavement as a church family recently. A few of us have said goodbye to precious family members. In some cases it was something we were preparing for but in others it came as a total shock. Last week, we were hit with the news that someone who has… Continue reading Grieving Together
When Sorrows like sea billows roll (book review)
There aren’t many certainties in life, in fact it’s often said that the only three are birth, death and taxes. The middle of these means that at some point we are going to experience bereavement. What does it mean to grieve well? How can our faith sustain us through difficult days and how can we… Continue reading When Sorrows like sea billows roll (book review)
Pastoring the grieving
I’m continuing a little series on the day to day work of a pastor and so today we want to think about what happens when a member of the church or one of their family dies. What should you be doing. We cannot be over prescriptive here because every family will have different needs and… Continue reading Pastoring the grieving
How does a Christian doctrine of suffering affect counselling of the bereaved?
In June 2005, my Great Aunt was mugged and knocked unconscious. She died in hospital two days later. As a family we went through the full range of emotions; shock and sadness at the tragic loss, anger at those who did it, guilt at our failure to visit “Auntie” more often. Whilst each bereavement is… Continue reading How does a Christian doctrine of suffering affect counselling of the bereaved?
What I need for Christmas
Mariah Carey sung: I don’t want a lot for ChristmasThere is just one thing I needI don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas treeI just want you for my ownMore than you could ever knowMake my wish come trueAll I want for Christmas is you Songwriters: Mariah Carey / Ellis Williams / Robert Allen… Continue reading What I need for Christmas
Faithroots 