Bereavement Ministry: A Christian Perspective

Successful completion of this course earns 2.5 CEU's.

General Course Objectives

• Discovering grief from a Christian perspective
• Understanding bereavement, grief and loss – development of current understandings
• Reflecting on personal experiences of grief and loss
• Responding to people who are bereaved
• Living with loss

Course Materials

• Required Book: Doris Zagdanski STUCK FOR WORDS - What to say to someone who is grieving (2018 edition)
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Course Structure and Highlights

• Week 1: Session 1
  • To deepen the participants’ background and knowledge of the Christian understanding of ‘ Jesus at the heart of Ministry’ throughout the New Testament
  • Participants will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the pastoral relationship based on Jesus’ responses and actions in the Gospels
  • This pastoral relationship is their reference point for companioning bereaved people
• Week 2: Bereavement, Grief and Loss - Development of Current Understandings
  • Participants will be introduced to current developments in grief and loss research
  • Participants will have the opportunity to develop further the ability to apply theological understanding to the experience of grief and loss
  • Participants will develop understanding of the individuality and diversity of the experience of grief and loss
  • Participants will continue to develop an understanding of the centrality of the pastoral relationship in companioning bereaved people
• Week 3: Reflecting on Personal Experiences of Grief and Loss
  • Participants will explore what has drawn them to ministry with people who are bereaved
  • Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own experience of grief, loss and bereavement
  • Participants will apply their developing knowledge of grief, loss and bereavement to their own experience
  • Participants will develop their understanding of the value of appropriate listening to the stories of bereaved people[br]
  • Participants will examine the idea that grief is an individual experience determined by a range variables, eg culture, context, beliefs
• Week 4: Responding to People Who are Bereaved
  • To provide participants with understanding of appropriate responses and actions when offering support to bereaved people
  • To offer participants further opportunities to heighten their awareness of their motives, attitudes and feelings in companioning bereaved people
• Week 5: Living With Loss
  • Participants will discover more about the lifelong journey of bereavement and grief and their role in companioning those who are bereaved
  • Participants will grow in appreciation of changes that apply to a person’s adaptation to a new life without their love ones
  • Participants will explore their understanding of the value of ritual in facilitating these changes
  • Participants can learn to appreciate that through the pain and terrible confusion of grief, a person may find they develop into a person with gifts and qualities they never imagined possible for themselves
  • Participants will develop understanding that the experience of bereavement has the potential for a person’s relationship with God to develop into a more intimate and loving one

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