Urgent Care: Death of a Spouse
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UC06
Losing a spouse to death is one of saddest, most traumatic events in any person's life. This training guide is designed to help your church respond to this situation with grace, hope, and sensitivity, and with the practical tools necessary to offer tangible help.
Use these articles to develop empathy in your caregivers, a plan for reaching grieving widows and widowers, and to guide the reframing of life that occurs after profound loss. Here you will also find practical guidance on structuring a ministry, what not to say, and how to prepare your congregation for death.
Table of Contents:
A Quick Guide For Action
Key points for caregiving ministry.
An Empathetic Approach to Grief
Help people with transition, acceptance, and confirmation of their faith.
Paul Walker
A Plan for Pastoral Care
Knowing what to do and when are the keys to caregiving after the deathof a spouse.
Rachel Nafziger Hartzler
Grief Aftercare
Care begins before the funeral and continues during the following months.
Kevin Ruffcorn
Helping the Bereaved Make the Right Choices
The surviving spouse often needs help making the right decision at the right time.
Randall K. Barton
The First Moments
How to break the news and deal with the initial shock and grief after death.
James D. Berkley
Words to Avoid
The wrong words can add unnecessary pain to those already hurt.
Rachel Nafziger Hartzler
Long-Term Recovery
These behaviors and attitudes are clues that a person has moved ahead.
Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. DeVries
Preparing the Congregation for Death
Church grief happens best within a sound theology of the end of life and the life to come.
Rick McKinniss
