Bereavement Ministry: A Christian Perspective

Course Level: Intermediate
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)
Order here

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

More information on the 5 week online course can be found here
https://vlcff.udayton.edu/calendar/course.php?course=168