Ministering To The Mourning

Formerly titled Comforting the Bereaved, this practical, insightful guide gives direction to pastors and lay-leaders of all levels of experience. Included are recommended Scriptures to read; an explanation of the stages of grief; approaches to conducting funerals in special circumstances such as suicide, victims of crime, multiple family deaths, or when the deceased is unknown to the pastor; signs of healthy and unhealthy grief, and how to help survivors cope. This new edition contains a chapter on ministering to victims of terrorism. It is also recommended for chaplains and hospice caregivers.

Until the end of time, when the curse of sin is finally removed, suffering will be a large part of the human experience and a large part of that suffering will be walking through the painful reality of death. 'Death,' writes Paul Tautges, 'provides a natural opportunity not only for ministry to others, but also for personal growth in ministers.' Those who shepherd others through the pain and loss that accompanies death should seek to offer wise and biblical counsel on these precious and painful occasions. This book is a treasure chest of pastoral theology that will equip you to reach out to those who grieve with the Christ-centered comfort of God rooted in the gospel. The theological foundation espoused here, as well as the numerous practical helps that are included, will help any servant of the Lord to point the hearts and minds of the bereaved to the 'man of sorrows' who is 'acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3). The Practical Shepherding series of booklets provides pastors and ministry leaders with advice and practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Comfort Those Who Grieve, experienced pastor Paul Tautges offers readers a guide to comforting those dealing with death through the hope of the gospel.

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.

"When we are called to minister to the dying and/or bereaved, many of us who count ourselves as servants of God too easily prejudge the matter and rush in with words and a trite formula. Words have become our trade, jargon our bane, and verbiage our downfall. "Bert Walsh knows this all too well. Only in the last of five chapters does he get around to the things which we are to say in the presence of crisis. But those are words we have long ago learned from reading the New Testament or heard time and again from well-meaning consolers. What is crucial is that which comes before those words are spoken and surrounds them." --from the Foreword by G. Clarke Chapman Jr. Believing that death and bereavement present pastors and believers with the most extreme challenges to faith, Bert Walsh carefully examines the potential for new discoveries, greater personal growth, and maturity in faith offered to those who minister to the dying and bereaved. With his uncommon insight and measured, simple, purposeful style, the author helps those who minister to the grieving to develop a new sensitivity to both spoken and unspoken needs. He expertly demonstrates that there is a time for words of solace and consolation; there is also a time for silence, a time for touching, a time to share tears. Periods of silence no longer need to be awkward or uncomfortable. Rather, they can become productive moments of quiet reflection and prayer.

This project is a training tool for Christian leaders to educate and equip leader and laity alike with the knowledge of the field of grief, and to equip them to improve their ministry to the bereaved. This book can be used by denominational leaders, conventions, and church leaders to train pastors, deacons, and lay leaders in grief ministry skills. The book examines the theological dimensions of death and grief, as well as the theoretical foundations of grief, both normal grief and complicated. Also, the book identifies essential grief ministry skills and the practical application of those skills. The book is both educational and practical. This book can be used in a seminary class room, or can be used by associations to develop the grief ministry skills of its local pastors. This book can also be used in the local church to equip deacons and lay leaders to better minister to its congregants. This book holds value for its commitment to examining the field of grief, while holding to Christian principles. Most literature that combines the knowledge of grief and Christian principles either prepares a person for counseling or ministers to the person that has experienced loss. This book can in fact assist those studying for a career in grief counseling, and at the same time help those experiencing loss. The intention of the author is help the professional as well as the layman prepare for grief ministry and develop specific skills to assist them in their ability to minister to the bereaved.

Biblical counsel and advice to those who minister to the bereaved

This concise guide to bereavement ministry helps pastors lead people through funerals that honor the deceased and comfort those left behind.