Letting Grief Come to Church

When a loved one dies, local churches often mobilize to provide meals and funeral services. But spiritually rich grief care is more than printing bulletins and delivering casseroles. Death invites each of us to acknowledge our finitude and recognize the depth of God’s kindness to us in Christ Jesus. How can these lessons we learn from loss shape our church culture? What can churches do to become more grief-aware?In this episode, Daniel Harrell and author Clarissa Moll discuss how the diversity of the church’s gifts can provide vital support for grieving people after a loss. Daniel and Clarissa talk about the challenges of pastoring through personal grief, how Jesus meets us uniquely in suffering, and how congregations can grow in their empathetic care for hurting people in their midst.A unique mixture of devotional conversation and nuts and bolts practicality, this episode offers listeners encouragement as they welcome grief into the pews each week.

Special guest, John Witvliet of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship discusses the value and vitality of funeral worship and why the Psalms are a great place to start when designing a service in memory of a loved one.

Surprised by Grief is a production of Christianity Today

Produced by Mike Cosper

Written by Daniel Harrell and Clarissa Moll

Edited and mixed by Mark Owens

Music by The Porters Gate

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