Ministry leaders are the ones most often tasked with helping others deal with grief. They will often ask, “Where is God?” amid their confusion and emotional pain. A large part of the population grieves each year. Each death leaves behind an average of five grieving people, and “complicated grief” affects between 10-20% of grievers. How can we best use our role as ministers to assist our people to heal in the grief process?
On April 24th, Dr. Allan Gates was our Bright Tomorrows Breakfast Seminar guest presenter. He shared what he has learned from his own personal experience with grief, as well as from 40 years of clinical experience as a professional counselor. His book, Where’s God? The Grief Journey had just been released. Allan presented insights from his book, including specific interventions and a practical model for helping others understand and recover from their losses. Here is an excerpt from Allan’s book:
The question “Where’s God?” is not always a question. The grief journey is the question. The process is the answer. All of us will or have experienced the grieving process. We will ask the question, “Where is God?” when we cannot find suitable answers to our emotional pain. We will experience the death of a loved one, traumatic events, and unexplainable loss. As a fellow journeyman in the suffering and grieving process, the author has asked these questions himself. He takes you on a journey of discovery with questions and possible answers in the grieving process.