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WHDL - 00021454

Good Grief: Embracing Grief as a Means of Spiritual Formation in the Christian Tradition

Jennifer R. Ballenger

William Broadhurst Library at Nazarene Theological Seminary

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

Grief is an inevitable reality, and all people will experience grief at some point in their life. Pastors are among those who first respond at the time of a death and are often invited to journey with people who are grieving, yet there is a lack of training for pastors to know how to use grief as a spiritually forming process in pastoral care practices. There is a great disconnect between pastors, grief researchers and clinicians who practice it. Therefore, pastors must be better trained in understanding grief theory and best practices for grief care that are grounded in Christian theology and practices. In this dissertation, I will be creating a semester-long course for undergraduate ministry majors to be used to equip pastors to understand contemporary grief theory and to present faithful and formative practices to help people move through the grief journey in healthy ways which include: the Christian funeral, hospitality, and grief care teams. The purpose of this dissertation is to help pastors create congregations of hope in times of death and dying, so our language and practices align with who we are as the people of God.