Many families are grieving the loss of a loved one this holiday season. Our co-host Sandra is facing that in her own family after the loss of her sister this year. So she offers six ways churches can come alongside these grieving families to offer love and support.
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Transcript:
Hi friends, this is Key Ministry: the podcast, episode 26. Today we’re talking about helping families who are grieving through the holiday season. I am one of your co-hosts, Sandra Peoples, and we are one of those families. We lost my big sister over the summer, and this year just won’t be the same without her. Not only will we be navigating Thanksgiving and Christmas, her birthday is also two days after Christmas.
As we’re working through our grief, I thought of all the other families who are also experiencing grief this year. We’ve had so much loss through the pandemic. One of these families may be in your church and part of your ministry. I thought of ideas for ways you could minister to hurting families so they felt supposed and cared for during this difficult season.
Six ways you can bless grieving families this holiday season:
Say something
Share your own memory
Offer to include their kids in your family or church activities
Give a gift that can also be a decoration (like a poinsettia or a candle)
Make enough to share (cookies, pie, your favorite side dish)
Support their decision to make new traditions
As the ministry leader, don’t feel like you need to do all 6 of these ideas!
Recruit help so the family feels supported and encouraged by an even bigger circle. You may want to ask 5 friends to join you and each take one idea and spread them out in the six weeks leading up to Christmas!
*Due to health limitations, only a partial transcript is available this week. We apologize!
