Bereavement Ministry Support Facilitator Training
Registration for the Spring Session is now open. The six sessions will begin Wednesday evenings from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. on Zoom starting April 17-May 22, 2024
Support groups provide the opportunity for healing in a confidential, educational and spiritual environment. Family Life offers a facilitator training program for those who wish to become facilitators for existing parish bereavement support groups or for those who want to start one. This program can also serve to enhance the general bereavement ministry services in your parish. Participants will explore the many faces of loss & grief and will receive practical information about forming a parish-based ministry. Pre-registration with the approval of your pastor is mandatory. All participants must be up to date with Safe Environment Protocol.
This course is intended to assist those seeking to begin or join a parish Ministry of Consolation. This course is helpful for those parishes looking to foster consolation ministry or host a bereavement support group. Upon successful completion of this program, facilitators can serve in their parish ministry with the approval of their pastor.
Topics include:
- Overview of Loss, Grief & Mourning and current theories
- Grief in special circumstances, including grief during pandemic
- Assessing the need for referral
- Importance of bereavement ministry for the parish
- Reaching out to those on the peripheries, especially those feeling lost and alone
- Counseling skills: How to listen and ask questions that facilitate healing
- How to start up & facilitate a parish based bereavement support group
- The impacts of COVID on grief and ministry