A New Resource For Grief and Widows Ministry: Grief Care Fellowship

So many of you were blessed by the testimony of Joan Wyrtzen Bagg this week that I want to let you know about the Grief Care Fellowship ministry that she and her husband, Doug Bagg, founded. It's one of the newest grief ministry programs for churches so you might want to pass this information along to one of the leaders in your local church.

Joan mentioned Journey in Grief Care yesterday, and that's the DVD training curriculum for teams of lay people to become grief "mentors." I know we often think of grief support being done in a group like GriefShare (which is also excellent), but this curriculum is more versatile and churches can use it to train their mentors. The mentors will then be able to minister to individuals OR groups. Here is the FAQ page which will give you the grief care journey "in a nutshell:" Grief Care Fellowship

I was personably able to take this training a few months ago and am looking forward to helping local people (plus you all, or y'all J) during the holiday season this year. The training consists of modules which are graduated in three parts.

• Level One training for an Associate Grief Mentor (4 modules)
• Level Two training for Grief Mentor (8 modules)
• Level Three training for Master Grief Mentor (12 modules)

The instructor, Fran Welch brings years of church experience in helping thousands of grieving people, conducted over 250 funerals, and taught many ministry teams and seminars. Besides the comprehensive topics of grief, there are over 20 interviews with people from a variety of grief experiences. You can learn volumes as you watch their interaction with Pastor Welch and hear of their faith and hope and the best things people did to help them.

But there's even more! The latest offering from Grief Care Fellowship is Grieving Through the Holidays, a short DVD seminar to bring to your church on say, a Saturday morning for example. It will help grievers face holidays, anniversaries and birthdays year round, but especially the big three
---Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year---
which come so close together like rounds in a boxing match. Click here to see all that's provided for such a low cost.

"Grief Care Fellowship is a 501(c)( 3 ) not for profit ministry. The staff are professionals, who happily volunteer their time and wisdom to serve God in this capacity. No salaries are accepted by board members, consultants, and other staff." (from the website).

 

Please call the Grief Care Fellowship office at 727-856-3530 if you have any questions. They just want to get this helpful material into the hands of as many churches as possible so that people can be ministered to and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope you'll consider these resources today!  

♥ ferree