Grief Support Group at Christ Church, Media

“Grief is like a wound. At first, it’s open, bleeding, raw and terribly painful. In time, that wound begins to heal…The pain begins to fade and eventually a scar is formed…When [you] touch that scar, it feels different from the rest [of you]. There will always be that scar.”

Barbara Karnes, RN

We live in a society that does not know how to deal with loss and the grief it causes. In the first month or two, friends and family call or stop by. Maybe they will bring food. Gradually everyone else returns to their daily routines and we are expected to pull ourselves together and carry on as if all is well.

Even though we ourselves may have experienced a loss, we don’t know how to handle someone else’s grief. We offer platitudes and maybe ask how our friend or family member is doing, but do we really want to know the answer? Some do, but not all.

The purpose of the grief support group is to provide a safe and holy space for people to share their stories; to speak openly and without worrying how someone else will react. This is a peer led support group with some trained clinical oversight. It is this community that we

create that helps us process our own feelings. To know that we are not alone. That others have had, and continue to have, similar feelings. First, this group is open to anyone who has experienced the death of someone they love. It may be someone you lost recently or many years

ago. It does not matter. There is no commitment to attend regularly. You may find that you want to come each month, or you may find that you don’t need to. This is entirely at your discretion. We plan to meet on the second Saturday of each month at 9 AM beginning in February, 2025. If it becomes necessary, we might meet more often. We will begin each meeting with a prayer. After a brief check in time that is monitored, either a short excerpt from one of the many resources available will be read or a question will be posed for participants to consider and respond to if they want. Each person present will be given an opportunity to speak, but there is no obligation to. Sometimes, just being present with others is all we need. To sit, listen, and feel the love and support of God through our gathering.

If we were holding a meeting today, we might ask: “how are you preparing for the holidays?” or “How are your feeling about the holidays?” These and other trigger events, birthdays or anniversary of the death are often when we feel acutely our loss and grief. We need to prepare ourselves for handling these times. How each of us will deal with our grief is different. There is no one right way. Grief is individual; but our experiences can be shared in communion with others.