In June 2004 we commenced Walking the Mourner’s Path®. The national faith-based program was developed by All Saints Church in Winter Park, FL, to assist grieving people as they cope with the loss of their loved one, to “transform their grief into joyful living”™. Hospice chaplains and trained volunteer Walking the Mourner's Path® facilitator/trainers guide the local program across denominations (Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Advent Christians, and Roman Catholics) to provide a faith-based, clearly Christian approach to grief resolution.

After identifying grief’s three main phases (shock, suffering, and recovery), the groups explore four tasks: to accept the reality of the loss, to experience the pain of grief, to adjust to circumstances in which the loved one is missing, and to relocate the loved one, emotionally, and move on with living.

Two trained facilitators and a church’s pastor guide eight weekly 90-minute sessions. Participants focus on specific issues, such as guilt, and concrete methods of facing them. The initial nervousness gives way to reassurance that healing will come: “You have a way of stirring this [pain] up and making me think, but that’s good because it’s settling in the right places, so it doesn’t hurt.”

When the eight-week program concludes, facilitators, the pastor, and the participants hold a candle-lit closing ceremony during which they acknowledge where they began and where they are in the grief process.

Walking the Mourner’s Path® creates “an environment in which people know each other and feel safe” because they work in small groups and, yet, are part of the larger congregation, says one volunteer. Another volunteer says the church-based aspect is significant: “I do like the spiritual aspect. Having faith helps with grief, and having a good relationship with your church helps, too.”

The Limit of Our Sight

The Limit of Our Sight is a flexible three-hour program, presented in a classroom format; it is designed to equip congregations with biblical, theological, and psychosocial tools for dealing with grief experienced by the church family.

For more information, contact Caldwell Hospice Chaplain Steve Butler at (828) 754-0101 or sbutler@caldwellhospice.org