Drew University Library : University Archives : Theses and Dissertations
    
author Nathan Addo-Nartey
title Developing A Church-based And Laity-led Bereavement Ministry For Integrated And Sustainable Sozo-healing
abstract Besides the Funeral Parlor, the Church is the place where people run to in times of death for funeral services, burials, celebrations of life and homegoing, memorial services, anniversaries. The Church has played these important roles for its members and the larger community over the centuries. However, the Church has left a major vacuum unfilled when it comes to providing bereavement support to grieving members and families. Most of what has been done by way of supporting grieving members and families has been on the shoulders of the clergy. Yet even that is not a systematic and sustainable mission of the Church. We have clergy and a few lay leaders, visit grieving members of the church during times of death in the family. The best most churches do is to follow up with phone calls, condolence cards, and flowers after the funeral service. An informal conversation with selected clergy reveals that the Church as a whole does not have a well-structured ministry of grief support that is led and managed by the laity. The sad situation is that the church has both the human and material resources to establish a viable bereavement support ministry. So why do we not have such an all-important ministry available in the church? Why do we, as a church leave our grieving members to resort outside resources for healing, when we have a mandate from our Lord, "Weep with those who are weeping and to rejoice with those who rejoice?" This paper is focused on how to establish a church-based and laity-led bereavement ministry in the church that will provide sustainable and integrative healing, functionality, and better adaptation to the grieving members of the community. It is hoped that this paper will provide the framework and template for how a church can successfully develop a contextual bereavement ministry plan that will be relevant to its setting.

Drawing from his life experiences and his bi-locational ministry as a chaplain at Homeside Hospice, and as clergy, who pastors at Ghana Calvary United Methodist Church, the author believes that the church can learn something from the way hospice companies have structured bereavement services for their bereaved families, which last for at least thirteen months. To ensure that this is a ministry the church can establish and use as an outreach program, the author organized a ten-week Bible Studies in Ghana Calvary United Methodist. Twelve volunteers were selected to form the founding members of the bereavement ministry after the leadership of the church and the entire congregation have embraced the vision and committed themselves to make it an integral part of the church’s mission.

This paper concludes that if the laity is trained to provide grieving members of the church with sustainable and integrative bereavement services that focuses on Sozo-healing, there will be an opportunity for members to discover and develop their God-given talents and gifts. We will also save the clergy a lot of time and free them to focus on other equally important aspects of their calling. Moreover, this collaborative effort can ensure trust and confidence between the service providers and the grieving members based on the familiarity that already exists.

school The Theological School, Drew University
degree D.Min. (2021)
advisor Gary Simpson
Leonard Sweet
full textNAddo-Nartey.pdf