A Church That Celebrates Together Also Grieves Together

Two years ago, West Leonard Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., began hosting GriefShare, a 13-week series for people suffering the loss of a loved one. Member Karen Kass began facilitating the meetings after she attended a GriefShare program in Florida after the loss of her 21-year-old grandson.

“In the two years we have offered it at West Leonard, we have had over 50 people involved,” said Kass, “only a few being from our church.”

Each GriefShare session usually consists of a small devotional followed by discussion based on program materials, including a daily workbook. Some of the topics covered are living with grief, dealing with family during grief, or being stuck in grief.

“Every grief is different. The topics really relate to everyone. It helps us in our own grief, but also to console others,” said Kass. “Many [members] have no church home, and [others] come from different denominations. Often people would rather share grief with people they don’t run into all the time. We are welcoming anyone who has lost a loved one through death.”

GriefShare is a worldwide program partnering with churches to provide needed consolation. Several other CRCs in the Grand Rapids area also offer GriefShare.

“Grief isn’t something you completely get over. It’s like a wound, but it never really heals, and it leaves a scar,” said Kass. “[People] need someone to be able to share their grief with. The church should be addressing it. The world does not have God’s comfort.”

As a facilitator, Kass notes the benefits of the program. “It’s so neat to see the people interacting by the third or fourth meeting. You can see they are becoming good friends, she explained. “Grief is something we tend to push under the rock; we think people don’t want to talk about, so we don’t. But we have to go through it.”