Pastoral Care

The eMinistry Network

Connecting the Church in Ministry

Registration and

Fee Policies

UPCOMING CLASSES:

How Can I be "Life Support" for Someone in Grief?

PAST CLASSES:

Substance Abuse: How to Recognize it -- and How to Respond

Planning Your Final Celebration: Funerals and End-of-Life Decisions

How Can I be "Life Support" for Someone in Grief? Click here to register

Leader: Dee Bailey

Date: Monday, November 19, 2007

Time: 8:00 to 9:30 pm Eastern (90 minute teleclass) -- 7:00 Central, 6:00 Mountain, 5:00 Pacific

Cost: $15.00

Class#: CMC-PC100

A member of your Bible study group lost her sister to cancer; your son’s friend died tragically in a car accident; your client’s wife had a stroke. You’re wondering how to be supportive during their time of grief.

You’ve read that one of the most critical aids in healing from loss is good support, but wonder, “What can I do to help?” “Isn’t that the role of our pastor and our grief group?” Yes, of course it is, and it is also our opportunity to be present to others’ suffering in a uniquely personal way.

Grief is often regarded as something to get over, but it is actually the cathartic process that heals us. When walking with others through grief we become part of their ongoing life support system. By understanding the basics of grief and learning a few practical strategies we can all find ways to support another’s healing process.

Participants in this class will:

	Gain a new perspective on how everyone can be supportive
	Understand the simple basics of grief and what to expect from a grieving person
	Learn practical do’s and don’ts of care-giving
	Receive valuable information and links to resources
	Learn what to say and NOT to say
	Discover concrete ways to support a grieving person/family during the holidays
	Gain more confidence in their ability to help

Read what past participants have said about this class!

Dee Bailey, MA, CPCC, is a grief specialist and life coach who has been working with adults in transition since the early 1980s. Dee’s experience with grief education and support includes creating programs for bereaved adults and children, group facilitation, one-on-on support, speaking and training others.

During her 12 years at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN her ministries included bereavement, singles, families experiencing divorce and lay ministry. She:

· Co-founded and facilitated a weekly grief group for 10 years

· Co-founded and coordinated Starting Over Single, a seminar for families in divorce for 15 years

· Trained Stephen Ministers and Befrienders how to support those in grief

· Frequently speaks at grief groups and workshops on loss and grief

Dee earned her BA in counseling psychology and MA in Human Development with a focus on alternative approaches to learning and healing from loss. She trained with the Coaches Training Institute in 1997 and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. In her private practice she has a unique process of literally and figuratively walking her clients through grief.

Visit Dee’s grief blog at http://hopefulcrossings.blogspot.com.

Substance Abuse: How To Recognize It -- And How To Respond click here to let us know you're interested in this class

Leader: Jim Adams

Date: To be offered again Spring 2007

Time: 7:00 pm Eastern (one hour teleclass) -- 6:00 Central, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific

Cost: $10.00

Class#: CMC-PC102

This class is a basic introduction to a pervasive problem many of us encounter every day. We may see it in parishioners, family members, co-workers or our clergy. The more we know about it, the better chance we have of responding to it in a positive and helpful way.

This class is for you if

	You want to get a basic introduction to the issue of substance abuse
	You're a non-professional (and want to look at this issue from a lay perspective, without a lot of jargon)

We'll look at substance abuse as a disease, and why denial is often a key symptom for those involved. We'll examine how it affects patterns of behavior, and the way it impacts key areas of life, especially spiritual values, relationships, and finances/possessions.

The Good News is that treatment and recovery are at hand! The trick is to know how to offer that help to the people we love. We'll talk about that difficult issue ... and more.

James R. Adams is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Covington, Kentucky. Jim is a "semi-retired" trial lawyer who in his professional life defended complex class actions involving mass disasters, securities fraud, accounting malpractice and antitrust issues. He has been a convention delegate, vestry-person, warden, chair of the building committee and stewardship chair. He has served as a member and chair of several charitable boards focused on substance abuse issues, including the treatment and education of indigent alcoholics and suburban teenager abusers, and the funding of abuse education. He has spoken extensively on substance abuse issues to lawyers as part of their continuing legal education requirements and teaches "Pretrial Practice and the Art of Lawyering" at Northern Kentucky University's Chase College of Law.

Jim is also a member of the Advisory Council for Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church.

Planning Your Final Celebration: Funerals and End-of-Life Decisions

Leader: Roger Robillard

To be offered Winter/Spring 2007

Class#: CMC-PC103

This class will benefit anyone with an interest in how to plan ahead for the final celebration of their life. It will also look at ways in which we as care-givers -- people with aging parents, clergy, those who work in the fields of nursing, hospice, social work or retirement -- can help others make decisions about their funerals and other end-of-life issues.

Planning ahead for your final celebration is:

Good stewardship: The Book of Common Prayer recommends that all clergy should remind their members annually of the prudence of prior planning of final arrangements. Many people plan financially for their funeral by pre-paying their funeral expenses. Why not also give thought to – and plan ahead for -- the emotional and personal aspects of your end-of-life celebration?

A gift we can give to our loved ones: Those we leave behind will need permission to grieve free of the burden of excessive decision-making under stress. Having your affairs in order is a gift to those who will grieve.

Comforting: We’ll increase our personal comfort with death and dying while we learn how to guide others through the process of planning and preparing for their death. We’ll break the taboo of “if you talk about final preparation you must have given up on life” and look at this preparation as part of our life as faithful believers in the Resurrection.

Enjoyable! It’s not just being humorous to say that this class will help us put the “fun” back into “funeral.” Our theology today directs us to see this final event in the life of loved ones as a celebration of their life and ours. Why not make the planning for this an enjoyable time?

The Rev. Roger Robillard is Vicar of Trinity Episcopal Church, Highland Springs, Virginia. He has had 27 years of ordained ministry in parishes in Montreal and the Diocese of Rhode Island, and now the Diocese of Virginia. He has served on ecumenical committees and on the Cursillo Secretariat in all three dioceses, and currently serves on the Diocese of Virginia’s commission for congregational development.

Roger has presented this material over the past two years in conferences on care-giving, and has used Margerie Jenkins’ book You Only Die Once as a basis for this class.