Andy Cross Andy Cross

St Peter's, Irthlingborough

St Peter’s first developed the idea of a bereavement café in April 2024. Pastoral encounters made us aware of an unmet need, that of a space to discuss death, dying and grief. We knew this needed to be a place of no judgement, no agenda, and where people could find a listening ear and a place to talk.

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Redcar Baptist Church

We are from a small seaside town in the Northeast.  We run a successful coffee shop called Common Ground and a community grocery store, in partnership with the Message Trust. The minister of our church approached me about running a bereavement support activity – The Bereavement Journey® programme. 

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, Leighton Buzzard

I first learned about The Bereavement Journey® from a friend. I was impressed with the content of the videos and the gentle tone in every presentation. The tone seemed appropriate—almost perfect—for the subject of loss. I have been running The Bereavement Journey® for the past nine months and have held it three times during that period.

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Holy Trinity, Huddersfield

It was a huge privilege to run The Bereavement Journey® for the first time in January 2024. Preparation work recommended by AtaLoss, ensured I caught the vision for the missional focus of the programme, to present God’s love and be a very real support to people experiencing the heartbreak of bereavement. 

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

St John’s Meads, Eastbourne

The team and I were running The Bereavement Journey®Programme in the daytime on an irregular basis. However, we felt the call from God to form a group, united in our hearts for those bereaved. We met to pray and explore in more depth the ways we could reach out with support to the local bereaved community.  

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Kingdom Faith Church, Horsham

Here we are five years on from the Covid pandemic, which initiated in May 2021 the conversation about bereavement at our church. It’s always helpful to reflect on our original aims.  These aims included the need to challenge the culture and language we use around loss, death and dying, understanding the need to normalise what in essence is common to all humanity, that seemingly taboo topic ‘death’.

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

North End Baptist Church, Portsmouth

At the end of 2023, several people in our church experienced bereavements of family members. This along with the popularity of our ‘Service of Memories’ held once a year in partnership with local Funeral Directors, Stapleford’s, made it an obvious decision to explore The Bereavement Journey®

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Stirling Baptist Church, Scotland

The Bereavement Journey® has been running on a regular basis at Stirling Baptist Church since 2016, and the church is now celebrating having run over fifteen courses!

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Andy Cross Andy Cross

Christchurch, Clevedon

Christchurch’s Bereavement Support work consists of a team of ten people, integrated into the Pastoral Befriending work of the Church. This work is funded by and accountable to the Ecumenical Church Council (ECC). The Clergy provide oversight through regular pastoral meetings. 

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