When I first raised the possibility of running some type of bereavement group with our church Pastoral Care team, it was met with a ‘yes that’s a good idea’, however only three people felt they could realistically support. With encouragement from our minister and another church, we explored The Bereavement Journey® programme.   

St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Redditch has been awarded the Bereavement Friendly Church accreditation by AtaLoss. We run The Bereavement Journey® programme three times per year. It is a small group of no more than 8 participants, which enables everybody to have the space to speak in what can be an emotionally charged environment.

Springs Church embarked upon the training and preparation for The Bereavement Journey® a year after many associated with us had experienced grief from the loss of a loved one.  

We wanted to do something meaningful to bring encouragement to us all at that time. We also hoped that, after our training, we could offer similar support to others in our community around Caistor, Lincolnshire.

The parish of Gornal & Sedgley has three churches, St Andrew’s, St Peter’s and All Saints. Together, as a response to the pain and loss felt by so many during the Covid pandemic, we set up our bereavement hub, which is open to all. Our training initially came from the local hospice bereavement team and since then we have slowly grown in confidence, raising the profile of bereavement awareness across our three churches. 

Our journey to becoming a Bereavement Friendly Church has grown steadily over time. Knaresborough Team Ministry has had a strong pastoral care team for several years, comprising people who have done pastoral care training organised by Leeds Diocese. Several members of the team have a background in health or social care as well. 

We’re really pleased to be running The Bereavement Journey®  at Hospice in the Weald. It’s become a valuable part of our bereavement support, adding to and strengthening the care we already offer. 

St Mary Magdalene Stoke Bishop is, in many respects, a typical suburban Anglican church.  We take very seriously the call to connect with and serve the people of our parish, and one key part of this is our ministry to people who have been bereaved. 

Pam, founder of 2gether in Loss has thoughtfully adapted The Bereavement Journey® to be delivered outside traditional church settings, whilst it still includes the optional 7^th faith session.  

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. 

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.

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. 

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.  

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’.

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.