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Contents | Pastoral Care in Times of
Grief and LossInstructor Lee Ramsey Institution
Enrolment and Last Year Taught
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This course will explore in depth the ministry of pastoral care in times of grief and loss. To do so, we will examine personal and cultural understandings of death, grief, and loss. We will seek the theological and scriptural understandings of death that inform our approach to pastoral care. The role of pastoral empathy, rituals and funerals, and congregational care will inform our discussion. The many faces of grief will appear before us as we attempt to peer into the changing patterns of "normal" and "abnormal" responses to loss. Hopefully, the course will give to student and teacher a more comprehensive understanding of one's own feelings about death and dying, a richer appreciation of the church's ministry of pastoral care in times of loss, and greater familiarity with the resources that are available to us as pastors who are daily acquainted with grief and sorrow.
The course will be conducted as a seminar, emphasizing discussion and shared leadership among students and the teacher. As a seminar, each student will be responsible for leading the class once during the semester and will present a final research project to the class.
Optional TextsWayne Oates, Grief, Transition, and Loss
Herbert Anderson and Kenneth R. Mithchell, All Our Losses, All Our Griefs
Therese A. Rando, Grief, Dying, and Death: Clinical Interventions for Caregivers
Ira Byock, Dying Well: The Prospect for Growth at the End of Life
Course Outline and Weekly ReadingsRod Hunter, ed. Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling
9/3 Week 1: Introduction. Pastoral Care in times of Grief and Loss. Cultural and personal attitudes about death and loss. The experience of grief.
Therese A. Rando, Grief, Dying, and Death, intro-chap.1
9/10 Week 2: Pastoral Theology, Death, and Grief
Herbert Anderson and Kenneth R. Mitchell, All Our Losses, All Our Griefs, 29-31, 100-103, 137-138, 163-73
Wayne Oates, Grief, Transition and Loss, chap. 6
Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, "Death, Meaning of"
J.A.T. Robinson, "Preaching Death" (Hand-out)
9/17 Week 3: Loss, Grief, and Bereavement: Definitions and Types of Loss
Anderson and Mitchell, 15-19, 35-60,
Oates, 19-25, 55-82
Rando, 15-18
DPCC, "Grief and Loss"
9/24 Week 4: Psycho-Social Dimensions of Grief; Normal and Abnormal Grief
Erich Lindemann, "Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief"
Anderson and Mitchell, 20-29, 61-103
Rando, 18-74, 113-117
10/1 Week 5: Life Cycle and Grief; Families and Children
Video, "Ordinary People"
Oates, 33-54
Rando, 119-172, 367-415
DPCC, "Dying Child and Family"
DPCC, "Grief and Loss in Childhood and Adolescence"
10/8 Week 6: No Class (Midterms) First Paper Due.
10/15 Week 7: The Grief Ministry of the Pastor and the Congregation
Anderson and Mitchell, 107-138
Rando, 75-117, 316-322
Liston Mills, "Pastoral Care of the Dying and Bereaved"
Thomas C. Oden, "Pastoral Care of the Dying" (chap. 18, in Pastoral Theology)
DPCC, "Dying, Pastoral Care of"
10/22 Week 8: The Dying Patient; Hospice Care; Ethical Considerations
Ira Byock, Dying Well, intro-chap. 3, chap 12 (and anything else you wish to read in the text)
Rando, 199-363
DPCC, "Dying, Moral Dilemmas In"
Sally B. Geis and Donald E. Messer, eds. "Physician Provided Medication
For Termination of Life" (chap. 4 in How Shall We Die?)
Guest Lecturer: Rev. Eyleen Farmer (Methodist Alliance Hospice)
10/29 Week 9: Funerals and Rituals at times of loss
Oates, 26-32
Anderson and Mitchell, 94-96, 115, 139-162
Rando, 104-108, 173-197
Joseph W. Mathews, "The Time My Father Died"
Edward P. Wimberly, "Pastoral Care and Support Systems," (37-48,
In African American Pastoral Care).
DPCC, "Funeral;" "Funeral, Childs;" "Funeral Director;" "Mourning
Customs and Rituals"
11/5 Week 10: Caring for Our Own Grief
Rando, 417-443.
DPCC, "Pastor, Pastoral Care of;" "Prayer and Worship Life, Pastors"
Guest Lecturer: Chaplain Charlie Crouthers
11/12 Week 11: Final Projects
11/19 Week 12: Final Projects
11/26 Week 13: No Class. Thanksgiving.
12/3 Week 14: Final Projects
12/10 Week 15: Written Version of Final Projects Due. Conclusion of the Class.
Latest update: August 02, 2002
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