How does the Church help people cope with grief?
You'll find a place of comfort in church.
Thousands of people are visiting churches and memorials to Queen Elizabeth to lay floral tributes and to pay their respects. The church is best place to offer support and comfort to those who are grieving. They are safe places for quiet contemplation and, at time of national mourning, become focal points for public bereavement. Vicars may also be available to offer chaplaincy to visitors - providing a kind presence and a listening ear.
Here, Bishop of Llandaff June Osborne offers words of encouragement to those who are grieving after the death of Her Majesty the Queen.
These are days of real sorrow for our nation and everybody is sharing a sense of sadness. Whatever their memories of the Queen or whatever they believe, everybody is sharing that sadness.
We often invite people to come into our church buildings at this time. There are services going on and almost all of them have their doors open. There are candles to be lit. There's photographs of The Queen herself to remind us of her duty and inspiration. But most of all it is simply to say a prayer.
So why would we want to invite people into our church buildings?
Well the first thing of course is that it's good not to be alone. We want to be in a public space in, a place that's shared with our neighbors and our community; churches certainly represent that.
The Christian faith has always spoken of the hope of eternal life.
But the other thing is that they are places that help us remember our own grief.
You know one of the things that the Queen's death has done is it's nudged all of us back to our own places of loss and sorrow. Parents that have died. Friends we've lost and we're being reminded that we live with that grief day by day. Life is not the same when we have lost somebody we loved. And so churches are often places where we can take that grief and we can sit with it, we can think about the fact that the Christian faith has always spoken of the hope of eternal life that we will see them again. But more than that. We can pray for them and we can sit with our own feelings.
You can come to church with who you are and what you're feeling. It will be loved, respected and honoured
These are days when we need to be together. These are days of our national life and our neighborhoods are full of a sense that something is going on for us. Well let's take that with us into our church buildings. Please come to services. They are regular - certainly weekly if not daily.
But more than that whatever your background whatever your belief know that you can come into church with who you are and what you're feeling and it will be loved and respected and honored.
Transcript from Bishop June's video message.
Bereavement support for churches
Loss and Hope: Equipping Churches in Bereavement Support
If you church would like information about providing bereavement support please visit the Loss and Hope website
At A Loss
Download the poster and display in your church
