loss Archives

Hallmark holidays can hurt

Posted May 4th, 2022

The church should be a safe place to validate other life experiences that are different from those in greeting cards.

Remembering more than 1,600 Delaware lives lost to COVID-19

Posted June 2nd, 2021

A Garden Remembrance Memorial has been installed on the front courtyard of the Presbyterian Church of Dover, 54 S. State St., Dover, Delaware. It’s a temporary tribute, a space for healing, reflection and prayer to honor the lives of more than 1,600 Delawareans lost to COVID-19 from March 2020 to the end of May 2021.

The growing need for mental health ministries

Posted April 20th, 2021

Churches are trying to take the stigma out of mental health problems by accompanying people in a safe and loving environment.

Honoring our feelings of despair during the ‘most wonderful time of the year’

Posted September 22nd, 2020

During the holidays, so many of us can suffer for all kinds of reasons. The magnitude of our weary world weighs on our hearts and minds. We wrestle with chronic pain, broken relationships, shattered dreams, fragile faith, and unexpected losses. Our grief and sorrow feel particularly acute when compared to the festivity and joy everyone else seems to be feeling. More and more churches are acknowledging this fact with “Blue Christmas” services (also called “Longest Night” services) and offering resources to give particular support and comfort to those struggling during the “most wonderful time of the year.”

Pandemic-caused losses span the age range of Presbyterians

Posted June 1st, 2020

There are innumerable differences between Morrison Presbyterian Church and UKirk WCU, but one overriding similarity is the sense of loss due to the pandemic.

When Mother’s Day Hurts

Posted April 19th, 2019

The closest the Rev. Bethany Peerbolte has come to heartache associated with Mother’s Day was a couple years ago, when her parents moved from Michigan to North Carolina. “I’m like, ‘If that was hard for me, I can’t imagine what the people in my church are going through when they’ve lost a mother or haven’t had a mother figure who’s really been kind and loving to them, like a mother should be.’”

Presbyterian ministers break the silence about their fertility journey

Posted March 3rd, 2017

The joyful update came in the form of a YouTube video posted to Facebook. Jenna and Patrick Heery shared their pregnancy announcement on February 13 titled, “Our Infertility Journey to a Double Rainbow.” The video documents the couple’s struggle to achieve a full-term pregnancy after several losses.