{"id":1471,"date":"2020-02-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/3-tips-for-dealing-with-death-and-dying-in-ministry\/"},"modified":"2020-02-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T05:00:00","slug":"3-tips-for-dealing-with-death-and-dying-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/3-tips-for-dealing-with-death-and-dying-in-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Tips for Dealing with Death and Dying in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a pastor, you will inevitably and regularly encounter death.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll sit with church members as they take their final breath. You\u2019ll enter hospital rooms minutes after a loved one has passed.<\/p>\n

Often, you\u2019ll find out about a death before even the extended family or the funeral home. You\u2019ll walk families through dark days of mourning.<\/p>\n

Becoming \u201ccomfortable\u201d (or at least as much as possible) with being around death and mourning is essential to ministry.<\/p>\n

But pastor \u2014 don\u2019t miss this \u2014 some of the most powerful ministry of your life will happen right in the valley of the shadow of death.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to effectively minister to those who are mourning \u2014 and even who are dying.<\/p>\n

1. Remind your folks that death is part of life<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of us are infected with a terminal case of life. Despite modern advancements in medicine, statistics continue to show that 100% of people die. Eventually, every person will meet death.<\/p>\n

Just last week, I had a conversation with a dear lady in our congregation who, barring a miracle, most likely has only a few months left to live.<\/p>\n

Her husband passed away this past summer, and she is, to put it simply, ready to be Home.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s currently undergoing an aggressive form of chemotherapy that has some terrible side effects. She is ready to call it off and enter hospice care.<\/p>\n

As you might imagine, she\u2019s feeling a mix of emotions. There\u2019s sadness that she won\u2019t be around longer with her son, grandkids, and friends from church. But there\u2019s excitement to see her Savior!<\/p>\n

I was able to visit with her, pray, and remind her she\u2019s walking through something that\u2019s a part of this life. Everyone experiences death.<\/p>\n

So it doesn\u2019t do us any good to tiptoe around it. We must address it from the pulpit often, and we must remind our people that, eventually, death is coming for them.<\/p>\n

2. Remind your\u00a0folks that death is not ‘normal’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does this seem to contradict what I said before? Yes, death is normal for us \u2014 but it\u2019s not normal either.<\/p>\n

Death is part of life. It\u2019s inevitable. But it\u2019s\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0the way life is supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Death never was part of God\u2019s original plan but is a result of the Fall. Therefore, the pain of death is real. It hurts.<\/p>\n

While believers certainly have hope beyond the grave (more on that in a bit), let\u2019s not minimize the genuine pain death brings. To do so can be perceived as diminishing the value of what (or who) was lost.<\/p>\n

Minimizing that pain certainly risks alienating your people during some of their darkest days.<\/p>\n

And along these lines, I\u2019d also caution against the\u00a0many clich\u00e9s used during times of death and mourning<\/a>.<\/p>\n