St. Matthew’s Church sponsors a Grief Share group on Thursday nights at the Purple Fish Coffee Company.
What is GriefShare?, watch this video:
Here is a letter from our current Grief Share leader:
GriefShare is a Biblically based 13-week program to help the hurting in our congregation and community deal with the grief of losing a loved one to death. The goal of the program is to help participants move from “Mourning to Joy”. The program has three components. We watch an excellent video each week that deals with an aspect of grief. Strategies and tools are provided to help participants cope. After we view the video, we have a time of discussion and sharing based on the video. The third component is a workbook to help bring participants closer to God as they learn to lean on Him and His Word as their greatest source of comfort. I would also add that there is a fourth component and that is the fellowship and caring that develops within each group. We begin each meeting with food and fellowship.
St. Matthew’s has sponsored this wonderful ministry for the last two years. We are currently meeting at The Purple Fish on Thursday evenings from 6-8:30. We have completed two cycles of Grief Share during each of the last two years. We started the first session with about 10 people, and we currently have 36 people who are a part of our “GriefShare Family”. Most of our participants are from Darlington, but we also have others who come from Hartsville, Florence, and surrounding communities. We will finish our current session on January 18th. Our next session begins on February 1st.
This is an ongoing ministry. There are many ways that you can help. First and foremost, I am asking for your 1.) prayers. We could also use help with the meals if any of you would be willing to 2.) help prepare food. As leaders, we usually provide two meals. We currently have participants sign up in groups of two or three. Occasionally no one is signed up, so everyone just brings a sandwich. 3.) Refer people who need GriefShare.
My vision is to be able to expand the program to serve more people. We presently only have the sessions at night. I would love to be able to add a session that would meet during the daytime. We have had several inquiries from people who are no longer able to drive at night so there is a need for more options. If you are interested in helping, please let me know. I can be reached via the church office at 843-393-4112.
Sincerely, Lillian B.
More information:
Read a testimony from a GriefShare family member (shared with his permission)