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Author: Karen Mason
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2014-08-01
Total Pages: 237
ISBN-13: 0830896473
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMany pastors, chaplains and pastoral counselors play a vital role as agents of hope to people who are struggling, but most of them feel overwhelmed and unprepared to prevent suicides. Informed by her work as a psychologist, Karen Mason's guide to suicide prevention is an essential resource for proactive pastors.
Author: Karen Mason
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2023-01-24
Total Pages: 170
ISBN-13: 1666709786
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSuicide is a growing tragedy in the US and in the church. We can stop the climbing numbers of suicide deaths, but it is going to take everyone working together, including the church. Without the church, suicidal people may not hear the life-affirming messages they need to hear. Without an informed church, people who have lost loved ones to suicide may leave the church. Too often, the church watches from the sidelines not knowing what to do. Why is it that the wider (secular) culture is more engaged in suicide prevention than God's people, especially given that Christians care deeply about the sanctity of life? The apostle Paul modeled suicide prevention for the church when he stopped the suicide of the Philippian jailer. But pastors and congregants may not know how to follow his example. The result is that people who struggle with suicide or who have lost loved ones to suicide wonder if the Bible or their church have anything relevant to say about suicide. This book will provide the resources needed to help prevent suicide in a church, even when a church does not want to start one more program.
Author: Scott M. Gibson
Publisher: Lexham Press
Published: 2020-11-23
Total Pages: 193
ISBN-13: 1683594126
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow can a preacher best address suicide from the pulpit? Pastors face many challenges. Suicide in a congregation is amongst the most heart-rending and intimidating. However, the preacher has a unique capacity to engender gospel hope for preparing the congregation and comforting the bereaved. To do so, preachers need help understanding the challenges and opportunities presented by addressing suicide from the pulpit. In Preaching Hope in Darkness, two practitioners in fields that do not typically interact--homiletics (Scott M. Gibson) and psychology (Karen Mason)--work together to support the preacher in this difficult task. Gibson and Mason offer wise advice on a range of topics such as suicide prevention, post-crisis care, and funeral sermon preparation. With an appendix of sample sermons and a sample funeral liturgy, Preaching Hope in Darkness is an essential go-to guide for this difficult topic.
Author: Jamie D. Aten
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2016-02-05
Total Pages: 210
ISBN-13: 0830841229
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIs your church prepared to respond if natural disaster or human tragedy strikes your community? Jamie Aten and David Boan, codirectors of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, provide this practical guide for disaster preparedness, filled with resources for emergency planning and crisis management plus best practices for local congregations.
Author: Stanley Krippner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 2021-01-13
Total Pages: 350
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book explains why suicide can be alluring to a person aiming to stop his or her traumatic pain—whether its source is bullying, sexual assault, war combat, or other PTSD-invoking events—and details approaches that can prevent suicide. Suicide has been a taboo topic in Western culture. The mere mention of suicide sparks reactive responses that include medical, moral, spiritual, and religious debates. As a result, the authors open an important discussion here, offering an honest and non-judgmental examination of the many aspects involved in the nature of suicide, explaining that above all, people need to learn how to support those struggling with suicidal thoughts or to intercept their own suicidal thinking. The book also includes an extensive review and evaluation of the many available mental health treatments. Special consideration is given to military suicides. U.S. soldier suicides exceed one per day and continue to rise in all military branches, while veteran suicide rates are even higher, averaging 17 per day. Communities, families, veterans, and service members are in need of tools and insights for coping with, navigating, and exposing the suicidal attitudes affecting many current and former members of the military.
Author: Alan T. Baker
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Published: 2021-02-18
Total Pages: 327
ISBN-13: 1467461091
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn approachable overview of the nature, purpose, and functional roles of chaplaincy Chaplaincy is unlike any other kind of ministry. It involves working outside a church, without a congregation, usually in a secular organization. It requires ministering to those with starkly different religious convictions, many of whom may never enter a house of worship. It is, as Alan Baker writes, “ministry in motion.” Those who are embarking upon this unique and specialized call deserve equally unique and specialized guidance, and Foundations of Chaplaincy offers exactly that. Baker surveys the biblical and theological foundations of chaplaincy before enumerating four specific responsibilities and skills that define chaplaincy’s “ministry of presence”: providing, facilitating, caring, and advising. Baker’s thorough guidance on these matters is supplemented in sidebars with practical advice and anecdotes from over thirty chaplains currently serving in a variety of settings and organizations. Chaplains who serve in healthcare, the military, correctional institutions, police and fire departments, sports teams, college campuses, and corporations have essential roles to play in their respective organizations, but theirs is rarely an easy calling. With Foundations of Chaplaincy as an introduction and an ongoing reference, those called to this important vocation may be assured of having the tools they need to cultivate a strong, mission-driven pastoral identity rooted in their own theological tradition while simultaneously participating in a multi-faith team.
Author: Albert Y. Hsu
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2017-07-04
Total Pages: 203
ISBN-13: 0830883975
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAlbert Y. Hsu wrestles with emotional and spiritual questions surrounding suicide, ultimately pointing survivors to the God who offers comfort in our grief and hope for the future. This revised edition now includes a discussion guide for suicide survivor groups.
Author: H. C. Johnson
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2022-03-18
Total Pages: 187
ISBN-13: 1666790656
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book makes the startling claim that the pulpit is the appropriate place to address suicide. In A Preacher's Guide to Suicide Johnson chisels through the rusty prison bars of cultural pretense and the oppressive myths of suicide. Using history, the social and behavioral sciences, and biblical inquiry over the centuries of varied Christian voices, Johnson demonstrates that suicide is part of the very fabric of Christian identity. And to preach suicide awareness is to preach life into the very act of dying. While grappling with the contemporary understanding of neuroscience, psychopathology, societal values, and individualism, Johnson seeks to present suicide in a hopeful light as we all approach death in those daily moments of confession, forgiveness, and prayer. Johnson hopes to provoke further conversation within the Christian community about the richness of suicide within the Scriptures and seeks to be a source of inspiration for preachers.
Author: Melinda Moore
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2017-05-16
Total Pages: 223
ISBN-13: 1498289584
DOWNLOAD EBOOKTo our knowledge nothing with The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors' scope and depth has ever been published. This is an aid to anyone who will be called upon to do a funeral for the nearly 43,000 suicides in America each year. This book is designed to assist clergy, chaplains, and other faith leaders as they develop sermons and homilies for a funeral service. Its mandate is to help those searching for inspiration even though they may feel confused or uncertain undertaking such a daunting assignment. Those who plan and lead a funeral service may enable family and friends to understand and participate intentionally in their grief process. Clergy can have a significant impact on how people react to the suicide as well as provide comfort and assistance to those left behind on their journey through grief. Your leadership will influence how the suicide's bereaved are treated by others in the days, weeks, and months following the death. Because suicide does not discriminate by race, socio-economic status, or religion, a broad range of faiths and denominations are represented in this book's sermons, services, and perspectives.
Author: Stephen W. Hiemstra
Publisher: T2Pneuma Publishers LLC
Published: 2020-04-20
Total Pages: 271
ISBN-13: 1942199732
DOWNLOAD EBOOKOur journey in Christian ethics starts with God in whose image we are created. Creation begins with birth and continues as we mature. Our character matures, shaped by the example of Christ under the mentorship of the Holy Spirit through the family and the church. Christian leaders reach full maturity once they able to mentor others—we are blessed to be a blessing. Living in Christ focuses on explaining, not justifying, Christian ethics. At a time and in a place where people scoff at developing a theological understanding of their faith and refuse to teach Christian morality, ethics is almost a lost art. At the heart of the ethical dilemma is a tension between theological principles that can only be resolved the guidance of the Holy Spirit. How do you practice forgiveness for sinners who refuse to confess their sin and force you to bear its consequences? In this context, ethics is less a philosophical discipline that a recognition of our own limitations as Christians and the need for divine intervention. Ethical thought and action always involve interpretation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is thus ironic that a book on Christian living should have an outward focus on God rather than an inward focus on what to do and not do. This interpretative element colors how we view character formation, the community of faith, leadership, and the many special issues that arise in daily life. Hear the words; walk the steps; experience the joy!
