• Grief support from Calvary Baptist, First Baptist Groesbeck

Grief support from Calvary Baptist, First Baptist Groesbeck

Mexia’s Calvary Baptist Church recently introduced a grief support program with the intent to provide help and encouragement following the loss of a spouse, child, family member or friend. The group meets every Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Pastor Shane Norcross spearheaded the effort in Mexia, with the intention of helping others “go from grief to joy” in the process of finding a new normal after the loss of a loved one.

“The funeral homes are very good at walking families through the process of a burial,” Norcross said. “We’re fortunate in Mexia to have funeral home directors that are very passionate and very good, but there’s nothing for the days and weeks, even a year, afterwards to be a support.”

Initially, congregation members Kay Jones and Beverly Stepp started through the program hosted at First Baptist Church of Groesbeck. “Beverly and I have both been through the process of grief,” Jones said. “It was very, very hard and lonely. I don’t mind being alone, but it is a different type of alone. You get that support and comradery in a group, and you eventually find your new normal.”

First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Keith Collier began the program in Groesbeck last fall, after former Treasurer Beverly Behringer heard about the group from a member.

Behringer said that “seeing people be able to cope with grief and channel it in more positive ways” is an intrinsic reward offered by the program. “You don’t get over the death of a loved one but you can go forward. A big part of what program says is, ‘It is okay to grieve.’”

Jones highlighted that the group benefits those who have lost parents, a spouse, children and even a very close friend. “During this journey, you learn how to ask for help,” she said.

The church, located at 519 South McKinney is Mexia, hosts each session in the Fellowship Hall, accessible through the back of the church and the rear parking lot. The meetings are designed to be stand-alone and open to the public. The initial 13-week group session will continue through April 9, though the program is non-sequential.

Norcross doesn’t see it as a program that patrons attend for 13 weeks and finish. “I see it as something that continues, because of the relationships you build out of it.”

Following a loved one’s death, grief can persist. The group is called GriefShare and is conducted by individuals who have experienced grief and have successfully rebuilt their lives. “This is a journey,” Norcross said. “This ministry allows us a chance of being there in a better way for each person as well.”

GriefShare consists of over 15,000 churches worldwide. The program is nondenominational though features biblical ideas to heal. The program is not limited to church members or any particular faith. “We’re here to minister to people in a time of need,” Norcross said, noting that anyone can attend regardless of church affiliation. “It gives others the opportunity to teach, walk alongside each other and show others an easier way.”

For those that attend the group, the message continues in the opportunity to comfort others going through the grief process. “Every community suffers loss just like another does,” he said.

“It’s a group that they’re able to share with one another, and begin to understand what they are dealing with at that stage is normal,” he said. “Just being able to verbalize and put things back into some form of an order in their life.” The group is similar to other recovery programs in that anonymity and confidentiality are upheld by members and organizers. “When we’re in that room and the discussion starts, it does not leave,” Norcross said.

Rather than a one-size-fitsall approach, he notes that the program is person specific. “There is no timeline for grief and death is a respecter of no age,” he said. “When most of the group goes home, they walk into an empty home. There’s no one else there.”

Dealing with that loneliness through support is crucial to healing. “It doesn’t matter how long ago it happened,” Jones said. “There will be times when you go through those grief phases. You could be stuck.”

Sessions consist of a video seminar that provide information from grief experts, followed by group discussion about the weekly content. The last step consists of a workbook that focuses on journaling and personal study exercises that reinforce the weekly session topics.

The program is also available to other churches at a minimal cost for what the program offers, according to Norcross. “You can’t put a price on the transformation that takes place in their lives,” he said. “Attending this group is not going to ‘fix you’, but it will give you the tools to be able to grow, understand and help to deal with it on a daily basis,” Jones added.

For more information, contact the Mexia church at 254-562-2269.

First Baptist Church of Groesbeck, located at 306 N. Ellis St., also offers the course Tuesday evenings for those looking for fellowship in the recovery process. To reach Behringer and discuss her experience with the group, call 254-729-2067 or 254-716-7038.

“We have no expectation of anyone attending the group monetarily or any other way,” said Norcross. “We want them to come in and to find a place of peace where they can rediscover the joy of life.”

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Groesbeck Journal

P.O. Box 440
Groesbeck, TX 76642
Phone: 254-729-5103
Fax: 254-729-0362