Grief and Spiritual Coping: The Practices of Three Generations of Faith

Authors

Ron Bruner, Westview Boys’ HomeFollow
Dudley Chancey, Oklahoma Christian UniversityFollow

Abstract

Among the more important tasks of ministry is assisting congregants dealing with the grief that permeates life. This project seeks to discover and describe spiritual coping practices, positive and negative, among three-generation families within Churches of Christ. This qualitative work reviews relevant literature, defines research questions for this research, details the methodology used to obtain data, describes the sample from which these data were obtained, and reports the results. Thematic analysis of narratives obtained in this qualitative study provides an enriched understanding of spiritual coping with life stressors that is useful for practitioners of clinical and pastoral counseling.

Author Bio

Ron Bruner (DMin, Abilene Christian University) has served as the executive director of Westview Boys’ Home in Hollis, Oklahoma, since 1999. He co‐edited Along the Way: Conversations about Children and Faith with Dana Kennamer Pemberton. He co‐edited Owning Faith: Reimagining the Role of Church & Family in the Faith Journey of Teenagers with Dudley Chancey. Because of his interest in practical theology—especially in the fields of intergenerational, children’s, and youth ministry—Ron edits the e‐journal Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry. He and his wife, Ann, enjoy life with their three adult children and six grandchildren.

Dudley Chancey (PhD, University of Tennessee) has served as professor of youth ministry at Oklahoma Christian University since 1998. He is involved in several professional organizations including the National Council on Family Relations, Groves Conference on Marriage and Family, Association of Youth Ministry Educators, and the National Conference on Youth Ministries. Dudley is dedicated to Honduras family mission trips at OCU. He co‐edited Owning Faith: Reimagining the Role of Church & Family in the Faith Journey of Teenagers with Ron Bruner. Dudley is married to Vicki and has two adult children and three grandchildren.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Bruner, Ron and Chancey, Dudley (2021) "Grief and Spiritual Coping: The Practices of Three Generations of Faith," Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/discernment/vol7/iss1/1