Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
12-2007
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Graduate School of Theology
Degree Name
Doctor of Ministry
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Charles Siebert
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Frederick D. Aquino
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Tim Sensing
Abstract
This thesis demonstrates the value of a constructive narrative approach to grief. The theological construct is based on the Gospel of Mark and using Paul Ricoeur's framework of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Some theoretical insights from narrative therapy provide an understanding for the importance of telling stories as a way to integrate loss into one's life. A six-week curriculum provides bereaved participants with information to teach about the process of grief and a scriptural perspective of that process. The goal is to provide several opportunities for the bereaved to tell the story of their loss. Seven of the participants who attended at least five of the six sessions were interviewed following the class to tell their story and share any changes of perspective on the process of grief.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Niestrath, Sean E., "As those who have hope: A Christian constructive approach to grieving death losses among members of the East Main Church of Christ, Kalamazoo, Michigan" (2007). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 618.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/618