Grief, Transition, and Loss: A Pastor's Practical Guide (Creative Pastoral Care & Counseling) [Paperback]

Wayne E. Oates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997 | Series: Creative Pastoral Care & Counseling

In this book written for counselors and pastors, Wayne Oates shares ideas from a lifetime of ministry on how to help people who have suffered loss-- not only to death, but also to such life situations as separation, divorce, and job loss.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800628640
• ISBN-13: 978-0800628642
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Ministry to the Sick & Bereaved

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good things come in small packages, June 17, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grief, Transition, and Loss: A Pastor's Practical Guide (Creative Pastoral Care & Counseling) (Paperback)

The book 'Grief, Transition, and Loss: A Pastor's Practical Guide', is a wonderfully compact gem of writing. This small book can be read by most in about an hour (for dyslexics like me, about two hours), but the lessons can last a lifetime. This is a very practical guide (just as the title indicates), but I regret the title says 'Pastor's', because this book can be used by far more, and subtitle places an unnecessary limitation on the potential audience.

Wayne Oates was professor of psychiatry and behavioural science at the University of Louisville, as well as a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

This book is an absolute must for anyone who does any kind of ministry for those in crisis situations (which tends to be the time most people will reach out for such help). As such, it can be used by any health care professional, civil servants such as fire and police personnel, volunteer visitors to those who are homebound or in the hospital, and by the families themselves who are going through some trauma.

This book is organised around the grieving process, which doesn't necessarily imply a death situation. One chapter is entitled 'Grief and Separation in Divorce', showing clearly that grieving can occur whenever there is a loss, and not just at death.

This book teaches one to be prepared - for instance, many common events of celebration can quickly turn to crises. The birth of a baby, a wedding, a graduation, etc. can suddenly turn into an emergency and a time when great pastoral care is needed. What happens if the baby is stillborn? What happens if the bride or groom doesn't show for the wedding? What happens if there is a family blow-up at the graduation, and junior who's graduating drives off into the sunset?

The one giving care (and it needn't be an ordained person, by the way - forget the idea that some will try to foist upon you that the clergy have, or should have, a monopoly on pastoral care) needs to be sensitive and caring, and hopefully is someone acquainted with the 'slow wisdom of grief' that keeps one sane, steady, and responsive to the needs at hand.

In a mere 90 pages, Oates provides examples, strategies for action, coping, and resolution, for many of the major potential crises in life. He teaches how to discern different kinds of grief (pathological grief that doesn't fade with time, sudden-loss grief, which is different from anticipatory grief, and so on), and how to respond to each, with practical suggestions (just how does one plan a funeral while attending to the grieving process? how does one move the surviving partner, or sort out the financial matters, while attending to the feelings of loss?).

This is a great book for anyone in any caring or helping profession, and a good book for the rest who might like some insight so that when (and, in life, it is always WHEN, not IF) sorrow occurs, they might be better prepared to withstand the storm.