Pastoral Care

Registration for the Spring session is now OPEN. 
Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark, the six virtual sessions of Spring Training will begin Wednesday evenings from 7 pm-9 pm on Zoom/Teams starting February 12- March 26, 2025 (No class on March 5, Ash Wednesday). 

This six-session program is designed for individuals who want to become facilitators for existing parish bereavement support groups or who wish to start a bereavement support ministry at their parish or online. However, the course is not limited to those who wish to facilitate a support group; it can also benefit anyone who ministers to the bereaved in parishes in different capacities.

The program aims to enhance enthusiasm and provide education for this important ministry.
 Topics include:

• Overview of Loss, Grief & Mourning and current theories
• Grief in special circumstances, including grief during the pandemic
• Assessing the need for referral
• Importance of bereavement ministry for the parish
• Reaching out to those on the peripheries, especially those feeling lost and alone
• Counseling skills: How to listen and ask questions that facilitate healing
• How to start up & facilitate a parish-based bereavement support group
• The effects of COVID-19 and the post-COVID period on grief and ministry.

The fee is $85 per participant.

 Registration and information 

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Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at San Alfonso Retreat House

“Our world is experiencing a mental health crisis.  Anxiety and depression weigh heavily on the lives of many people – often those people are youth and young adults.  There is hope.” 
                                                                                       James D. Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, May 2024
 
The Office of Pastoral Life will host a retreat day for clergy, staff and ministry volunteers

• To increase our understanding and awareness of mental illness
• To pray together and reflect on our experiences of how mental illness impacts those   who serve and those we serve in various parish ministry settings;
• To recognize the signs and symptoms of anxiety & depression; and prioritize self-care;
• To consider ways to reduce the stigma and models for how parishes can walk with people with mental illness and their families who feel isolated and alone.  

 
Speaker:  Deacon Ed Schoener from the Diocese of Scranton
                      President and Co-Founder of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers
 
Please save the date. More details will be available soon.

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American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Grief Speaks

Samaritan's Hope - Offering Care to Suicide Loss Survivors

You Can NOT Be Replaced

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