Facing Mortality Together - Intensive for Church & Ministry Leaders

“Why is it hard to talk about death?”
“Have I thought about what I want at the end of life? Do my loved ones know?”
“How do I show up for other people in hard times? How do I make peace with the reality of my own mortality?”

These questions and others are addressed in "Facing Mortality Together", Here to Honor’s intro to death education designed to help us all grow in vocabulary, fluency, and comfort in talking about the difficult topics that surround death.

Together in a relaxed, small group setting, we will contemplate our own finitude while exploring the landscape of death and dying in modern America through the lens of Christian faith traditions.

The class is interactive and consists of three sessions that incorporate group discussions, research findings, personal anecdotes, individual reflection, and creative exercises.

SESSION 1

• Identify social, cultural, technological, historical, and medical factors that shape our views on death
• Refer to the Ars Moriendi and adapt “The Art of Dying” tenets to modern times
• Discuss the concept of “dying well” and consider the definitions of a “good death”

SESSION 2

• Examine the importance of contemplating our impermanence
• Discover ways to “hold space” for mortality
• Practice integrating end-of-life perspective into our day-to-day

SESSION 3

• Demystify basic end-of-life planning
• Consider the paperwork and people involved at end of life
• Recognize ways to build support networks and expand one’s community

This one-day intensive is geared towards church and ministry leaders and is meant to be a purposeful pause on the calendar, space and time devoted to becoming more death literate and attuned to our own end-of-life needs. We strongly believe that in doing this work for ourselves, it helps us to walk with others on the end-of-life journey.

Schedule overview:

9:30am: Check-in
10:00am-12:00pm: First Session
12:00-12:30pm: Lunch break (lunch included)
12:30pm-2:30pm: Second Session
2:30pm-4:30pm: Third Session & Wrap-up

Follow-up Zoom session: Friday, October 4, 1-2pm