Church offers bereavement

A READING town centre church is offering support and guidance to those who have suffered from bereavement.

Greyfriars is inviting people suffering from loss and grief to its informal Side by Side compassion café, where they can share their experiences and reflect with and support others.

Complete with tea, coffee, and cake, the compassion café takes place on the last Sunday of every month.

It is also offering a course to help attendees work through grief and loss of a loved one.

The course provides five sessions of video coaching, covering issues of attachment and separation, the impact of bereavement, coping with work, family, and friends, and issues of guilt or anger.

It also covers rites of passage, such as funerals and memorials, engagement with grief, and how to move forward.

These sessions are led by Jane Oudjian, a trained counsellor who has worked with Curse Bereavement Support.

While its first five sessions are secular and have no connection to faith, it also offers a sixth, optional session where attendees can discuss grief and faith from a religious perspective.

This session will be led by Yvonnne Richmond Tulloch, who works with the Bishop of Southwark as the officer for clergy bereavement.

The video sessions will be followed by group discussion, were attendees are invited to share experiences, though contribution is not compulsory.

People of any faith, or no faith, are welcome.

Greyfriars recommends that all five of the sessions are attended, as each builds on topics previously covered.

Course sessions take place on Wednesdays, from April 27 to June 1, from 7.30pm-9:15pm at the Atrium, Friar Street.

The compassion cafe takes place from 2-3pm on the last Sunday of each month, also in the Atrium.