Disenfranchised Grief: Ministry That Breaks the Silence

Thirty years ago, Kenneth J. Doka coined the term "disenfranchised grief" to refer to losses people experience that are not socially sanctioned, openly acknowledged, or publicly mourned. The concept of disenfranchised grief is now widely recognized and used in the health professions and social sciences. Unfortunately, the same attention to the issue is less true of clergy training, ministry practice, and many caregiving circles.

Yet, this lack of awareness and training of clergy and congreg...