Date
12-19-2024
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Chair
Gregory Faulls
Keywords
Grief, Counseling, Church Closure, Interviews and Analysis, Panel Discussions, YouTube Channel, Brochures
Disciplines
Christianity | Counseling
Recommended Citation
Berrios, Marcel, "Addressing a Lack of Counseling Programs to Diminish the Psychological, Emotional, and Mental Impacts of Church Closure Grief" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6412.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6412
Abstract
Besides spiritual activities, the social activities that happen in church buildings are vital to the functioning of most communities; therefore, churches play a central role in the social fabric and social infrastructure of communities in ways not necessarily thought about until they are no longer around. The looming absence of this role or function of the church becomes the overarching focus to address when an announcement is made that a church is permanently closing. Lost in navigating the business and community aspects of a church closure is the congregation's metamorphic spiritual, emotional, and psychological journey. Subsequently, many church members are left to traverse unfamiliar feelings and stages of grief without an essential counseling forum.
