It’s Okay to Grieve
A Zoom Meetup for Spiritual Leaders During COVID-19

A recent Harvard Business Review piece named it:  That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief.

The author of that piece, Scott Berinato, interviews a scholar of grief, David Kessler, who says, “We’re feeling a number of different griefs. We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.”

That collective grief pervades our congregations, and spiritual leaders are likely experiencing it, too.

Berinato suggests, “If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it.”

In this time of social distancing, fear, and great uncertainty, faith communities are more important than ever, but let’s be honest: this current Coronavirus crisis stresses and stretches faith leaders in unique ways. In order to remain spiritually and emotionally healthy enough to offer the loving care our congregations need, faith leaders need to stay connected with one another and connected with God, the ground of our being and source of our strength.

Watch the Zoom meetup with other spiritual leaders during which we explored the topic of grief as it relates to this COVID-19 crisis. We heard from two guests who are thinking deeply about grief and about the role of spiritual caregivers in this particular moment — and we took some time to name what we are experiencing so perhaps we can manage it. This meetup was recorded on April 17, 2020.

Our guests include:

• Dr. Terri Daniel, CT, CCTP, a hospice and hospital-trained clinical interfaith chaplain, author, and trauma specialist. View biography.
• Rev. Daniel Wolpert, co-founder and Executive Director of the Minnesota Institute of Contemplation and Healing, Spiritual Director, Presbyterian pastor, and author. View biography.