How Your Church Can Help People Recover from Grief, with Jeff Forrey (Ep 116)

An important conversation about grief, recovery, and how your church can help people, both inside and outside the congregation, deal with grief in healthy ways.

November 20, 2025

by Karl Vaters

Grief has no rules, but there are healthy ways through it. And churches—small churches, especially—are uniquely suited to provide real comfort for people in these difficult seasons of loss.

I talked with Dr. Jeff Forrey about some important principles, including:

Why do we need help with grief?
What kind of damage can we experience if we don’t deal with grief properly?
What’s a typical time frame for experiencing grief?
What common mistakes are made in responding to grievers?

And more.

Jeff Forrey oversees GriefShare, which can come alongside your church to equip you to be a resource for people in need.

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Credits

Producer: Veronica Beaver

Editor: Phil Vaters

Music: Composed and performed by Jack Wilkins

Logo: by Solomon Joy

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Author

Karl Vaters

Karl Vaters produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.

He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.

Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast, The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context. He has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience.

You can follow Karl on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn, or Contact Karl to inquire about speaking, writing, and consultation.

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