Skip to Main Content

Pastoral Care: Adults

hotlines, guidelines and crisis intervention contacts; and support for pastoral care for children, tweens, teens, families, differently abled persons, elders and folks with memory concerns; including mindfulness, personal care and volunteer support

Welcome

Welcome to The Ministry Lab's curated list of resources to help caregivers and parents engage children in conversations around grief and trauma. Here you'll find:

  • Books & Downloads
  • Blogs, Podcasts & Articles
  • Websites & Curricula
  • Judicatory and Other Denominational Resources

See also our Contemplative & Mental Health Practices for Children & Youth and/or Hope & Resilience guides for developing self-awareness and tools for navigating distress, anxiety, and trauma.

If you don't find a resource to fit your need, don't hesitate to consult with The Ministry Lab's director, Rev. Emily Meyer, who is happy to assist you.

Books & Downloads

All Our Griefs to Bear     Beside Still Waters: Favorite Prayers, Poems, and Scriptures to Calm the Soul     The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.     Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman     The Embodied Path: Telling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness  | Broadleaf Books     Finding Refuge by Michelle Cassandra Johnson          From Dry Bones to Living Hope     From the Depths: Prayers for Grieving the Loss of a Partner          The Healing Path:  A Memoir and an Invitation               How Not to Be Afraid: Seven Ways to Live When Everything Seems Terrifying     Injustice and the Care of Souls, Second Edition: Taking Oppression Seriously in Pastoral Care          It’s Not Me, It’s You!     Book cover of Loss, Trauma, and Resilience     Picture of Not Forsaken     Not Quite Fine     Pandemic Prayers     Book - Paperback     Returning from the Abyss     To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope     Transforming Loneliness: Deepening Our Relationships with God and Others  When We Feel Alone: Graham, Ruth, Lambert, Cindy: 9780801094279:  Amazon.com: Books     Oneing: Trauma ~ PDF Download     Trauma and Race: A Path to Wellbeing     Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk     Trauma-Informed Spiritual Care: Interventions for Safety, Meaning, Reconnection, and Justice               

Blogs, Podcasts & Articles

“There’s no changing their minds,” Lydia Birk, seen this month in St. Louis, said of her three children, none of whom want kids. “I kind of grieved it, but the more I thought about it, the more I was like: ‘You know? I did a good job raising these kids. I don’t need another redo.’ ” (Bryan Birks / The New York Times)The unspoken grief of never becoming a grandparent

by Catherine Pearson  //  The New York Times

Poetry Unbound: incorporate poetry into a personal or group contemplative practice, worship/liturgical element, or fodder for small group discussions among tweens, teens and/or adults.

Listen to the trailer and subscribe on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercast, or wherever you listen.

New York Times contributor Adam Grant affirms, There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling: It's Called Languishing

Consider how "languishing" might speak to your experience as well as the members of communities you work with

Websites & Curricula

The Embodied Path Book Launch, Open Book, Minneapolis, December 6 2022 |  AllEvents.inTelling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness

Our bodies have a story to tell. When we turn toward our bodies with curiosity and reverence, we honor those stories, embrace our inner dignity, and make space for more agency. Sharing our bodies’ stories helps us feel seen so that, little by little, society’s limiting master narratives can shift so that more bodies feel safe and beautiful and have a sense of belonging.

Resources include:

iBme's website is informative. Retreats and courses may be life-changing. 

What's Your Grief? Offers resources for coping with the death of particular family members or friends; online grief support courses; CEU for care-givers; and options for sharing personal grief.

Judicatory & Other Denominational Resources

shares several resources about well-being in Covid-19 times, including this list geared toward caring for Youth, Young Adults, & Parents.

In Our Library

     Front Cover Preview Image - 1 of 12 - Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace          Book - Paperback