Our GriefShare support group is a safe, welcoming place where people understand the difficult emotions of grief. Through this 13-week group, you’ll discover what to expect in the days ahead and what’s “normal” in grief. Since there are no neat, orderly stages of grief, you’ll learn helpful ways of coping with grief, in all its unpredictability—and gain solid support each step of the way.

Each weekly GriefShare group begins with a 30-minute video featuring respected experts on grief-related topics and helpful stories from people who have experienced loss. Their insights will help you manage your emotions, gain clarity, and find answers to your questions as you walk through the grief process.

After the video, you and the other group members will spend time discussing what was presented in the video and what is going on in your lives. Talking with other people who understand what you’re experiencing brings great comfort, normalizes the grief experience, and offers a supportive environment to work through your grief.

Your participant guide serves as a road map on your grief journey. This book helps you process your emotions and experiences and cope with the loss. You’ll apply what you’ve heard in the group and gain tools to deal with complicated grief.

I am a retired special education teacher who stays in touch with education through private tutoring in my home.  I have one living daughter, one grandson and grand-daughter-in-law, one granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren.  After my husband died in 2005 of complications incurred from Agent Orange in Vietnam, I attended GriefShare and was subsequently asked to co-facilitate the program.  This began what led to more than fifty 13-week sessions in which I have been involved.  Asked why I would want to continue facilitating “the club no one wants to join,” I respond, “I continue because I have seen the positive results that occur when grieving people allow others with the commonality of grief over the death of a loved one share that painful season.”  Strange as it may seem, I remain passionate about GriefShare and the transformation it can make in a broken heart.

Judy Rennaker resides in Covington, IN and serves on the staff of First Baptist Church, serves as administrative assistant for Paradigm 1, and is the former administrator of Covington Christian School. As co-facilitator for GriefShare, she has experienced the loss of a husband, son, and several close family members. She is the mother of three adult children, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of four children.