On September 22-23 Loma Linda University Church will be hosting

GRIEF, GRACE AND GRATITUDE: Finding healing after loss.

A seminar with Alicia Patterson

To grieve is human. Grief is a story that needs to be told.

There are many kinds of loss besides death. The grief caused by divorce, a parent's Alzheimer's, or a child who has left the church, are examples of losses that may go unrecognized. Through compelling stories from everyday life, proven principles of grief, and biblical lament, you will learn effective tools to help you heal from your own grief and support others who are grieving.  Grief cannot be "fixed," but healing and a fulfilling life are possible.

SEMINARS

  • Friday 7 pm

    Crying Out to God: The Practice of Biblical Lament

    “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Ps. 22:1a

    Is it okay to be angry at God? Can we talk to Him about it? Absolutely. He already knows! And it's a relief to have examples like Job and David, who honestly expressed their feelings to God when things felt unfair or unbearable. They were not reprimanded; they became some of God's closest friends.

    To lament means to “wail” or “cry out.” In the biblical practice of lament, we cry out in pain and seek God's help. This raw honesty about our present circumstances and remembrance of God's faithfulness leads to a place of trust and peace. Dissonance is a hard place to live. Distress about present circumstances and the knowledge of God’s goodness ping pongs back and forth until the griever’s heart can rest peacefully, even if the circumstance has not changed.

  • Sabbath 10 am

    Being There: How to Support the Grieving

    “There are three needs of the griever: to find the words for the loss, to say the words aloud, and to know that the words have been heard.” Victoria Alexander

    We know how to congratulate someone for graduating, celebrate them when they get married, and rejoice over a new baby. But when a person dies, we often say nothing at all. The truth is, we haven’t been taught how to respond to this inevitable part of life.

    We are worried about saying or doing the wrong thing - and so sometimes we don't "show up" for the bereaved at all. How do you support people who are grieving? What helps? What doesn’t? Gaining insight into these challenges will help us become more compassionate and supportive companions for the bereaved.

  • Sabbath 3 pm

    Living, Losing, Loving: Healthy Grieving

    “One cannot get through life without pain. . . What we can do is choose how to use the pain life presents to us.” Bernie S. Siegel

    Living means losing. There are so many good things in life, but there is always change. And change means loss. Even positive change can bring loss. You have a baby, for example, and it’s wonderful! But you will not do a “quick run to the store” for decades, you will lose sleep, and “free time” will quickly fade from your vocabulary!

    Then there are the devastating losses. Unexpected. Unwanted. How do we survive? Is living a fulfilling life again even possible? This seminar is designed to guide you through healthy responses to grief and provide you with the courage to embrace the journey of healing.

Sign up and join us

September 22 & 23 at the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center

11175 Campus St Loma Linda, CA 92354 United States

*Lunch will be provided*

Alicia W. Patterson, MA Religion Confluence Grief and Loss Coaching and Consulting Certified Kessler Grief Educator | Certified Grief Coach | Speaker Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® confluenceawp.com Phone: 770-853-3657

About Alicia Patterson

Alicia is a Certified Grief Educator, Certified Grief Coach, and an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist. She was lead professor of Jesus and Contemporary Society and Issues in Grieving and Loss at AdventHealth University for ten years, where she developed a required course in grief and loss for nursing students. Currently she leads Confluence Grief and Loss Coaching, a coaching and consulting business, at www.confluenceap.com 

Her personal experience with grief began with the car accident that killed her mother when Alicia was four years old.  This loss made her more sensitive to those grieving, and from this experience grew a desire to support others in their grief. She has a heart for walking with grieving people to a place of healing where the weight of grief lightens, and they can breathe again. 

 She and her husband, Pastor Geoff Patterson, live in Boulder, Colorado, and are blessed to have four children and a growing family.

I think grieving people hope for more than just a decrease in the intensity and frequency of the pangs of grief. They hope for the restoration of a fulfilling life.

Paraphrased from The Grieving Brain, by Mary-Frances O'Connor