Supporting the Family After a Suicide (IN: Clergy Response to Suicidal Persons and Their Family Members, edited by D C Clark)

This chapter notes that in a time of darkest despair, the religious comfortor is faced with the responsibility of entering into the deep shadows of life’s most tragic moment. The challenges & the opportunities are to confront death itself, to listen to the survivors of the suicide, & to bring “a sense of the holy” into the world. The chapter discusses questions clergypersons must ask of themselves before beginning to help, options for appropriate funerals, & the needs of the bereaved.