ELCA Coaching Weekly Gathering: The Sacred Work of Grief, Part 5

When we are born, and as we pass through childhood, adolescence, and the stages of adulthood, we are designed to anticipate a certain quality of welcome, engagement, touch, and reflection. In short, we expect what our deep-time ancestors experienced as their birthright, namely, the container of the village. We are born expecting a rich and sensuous relationship with the earth and communal rites of celebration, grief, and healing that keep us in connection with the sacred.... This is our inheritance, our birthright, which has been lost and abandoned. The absence of these requirements haunts us, even if we can’t give them a name, and we feel their loss as an ache, a vague sadness that settles over us like a fog.
— Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow

Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin leads this Weekly Online Gathering for ELCA Leaders, this Wednesday, 1/6/2021, noon MST, 1 pm PST. Links to the meeting at elcacoaching.org as well as archives.

As we turn the calendar to a new year, to a new decade, we have a new perspective with which to look back over the year, the decade, our lives, the generations. We can take this opportunity to reflect upon what did and did not happen, what we did and did not receive, what was present and what was sorely and painfully absent. In this session (5 of 7), Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin will reflect on one of Francis Weller's five Gates of Grief: "What We Expected and Did Not Receive," and we will engage in a practice of seeing with eyes of love as a way of responding to this often unrecognized source of grief in our lives.

To watch the previous sessions:

You are invited to join this weekly online gathering designed to provide encouragement and support for ELCA leaders across the church. Participants will hear topical presentations related to how we are called to be Church, as well as have an opportunity to be in small group discussions with an ELCA group coach facilitating the conversation. This is where the magic happens. All of this is designed to help us process our emotions and thus create a space where we can each name our next most faithful step forward in our unique context. You are welcome to share this invitation with any other ELCA leader, rostered or lay. #ELCAChurchTogether

We understand a number of folks are unable to make this day and time each week. We record the main session and debrief time. We share each recording with supporting documents here, typically by the following day: https://www.elcacoaching.org/podcasts/media.

You can also find a list of upcoming topics and presenters on the home page of our website: https://www.elcacoaching.org/.

ELCA Coaching is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: BEING CHURCH - Weekly Gathering for ELCA Leaders
Time: Wednesdays 1:00 PM Central Time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/180439412?pwd=WlVwUUxyUE5mY2IxMktHQXFJdGNMdz09
Meeting ID: 180 439 412
Password: 648160