Home
Mission/Vision
About Us
Programs
Group Rentals
Facilities
News
Directions
Contact Us
Association Members
How You Can Help
Sign Up For eNews
 
   
   
 

Aging With Spirit

Beyond Words

Creation Care

Grief Retreat

Mennocycle

Music & Worship
Leaders' Retreat


Narrative

Retreat for Families, Friends and Persons with Disabilities

Road Scholar

Summer Camps

Sustainable Food & Farming

Values-Based Leadership

Whitewater
Connection


Women in
Conversation


Wood Kiln Firing

Worship Arts
Training







Grief Retreat

Grief, Spirituality and Sexuality:
Life after Losing a Spouse


Future Date TBD

With Rachel Nafziger Hartzler, pastor, author and speaker.

(See bio below)


There IS life after the death of a spouse, although the journey to get there may be painful, challenging, and seemingly endless at times. In this retreat specifically for widowed people (and those who walk with them), the topics of loss and suffering, lament, spirituality, sexuality, and hope will be presented and discussed. There will be times for worship, small groups, and personal reflection. Participants have commented on the refreshing candor; the rich, deep spiritual tone; and the mixture of lament, hope, and assurance.


 


 


Rachel Nafziger Hartzler Bio

Rachel Nafziger Hartzler was happily working as a childbirth educator when her husband had a deadly heart attack while jogging. At age 51
she was catapulted into a new stage of life with unrelenting sorrow, horrendous confusion, and unanswerable questions. Adding to her distress
was becoming a single parent to grieving children. With the support of a caring community and by the grace of God, Hartzler endured the early
months of widowhood only to discover new questions and challenges emerging as she slowly moved along on her grief journey. Associated
Mennonite Biblical Seminary was one place where she engaged the questions and began to discover that loss is an invitation to transformation.
Her seminary work included a study of widowed people that became a foundation for her book, Grief and Sexuality: Life after Losing a Spouse.
She graduated from seminary in 2004 and is now serving as a pastor at Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church in Middlebury, Indiana.

For more information
email program@laurelville.org
or call 724-423-2056 or 1-800-839-1021

 

  I I I