The Unbroken Circle: A Toolkit for Congregations Around Illness, End of Life, and Grief

Primary Author: James L Brooks, Duke University

The Unbroken Circle: A Toolkit for Congregations Around Illness, End of Life, and Grief is a new resource filled with practical tools and guidance to help congregations care for people facing illness, dying and bereavement. Developed by the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life and written by Rev. James L. Brooks, it provides clergy, lay leaders, parish nurses and chaplains with an inspiring vision, easy-to-use tools, specific tips, and hundreds of additional resources.

The Toolkit starts with a call to action and provides templates for congregations to plan a discussion of these issues. It also includes guidelines for support groups, information on how to offer spiritual support to families, and outlines for educational programs and liturgical services. The Toolkit is designed to be in sync with the self-organization of congregations, including organizing illness, death, and grief information specifically geared towards adult and child education, congregational care, and worship, facility, and clergy leadership.

Published in the summer of 2009, The Unbroken Circle has been embraced by congregationally-based clergy and nurses, chaplains in health care settings, educators in seminaries and clinical pastoral education programs, and students interested in spiritual dimensions of caring for those with advanced illness.