Bethel alumna to honor Friesen with special convocation lecture
Shalom Health Ministries, a parish nurse service at Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton, invites people interested in learning and talking more about suicide to attend two free sessions built around the video "Fierce Goodbye: Living in the Shadow of Suicide."
The video, produced by Mennonite Media of Harrisonburg, Va., includes a study guide to help facilitate group discussion.
The Shalom program will be held Sunday and April 17, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the church located at 800 E. First Street in Newton.
Using the video, and with facilitation by a family who experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide, the Sunday session will focus on personal stories and the struggle with the aftermath of suicide, while the April 17 session will look at how a faith community can help someone so severely depressed they are considering suicide, as well as how that community can support a family after a suicide.
"Surviving the death by suicide of a loved one is different than when you are left behind by terminal illness or sudden illness, an accident or a homicide," says Marilyn Wolgemuth, one of Shalom's two parish nurses.
The programs are free and open to anyone interested. For more questions about the program or the video "Fierce Goodbye," call Marilyn Wolgemuth at (316) 284-2910 or Doris Weber at (316) 283-5569.
