Teaching your Children About Death

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GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULT MINISTRIES

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The Youth Worker List-Server
Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
83 Saint Basil Road; Garrison, NY 10524
(646) 519-6180

February 21, 2003

"With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Your servant, where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting. Among the spirits of the righteous perfected in faith, give rest, O Savior, to the soul of Your servant. Bestow upon it the blessed life which is from You, O loving One." Hymn from Memorial Service

Greetings in Christ,

Learning about the Orthodox perspective on death is important for our children. Yet sometimes, we try to shelter our children from facing the reality of death until it becomes unavoidable. Children at a young age can begin understanding and gaining comfort from our church's teachings about death. Discussing death before a child is face to face with it helps to better prepare children for the day when they will experience the loss of a loved one.

With the Saturdays of the Souls coming up on March 1st, March 8th and March 15th, we are presented with an ideal time to begin teaching our young people about the church's view on death. To assist you in this, we have posted several sessions, 1 for JOY, 1 for GOYA and 1 for families, to help begin the teaching. You can access these by clicking on the following link:

http://www.goarch.org/en/archdiocese/departments/youth/youthworkers/sessions/

We hope these sessions assist you in your ministry.

With Love in Christ,