Church program helps grievers

A Mountain City church remains committed to its grief support ministry twelve years after its founding. GriefShare is a support group program for those grieving the loss of a loved one. Churches across the country run the program, with First Baptist Church holding its first meeting on Feb. 8, 2014. Groups meet once a week for thirteen weeks. Each time, the groups will watch a video on different topics and then discuss. Examples include "Fearful & Overwhelmed," "Grief & Your Household," and "What Do I Live for Now?" Participants can join the thirteen-week series at any time and attend as many meetings as they'd like. They also receive workbooks, which First Baptist provides for free. First Baptist has had different facilitators throughout the years, but the most recent were church members Jeanie Radford and her husband, who led the Fall 2025 series. "You feel like you're really helping someone in need," said Radford, who was struck by the program despite her short time with it. "I've seen the videos several times, and each time you get something different out of them — it's very helpful." Radford said some people go through the series multiple times, and the church likes to have six to 10 members in a group. The most recent series had less than that, and Radford believes it may be because she hosted meetings on Thursday night instead of the customary Tuesday night. Going forward, First Baptist pastor Jamie Bodiford and his wife will facilitate so that Tuesday nights can be returned to. Before Radford, Norma Roark, commuting from Boone, N.C., facilitated the meetings for seven years. Roark recalls that participants would often say, "I thought I was going crazy" before meeting with others going through similar experiences. "Grief affects your mind, and after it you're never the same," Roark said. "The first class is to let people know what [they're] experiencing is normal." Roark said she'd survey participants at the end of each series about what helped them the most. Everybody gave the same answer: listening to what other participants had to say. Roark said one of the most memorable moments from her time with the program was when a man made a simple statement about his wife, who he lost to cancer. "He said, 'Norma, I enjoyed her.' And then he said, 'I believe she enjoyed me,'" recalled Rorak. Radford and Roark said they've gone through their own grief journeys, which helped them as facilitators. GriefShare is "Christ-centered" and "nondenominational," according to its website. Radford said people can visit GriefShare.com to join an online series or find other resources if they are not yet up to talking to others in person. First Baptist Church's next series begins on March 10, 2026, with meetings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone interested in joining or for more information can call the church at 423-727-9711 or visit tinyurl.com/MtnCitygrief