3 Valuable Ways To Assist Widows This Holiday Season

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Widow ministry ideas shared by Wanda N. Walker will help your small church meet needs and show the love of the Lord to widows at your church and in your community.

The holidays are a time for parties, festivities, music, and entertainment. Churches hold special events and decorate, and everyone is in the spirit. Well, almost everyone. For grieving individuals, especially widows, the holidays may be challenging.

I salute you if you have a widows’ ministry. If not, think about this: When their husbands pass away, they lose 75% of their friend network, and the family tree occasionally trembles wildly. After the initial flood of supportive care, widows and widowers may desire ongoing companionship and encouragement as they adjust to their “new normal.” They are at a time when you are needed more than ever. Let me aid you in aiding this particular group of women. 

Make An Effort To Reach Out To Widows In Your Community

I am aware that both staff and volunteers are stretched thin in small ministries. Can your small church add one more thing this season? Any assistance is much appreciated! And I can assure you that whatever effort you make to support widows during this time will be met with God’s favor and unfathomable comfort.

Here are some tips I’ve learned from my experience, as a widow’s ministry leader shared with me through my Life After Loss Widows Support Group, some of which are relatively basic. Pick an option that fits your small church’s needs. Choose what you can put into practice, keeping in mind that anything is better than nothing.

Three Tips To Keep In Mind When Ministering To Widows

1. Reach Out In Relationship

Remember Them

• Encourage those who know widows to intentionally reach out. They feel alone, even forgotten. They need connection, especially during this season. Recognize their tendency to withdraw when they are supposed to be “merry,” and they may not feel it.
• Ask if there is anything, in particular, they would like to do. Even if they can’t accept the invitations, keep extending them. It is nice to be remembered.
• Admitting that you lack the words to bolster their spirits is acceptable. That is preferable to saying, “I understand how you feel; my dog, cat, or goldfish passed away last year” (Yes, the oddest things are spoken!).
• Say, “I remember,” please. Widows adore hearing heartfelt, humorous, or simply fascinating things about the person they lost from your perspective. Tears are beneficial when they are shared.

Invite Them 

• Please don’t assume it’s the wrong time to get in touch because it’s the holiday season. They often lose 75% of their social circle, excluding them from most of their joint activities. The holidays can be lonely. 
• Please make sure they are never seated alone. It takes some time for them to find their “fit” again. Most of the time, they would rather not sit where they did with their husbands.
• Never expect that family will make the holidays complete. Their family has been upended. They may be debating whether or not to adhere to family customs. Family members frequently dispute. In fact, they might require a sympathetic ear to help them navigate the changes in their family dynamics.
• Those whose spouses held positions of authority are among the loneliest widows in the church. His position as a deacon, board member, teacher, administrator, or pastor often served as his wife’s social foundation and point of connection. Even though she is now single, invite this woman to your holiday party for the first year. Yes, she will be grateful if you ask. There may be some tears. Embrace her. She needs to be aware of your regard for her.

2. Don’t Wait For Them To Ask

• Put together a list of trusted handy people they can call when something goes wrong (because it will sooner or later). It’s nice to have a starting place to call if the dishwasher stops working rather than fretting over whom they can reach.
• Call. You might not realize how much a simple phone call can mean. It demonstrates your concern for them and improves your ability to determine how you can assist.
• Turn up. Although COVID-19 hasn’t made things simple, be prepared to help if necessary. This can entail offering assistance before they ask. It might be challenging for people to request assistance. Nobody wants to think they are a burden.
• Send a card. Include them on your list for Christmas cards. A simple approach to let someone know you’re thinking of them is to send them cards.

3. Acknowledge & Serve Widows As A Valued Part Of Your Church Community

• One Sunday after the service, hold a lunch and invite all widows as guests of honor. Other church members make, serve, and clean up the lunch. If there are other small churches in your area, consider doing this jointly. It will be an excellent way for widows to meet other widows.
• During a worship service, invite all widows forward, thanking them for their attendance and commitment to the church and praying with them.
• Put together a bulletin insert describing any odd jobs or unique requirements a widow could have, such as carpentry, yard maintenance, and transportation to appointments, and establish a mechanism to organize volunteers for these duties.
• Invite a lawyer to facilitate money management and estate planning workshops, which have become crucially important.

Respond To The Biblical Command To Care For Widows

For Christians, the instructions of James 1:27 to care for the orphan and widow are a demand that we are honored to obey rather than merely a suggestion that we can ignore. The Bible repeatedly emphasizes how crucial it is to take care of widows. This is still a critical ministry that should be kept from chance. 

Widows must continue participating in life, and the church can assist them. They will have lost their partners and church family if the church fails them, and they are forced to look for love and purpose elsewhere. Although widows may first turn down invitations to participate in group activities, their healing is likely to be aided by continuing to interact with others and partake in activities that interest them. 

Say, “I’ll check with you that morning to see if you have changed your mind if that is okay,” in response to “I don’t think so” or “No.” Keep the door open and be mindful of the mourner’s individual needs and recovery process. 

Read More:

Caring Ways To Brighten The Holidays

5 Tips To Engage Older Congregation Members 

Keep Your Senior Adults Connected And Engaged In Church