When You Work for the Church

You may have already seen the cover of my new book (releasing this June 2025) on my author blog, but I wanted to share it here as well especially for those who work for the church.

Hope Beyond Our Sorrows is about learning to live with life-changing loss—whether that loss is the death of a loved one, a difficult medical diagnosis, or the loss that comes with burnout, with painful terminations from church ministry, and other church-related losses.

This is a book for all who grieve and who look for hope beyond their sorrows, a book for personal use and a resource to share with others as you come alongside those who grieve.

In Hope Beyond Our Sorrows, I share my story of early, middle, and present grief, the experiences of others who are also learning to live with life-changing loss, the wisdom of Scripture and other readings, and the practices of hope that have sustained me and many. I offer this book as a witness to the faith and hope beyond our sorrows.

The title refers to a song of prayer by the liturgical composer, performer, and recording artist Marty Haugen: “Healer of Our Every Ill.” I’ve sung this song as part of congregational worship many times, and even when I haven’t been able to sing the words, they’ve brought me much comfort. Here is the refrain and first two verses, followed by the composer’s recorded version from his second anthology:

Refrain: Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear,
and hope beyond our sorrow.

Verse 1:
You who know our fears and sadness,
grace us with your peace and gladness;
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts. [Refrain]

Verse 2:
In the pain and joy beholding
how your grace is still unfolding,
give us all your vision, God of love. [Refrain]

—”Healer of Our Every Ill”
by Marty Haugen

For all four verses of this song, please see “Healer of Our Every Ill” by Marty Haugen. For more information and/or to pre-order my book, please see Hope Beyond Our Sorrows: Learning to Live with Life-Changing Loss by April Yamasaki, releasing June 2025 by Herald Press.