When You Work for the Church

Have you ever thought of the church as a community of belonging? Belonging to God, belonging to one another? Have you thought of wherever you live—your neighbourhood, your city, your rural area—as a community of belonging?

Loneliness has been described as an epidemic in our society. In The Loneliness Epidemic, author Susan Mettes explores why so many feel lonely and what leaders and churches can do to respond. Instead of promising a non-existent quick fix, she sets out some helpful, longer term responses:

to address loneliness by building friendships and a sense of belonging, by offering hospitality and creating neighbourhoods, by setting reasonable expectations, and responding in other practical ways.

But does that work?

The Faithful City in Arizona is one example, working at this with over 50 statewide leaders and 75 faith-based organizations:

creating communities of belonging anchored in unconditional love, trauma-informed care, and cultural transformation.

And no, those aren’t just the latest buzz words. While I’ve never been to any of their training sessions or conferences, I was intrigued by this glimpse of their work, their definition of trauma-informed care, and their intention to develop multicultural and resilient servant leaders:

I first learned about The Faithful City when I received an invitation to be on their podcast, hosted by Michelle Stiffler, who is part of my Redbud Writers Guild, and The Faithful City founder, Dr. Sanghoon Yoo. In their invitation, Michelle introduced the Weave & Cleave podcast as an initiative of the Arizona Trauma-informed Faith Coalition. Already in their fourth season, their listening audience includes “nonprofit professionals, ministry leaders, mental health professionals, and lay people who work with those who are facing grief or adversity.”

Michelle added, “I think they’d relate to your experience as a pastor managing grief while helping others in their own grief.” Would I be interested in being a guest?

Would I? As a podcast newbie, the prospect made me nervous, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn more about their work, to share some of my experience, and, of course, my new book: Hope Beyond Our Sorrows: Learning to Live with Life-Changing Loss (Herald Press, 2025).

In our recording session, my two hosts immediately put me at ease, and I so appreciated our conversation about grief, soul care, hope, gratitude, and the mystery of time, faith, and post-traumatic growth. Thank you, Michelle Stiffler and Dr. Sanghoon Yoo, for your gracious hospitality and for your on-going work of weaving voices of resilience and belonging. Listen here to my interview on the Weave & Cleave podcast.