Document Type
Honors Project
First Advisor
Dr. Harriet Hayes
Second Advisor
Dr. Skip Burzumato
Third Advisor
Dr. Carol Scheppard
Degree Award Date
Spring 5-3-2025
Keywords
Christianity, religion, grief, death, loss, dying, Catholicism, Russian Orthodoxy, Reformed Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, Church of the Brethren, hospital chaplaincy
Disciplines
Christian Denominations and Sects | Christianity | Family, Life Course, and Society | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Sociology of Religion
Abstract
This study explores the relationship between faith leaders and religious communities with the human experience of grief, death, and loss. Inspired by the researcher's own experience, this paper argues that the United States has a generally uncomfortable relationship with death and hypothesizes that religious traditions can serve to assist with grief in a positive way. After interviewing six religious leaders in the Shenandoah Valley, two themes arose: the mystery of death and the concept of "making space" for the grieving, dying, and dead. In the paper's conclusion, the faith leaders make known their own concerns with death in the United States, and the researcher reflects on whether religion is beneficial to the death experience.
Recommended Citation
Benjamin, Ewan, "Shepherds of Loss: Religion and Grief in the Shenandoah Valley" (2025). Honors Projects. 927.
https://digitalcommons.bridgewater.edu/honors_projects/927
Force Open Access
1
Included in
Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons