Living in the Village of Grief

Going through grief and mourning is a profound human experience. It is highly individual, but also communal. As we do not live for ourselves and alone, we do not mourn for ourselves and isolated, but together in many different systems of families, friends and strangers. Everybody experiences his/her grief differently and expresses her/his mourning in different ways. "Living in the Village of Grief" is designed to help to navigate this difficult time. It can serve as a tool for self-help. And it is a suggestion to understand and live with the expression of grief of those around us. The book offers a narrative approach to grief, the theoretical background to understanding grief and a practical approach to deal with grief in groups.

Rev. Dr. Axel Schwaigert Reverend Doctor Axel Schwaigert; Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg (Germany), received his Diplom in Evangelische Theologie (Diploma in Protestant Theology) from the School of Theological Studies at Tübingen (Germany) and studied inter-religious dialogue at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He began his pastoral training in 1998 at MCC Bournemouth (UK). In 2000 he launched the new Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart (Germany) during Gay Pride. After 10 years of building this new congregation in surroundings not familiar with independent churches, Axel went on to earn his Doctor of Ministry degree at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA (USA). His thesis was on "Communual Grief in Relationship to HIV/AIDS" In his secular life, Axel works as a funeral director. He loves singing, dancing, and acting on stage in musicals, which he sometimes dares at a community theater of the US Forces in Stuttgart.