THE GRIEF LETTER
Twenty-five years ago, while serving First Baptist Church as our Associate Pastor (and leading us through a pastoral interim), Fran Buhler began a simple practice that he would repeat hundreds of times throughout the decades that followed. He wrote a letter to those who had lost someone in their immediate family during the previous year. Those who received and were encouraged by Fran’s outreach came to call it “the grief letter.”
Based on that ministry, as well as his experience of walking alongside grieving families for nearly 800 funerals, Fran has created a resource for those whose hearts have been wounded by the death of a loved one. This book — a personal labor of love — is intended to provide comfort for all those who mourn. He has called it The Grief Letter.
To help get this book into your hands, we have asked Fran to host a table in our Welcome Center this Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. If you would like to purchase a book for yourself and/or others, we will be selling them for $15.00 each. In addition, you will also be able to request Fran to sign your copy, and we will make those personalized copies available shortly thereafter. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about The Grief Letter or share this resource with others, please go to thegriefletter.com.
Having known Fran since I arrived here as a college student in 1993, I can attest to his love for people and for our church. Having served with him and watched him closely for more than a decade, I can also testify to his profound compassion for all who grieve. I am excited to see how the Lord will use Fran and his book to continue his ministry of mercy.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
— Matthew 5:4
— Josh Hall