Coping with grief and sadness

An Evening of Hope & Recovery, with a presentation by renowned author, educator and lecturer, Dr. Herbert Anderson, PhD., will be held Friday, November 10, 6:30 p.m. at Burlingame Hall.

Sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Interfaith Ministerial Association, the event is designed to offer an opportunity for community members to process the grief and sadness resulting from the recent wild fires, and other causes of loss.

In addition to Anderson’s presentation, “Grieving All Our Losses,” healing rituals and opportunities for small group conversations will also be included in the participatory evening. Area professional counselors including, Barbara Miner, Nina Gorbach, Crest Forrister and Burt Shekra-Smith will be on hand to facilitate discussions and mutual story telling.

After being a parish pastor in California and a hospital chaplain in New Jersey, the retiree Anderson, who now resides in Sonoma along with his wife Phyliss, began his teaching career at Princeton Theological Seminary in the fall of 1969. Since then, he has also taught at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa: Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry; Fuller Seminary extension in Seattle; and Yale Divinity School.

Anderson is the author or co-author of over 100 articles and 13 books on topics such as death and grief, family living, ritual and narrative, empathy, leaving home and living alone, men’s spirituality, suicide, and “sense and nonsense in the wisdom of Dr. Seuss.” His most recent book was co-authored with Karen Speerstra and is entitled “The Divine Art of Dying: How to Live Well While Dying.”

All are welcome to the wheel-chair accessible, free-of-charge event. Burlingame Hall is located on the campus of First Congregational Church and Congregation Shir Shalom, at 252 West Spain Street in Sonoma.