Supporting Pam Through the Loss of Chris
Donation protected
Following the sudden and tragic loss of Chris Rolph on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, there has been an outpouring of love and concern for Pam and their sons, Grant and Luke. They are incredibly thankful for this, and within a few days, I will upload a video here of Pam sharing more of their story.
For several years, I had the privilege of walking and serving alongside Chris and Pam as their pastor in Williamsburg, KY. I witnessed firsthand that though facing many challenges, they remained faithfully committed to God and one another while still finding ways to love and serve others through it all.
If you are someone whose life, like mine, has been impacted by the love of Christ so evident in Chris and Pam, would you consider giving generously to help support Pam in this time of need?
All funds will go directly to Pam and will help cover things like funeral expenses and other needs necessitated by this sudden loss.
Would you also take a moment to share a favorite story about Chris or a special way he touched your life in the comments below?
A liturgy before
MOURNING WITH THOSE WHO MOURN:
O Christ Acquainted
with All Our Griefs,
prepare our hearts to enter
now this space of grieving.
O God of All Comfort,
Lead us humbly into this place of heartbreak.
O Spirit Who Moves in the
Midst of Our Sorrows,
Fill us with a right compassion.
Fill us with a right compassion that
we would not cross this threshold
armed with easy answers,
but would enter instead
bearing the balm of a divine tenderness
best expressed in honest affirmations
and small acts of service.
Teach us even in this hour, O Lord,
how better to mourn
with those who mourn,
that their burden
might in some way
be made more bearable
by our sharing in it.
O Lord, in this place of holy sorrows make us
quick to listen, and slow to speak,
reminding us how the only true comfort
Job received from his friends
came not from their many words
but from a willingness to sit with him
in a silent sympathy of weeping.
So let any spoken comforts we offer
be the fruits of a real and costly fellowship with those who grieve.
The sharing of such sorrows is indeed
a good and holy work, O Lord.
For you also, Jesus, willingly entered
the wounds of this world and wept
with your creatures in their brokenness.
And you have promised us
that wherever your children gather
in your name, you will be present as well.
So be present with us now
in this wounded space,
O Spirit of God.
Let our presence be sensed as a token
of your presence.
Let our concern bear unspoken witness
to the redemption your love
will one day work, even unto t
he utter and unimaginably glorious
reversal of this loss.
Now speak, act, and comfort, O Christ.
Shepherd us into the sharing
of this sorrow.
May our hearts be as your heart here,
our voices as your voice,
our hands as your hands,
our tears as your tears.
Amen.
F R O M T H E B O O K
E V E RY M O M E N T H O LY, VO L 2 :
D E AT H , G R I E F, & HOPE
COPYRIGHT © 2020 D O U G L A S M C K E LV E Y
For several years, I had the privilege of walking and serving alongside Chris and Pam as their pastor in Williamsburg, KY. I witnessed firsthand that though facing many challenges, they remained faithfully committed to God and one another while still finding ways to love and serve others through it all.
If you are someone whose life, like mine, has been impacted by the love of Christ so evident in Chris and Pam, would you consider giving generously to help support Pam in this time of need?
All funds will go directly to Pam and will help cover things like funeral expenses and other needs necessitated by this sudden loss.
Would you also take a moment to share a favorite story about Chris or a special way he touched your life in the comments below?
A liturgy before
MOURNING WITH THOSE WHO MOURN:
O Christ Acquainted
with All Our Griefs,
prepare our hearts to enter
now this space of grieving.
O God of All Comfort,
Lead us humbly into this place of heartbreak.
O Spirit Who Moves in the
Midst of Our Sorrows,
Fill us with a right compassion.
Fill us with a right compassion that
we would not cross this threshold
armed with easy answers,
but would enter instead
bearing the balm of a divine tenderness
best expressed in honest affirmations
and small acts of service.
Teach us even in this hour, O Lord,
how better to mourn
with those who mourn,
that their burden
might in some way
be made more bearable
by our sharing in it.
O Lord, in this place of holy sorrows make us
quick to listen, and slow to speak,
reminding us how the only true comfort
Job received from his friends
came not from their many words
but from a willingness to sit with him
in a silent sympathy of weeping.
So let any spoken comforts we offer
be the fruits of a real and costly fellowship with those who grieve.
The sharing of such sorrows is indeed
a good and holy work, O Lord.
For you also, Jesus, willingly entered
the wounds of this world and wept
with your creatures in their brokenness.
And you have promised us
that wherever your children gather
in your name, you will be present as well.
So be present with us now
in this wounded space,
O Spirit of God.
Let our presence be sensed as a token
of your presence.
Let our concern bear unspoken witness
to the redemption your love
will one day work, even unto t
he utter and unimaginably glorious
reversal of this loss.
Now speak, act, and comfort, O Christ.
Shepherd us into the sharing
of this sorrow.
May our hearts be as your heart here,
our voices as your voice,
our hands as your hands,
our tears as your tears.
Amen.
F R O M T H E B O O K
E V E RY M O M E N T H O LY, VO L 2 :
D E AT H , G R I E F, & HOPE
COPYRIGHT © 2020 D O U G L A S M C K E LV E Y
Organizer and beneficiary
TimHope Cooper
Organizer
Knoxville, TN
Pam Rolph
Beneficiary