Each month we will offer a list of action ideas so you can defend, honor, and celebrate Life in your churches and communities on our Take Action page. This month, we are looking at memorializing unborn children.
When a family member or friend dies there is a funeral, memorial service, or graveside internment to help us grieve, mourn, and reminisce about our loved one. However, when a child dies in an abortion, parents and family have no body to bury and no grave to visit. They often carry this dark grief as a secret alone, afraid of the judgement of others. Even parents who have lost a child to a miscarriage find that people, even those in the Church, are often uncomfortable and uncertain of what to say or what to do. This makes a difficult grieving process even more challenging.
If the Church believes that all lives are sacred and that life begins at conception, we as a people of God need to reach out to those hurting from the loss of a child from abortion or miscarriage, to let them know their child matters and help them grieve and heal.
Action Ideas!
- Plant a tree or small garden on the church grounds with a plaque to commemorate children lost to abortion. Host a service to introduce this as a safe place of mourning for the community. Park benches and flowers can be donated by the community or willing parishioners.
- Hold a memorial service for children lost to abortion or miscarriage. Light candles in honor of the unborn children. Invite members of your community, fellow church members or members of other nearby churches, your local pregnancy center workers, or abortion healing program volunteers to attend as well. You can also ask a Silent No More speaker to attend the service and share a testimony about abortion grief and healing.
- Ask women to anonymously write the name and due date of their child on a slip of paper and put into a basket. Let them know you or a prayer team will be praying for them during the difficult holiday or anniversary period.
Resources:
- Create a memorial for a child lost to abortion or miscarriage online at Unborn Memorials
- Find a gravesite or memorial that honors children lost to abortion in your area. Attend or lead a service on the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children on September 10th, 2016
- See our Liturgies and Litanies for a memorial service for the unborn.
Written by AFL Administrator Robin Ferguson
