Grace Community Church, 212 Peach Bottom Road, Willow Street, will begin hosting weekly GriefCare sessions beginning on Monday, Feb. 27. Sessions will be held every Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and the program will conclude on Monday, April 17.

The GriefCare program will use biblical concepts to help those struggling with significant loss and grief. Methods for expressing and coping with grief will be tied directly to Scripture and faith-based concepts. Each session will include videos that address different topics, which will be followed by group discussion facilitated by a lay person from the church. Participants will receive a workbook that they may take home and use between meetings.

"Each session, we use Scripture to understand grief, loss and the hope available to us," said Jesse Bills, pastor of discipleship at Grace Community Church. "It's also a place that community can be built. We share what we're struggling with, but we also bond with each other and build relationships. It's ultimately a place to create joy and healing."

This is the second year of the GriefCare program, which was inspired by GriefShare, a similarly motivated program. Bills and the biblical counseling department at Grace Community Church wanted to offer something that was less intensive than GriefShare, so that those who cannot commit to a 13-week program would still have a place to meet and access resources to deal with loss. "Thirteen weeks is a big commitment from people; we thought (GriefCare) would be a little less daunting," said Bills. "It works better with some people's schedules, as well as our other programs offered through the church."

Bills feels that programs like GriefCare are more important now than ever. Over the course of the last few years, one of many challenges that people weathered was isolation. Normal opportunities to grieve such as funerals were unavailable for a duration of time, resulting in a lingering need to process grief and connect with others. "It's been really detrimental," said Bills. "It's important to speak about these things and find the healing that's available." GriefCare was largely successful in its first year; almost 20 participants joined the group and continued to meet even after the final session.

Grace Community Church offers several other programs for the community, the largest of which is the men's and women's ministry. This year, the ministry will begin meeting on Monday, Feb. 6, and will include small group discussion and biblical lessons.

To register for GriefCare, call 717-464-5333 or visit http://www.gccws.net.