If there has been an unappreciated fact of the past four years, it is how we have all been going through it.

I say “unappreciated” because ever since mid-March 2020 almost everyone has seemed bound and determined to try to get “back to normal” or to establish some kind of “new normal.”

But we all went through a pretty harrowing experience. Granted, for some it went deeper and lasted longer than it did for others for various reasons. Yet it seems almost all of us bear the marks of that collective trauma, and in most respects, it remains an untreated collective trauma.

In All Our Griefs to Bear: Responding with Resilience after Collective Trauma, Joni Sancken explores collective trauma in terms of and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic experience and ways in which people might well respond to it.

Even though few of us really need an introduction to collective trauma after having lived through the past few years, the author does well in setting forth what it is and some of the reasons it may come about. Collective traumas, as experienced by collectives, do best when there is some kind of collective response. The author highlights three areas in which she believes Christians can do well in collective trauma response: lament, storytelling, and blessing.

Through lament the trauma is recognized for what it is, named as such, and the challenge it presents set before God. Traumas indicate a world which is not entirely at right, and the first step often must be to recognize and declare it. Through storytelling we can contextualize and make sense of who we are and what we have experienced. And we can provide blessings and serve as blessings to others as a means by which to connect and as a way for people to be seen, recognized, and valued.

The author throughout refers to and is informed by psychological and sociological expertise on matters related to collective trauma and resilient response.

This is a good resource. We all would do well to recognize and lament what we’ve all experienced, to try to find ways to make sense of what we’ve experienced in the story of who we are and what we are about, and seek to be blessings to others - and to be willing to receive the blessings others might give us.

All Our Griefs to Bear
Responding with Resilience after Collective Trauma
by Joni S. Sancken
Pub Date 15 Nov 2022
Herald Press
Christian| Health, Mind & Body


Herald Press and Netgalley sent me a copy of All Our Griefs to Bear for review:


How should our churches proceed from here?


Before the Coronavirus pandemic, racial trauma, and economic uncertainty revealed the painful truths about our wounds, church and Christian community looked a lot different. The damage caused by trauma is deep and affects every aspect of our lives. The pandemic has also upended or challenged many of our traditional ministry models. Those who lead congregations through this disorienting new territory face great challenges.


Despite this, God's people are amazingly resilient. In All Our Griefs to Bear, author Joni S. Sancken builds on her own trauma-aware background and engages leading sociologists and mental health professionals to identify the most pressing issues congregations face now and will face as we process the cascading trauma of our time. Church leaders and members learn how to nurture resilience and compassion through practices such as lament, storytelling, and blessing.


It is impossible to go back to who we were before. As God's healing and hope move through us into our world, the church can experience new life and renewal in the wake of trauma.



I give All Our Griefs to bear five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review. This is a much needed discussion/topic as communities are transitioning to the next phase of pandemic life. Communities as a whole are experiencing collective grief. This book is scripturally based but also trauma-informed. It is written in a very pastoral way, shepherding versus informing. I appreciate the topic, the writing, and the trauma informed view.

I have conflicting feelings with All Our Griefs to Bear: Responding with Resilience after Collective Trauma. Part of it was one that I could relate to and have inspired by and others it felt like I was reading a political commentary. Somewhat of a disappointment.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review, and it came along at exactly the right time. Not only are our communities transitioning to the next phase of pandemic life, but the community I'm part of has been facing collective grief. This book was pastoral, and while from a slightly different approach and background than mine, provided some amazing ideas for walking through trauma together. I thought this book was scripturally, pastorally but also trauma-informed, which I tremendously appreciated.

I love the idea of this book views with the many layers and types of grief out there. And it touched of the tougher side of moving forward but yet embracing the past grief.
It definitely one of the better books for this topic I’ve read.

I’ve been sort of waiting for a book like this. It felt inevitable that there would be discussions about the collective grief of the past 2 1/2 years especially in regards to our faith communities and the impact of the Covid pandemic. (I am sure there will be more to come.)

As a pastor I have seen more heartache on top of the “normal, regular grief” that would be normally expressed in a regular cycle of life. I think Joni expresses it well in the introduction when she says, “ Where does one crisis end and another begin?” There is definitely a compounding effect that has been difficult to put into words, even in my own life. I think the words trauma and resilience can be rightly applied and examined in determining the long-term effects of what people all over the world have experienced. If trauma is hard to name and describe, I think it’s still important to try in order to begin to heal.

I like the idea of post traumatic growth and yet believe Page 46 where it says “life is not a scale where growth or new understanding can ever outweigh loss.” This resonates with me because it’s so honest and so true. We may always be looking for the bright side of all our painful circumstances but we may also want to go back and undo what’s been lost if we could. However, “researchers liken traumatic stress to an earthquake that damages or destroys a building. As long as one must rebuild the building and one has support and resources, why not build it stronger?” Wow. This resonates with me. It reminds me that opportunities still exist in the face of trauma and loss, that the future doesn’t have to be as bleak as the past, especially as believers who can live in the resurrection power of Jesus.

“Moving forward in the wake of trauma does not mean that what happened is erased. It means that we live, carrying our losses and experiences with us, not in a way that fully defines, but as part of our ongoing growth and formation.”

I really appreciated that this book tackled three major issues (chapters) instead of trying to break it up into 10-12 chapters like many Christian living books try to do… I felt this made the message of this book so much more succinct and powerful. Q

The chapter on lament was really powerful and enlightening. I think it’s so true that we as a culture do not know how to lament well or perhaps at all. We use “Consumption as a crutch for pain” instead. This chapters calls for a individual and corporate lament through praying the Psalms, silence, agonizing cries, expressions of fear and even rage. It gives many examples of ways lament can be used and incorporated in many settings and scenarios within the church. I can imagine buying this book just for this chapter alone.

The chapter on thoughtful narrative storytelling… “Stories remind us of what is important, what we deeply cherish, and what we want to preserve.”
I had never heard the idea of “grievance stories” before and yet, I have seen them often. They “ are created when we rehearse a painful event over and over, using the same account until it becomes part of us and our way of being in the world.”… “over time, grievance stories can become like an application running in the background of our lives that drains battery strength and slows everything down.” Wow, I know this to be true.

The chapter on blessing… dear friends of mine Terry and Melissa Bone have written and spoken much about blessing, but otherwise I feel this is a topic that is not discussed very often. This chapter is a beautiful picture of the power of this very Christian practice.

”Blessings are a manifestation or expression of God’s love and goodness…. When we bless, we name the world as already redeemed - we name the reality God intends for the world.” She says blessings, like God himself, relate to specificity and intention. I think it’s helpful to remember the practice of blessing, especially when we, as pastors, feel we should be “doing more” in the face of tragedy in the lives of people we serve. Our words and actions still hold power, through the ongoing work of Jesus.

My thanks to Net Galley and Herald Press for the opportunity to read this copy of Joni Sancken’s All our Griefs to Bear. I will be recommending this read to others (and already have!)