In Depth:  death

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What can we learn from death doulas?

What can we learn from death doulas?
Andrew Drury
Andrew Drury

There is increasing interest as to what death doulas (who are also called end-of-life doulas, soul midwives, death coaches, dying guides, death midwives, and palliative care doulas) do. For example, there's this article on the BBC website; Nicole Kidman and Ruby Wax are reportedly undergoing training for this role, whilst Davina McCall has announced that she is planning to do so when she retires from her television activities.

Like birth doulas, who support mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood, death doulas support people at the end of life. They help the dying person and their family in the final months and may be present at death, assist with funeral arrangements, and sometimes simply offer company.

Suicide: Let's talk about it

Suicide: Let's talk about it
Dave Burke
Dave Burke

Please note: This article references suicide.

Donna is a lively young support worker, and Andy was one of her clients. Intelligent, talented and looking forward to starting a career in the Royal Navy, Andy had become homeless and needed help to get back on his feet. They met for coffee, visited Andy’s bank and got some new accommodation sorted out.

The pain of loss and heartbreak

The pain of loss and heartbreak
Mike Wakely
Mike Wakely

I have been married for 53 years, a happy and fulfilling life in partnership with a wonderful lady from Sweden. I met her on a summer Christian mission in France in 1967. We were going door to door selling Christian books and sharing the gospel. We were married in Sweden in April 1972, our name and the date of our marriage engraved on our simple gold wedding rings.

My wife fell ill in 2022 and commenced a slow decline in health both in body and mind. I became her full-time carer. We had made our vows “in sickness and in health” and it was my privilege to look after her, learning new skills in shopping, cooking, gardening, cleaning and many other household chores. The specialists and nurses of the NHS were superb. We installed a stair lift and I bought a bath lift, but she became weaker until one day (on my birthday) she fell and broke her leg. It led to five weeks in hospital and she finally died on 7 October 2025.

What are AI 'deathbots' and how should we respond?

What are AI 'deathbots' and how should we respond?
Andrew Drury
Andrew Drury

It is natural for people to grieve for loved ones who have died. One of the ways that people have tried to cope is through artificial intelligence (AI), with the creation of "deathbots" (also known as "griefbots").

The process of developing deathbots includes inputting all the words that the deceased person would use into the computer programme by using personal material such as e-mails, texts, voice notes, and social media posts. One limitation is the inability to portray the nuances made in communication (such as stress or tone), so the resultant speech can be monotone. Nevertheless, while the interaction may lack authenticity, the emotion for the bereaved person will be undoubtedly real for there will be a psychological buy-in.

Death and money
the Bible in action

Death and money
Martin Horton
Martin Horton

“When he’d died, I didn’t like people saying ‘Oh, he’s passed’. Or ‘You’ve lost your dad,’ as though I’d let go of his hand in the supermarket.”

That was Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, speaking on Radio 4 about the sudden death of his father.

Music for the last moments of life

Music for the last moments of life
Andrew Drury
Andrew Drury

In the midst of our sadness, when we sit beside a dying person, we encourage the person, and ourselves, with the words of hymns and songs that point the way to heaven and the inheritance that we have in the Lord.

Music not only alleviates distress, calming the soul and giving a sense of normalcy [1] but, for the Christian, it also points the way to heaven and, more importantly, to our Saviour.

Diogo Jota, Jesus and dealing with grief

Diogo Jota, Jesus and dealing with grief
Graeme Shanks
Graeme Shanks

Approximately 150,000 people die each day worldwide. Death really is all around us, and yet every now and again there is a death that grips the world. That proved to be the case with former Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota who died recently in a sudden crash crash at the age of 28 along with his younger brother.

A talented footballer. A family man. An infectious personality. A role model. Here was a young man with his whole life ahead of him taken in his prime. Everything about his death was tragic. There was a moving tribute from Jota’s Portuguese teammate Christian Ronaldo who summed up the feelings of many when he simply posted on X, "It doesn’t make sense."

Grace in the darkest moments: A response to suicide

Grace in the darkest moments: A response to suicide
Robin Sydserff
Robin Sydserff

Funeral services with no gospel and no hope are now the norm.

Having no service at all is now a popular option. Instead, people are encouraged to use the money saved for a celebratory memorial. It's an extremely successful idea, appealing to death-denying hearts.

Prioritising the gospel in our wills

Prioritising the gospel in our wills
Graeme Shanks
Graeme Shanks

I have a friend who pastored in the North West coast of the United States for many years called Randall. He recently told me the story of an older man in his congregation who left a sum of money in his will to the church.

It was a sum that would equate to a low six figure amount in today’s economy. My friend was naturally ecstatic and deeply grateful for the man’s gospel heart.

Do you wonder what dying will be like for a believer?

Do you wonder what dying will be like for a believer?
Lucy Honeysett
Lucy Honeysett

As I entered the lady’s bedroom in her care home, I could tell she was in her final moments of life.

Unable to talk now and in a deep sleep, as I spoke her name, held her hand and told her I was here, she seemed to smile. There’d been many conversations about this moment, and we all knew her wishes. She wanted to remain out of hospital now and stay in her care home without an attempt of resuscitation so that she could have a natural, peaceful, dignified death.

How do we tackle one of society’s last great taboos?

How do we tackle one of society’s last great taboos?
John Stevens
John Stevens

Death is the one of the last taboos in contemporary British society. Medical advances over the past 200 years have all but ended infant mortality and life expectancy is now more than 81 years. As a result, we are less familiar with death, which is confined to medicalised environments. We tend not to talk about it.

Our reasonable expectation that most people will live to a ripe old age means that we are even more shocked when younger people die.

Is Piper right on pets?
defending our faith

Is Piper right on pets?
Chris Sinkinson
Chris Sinkinson

Have you ever been asked a question and been completely stumped to give an answer? There is a healthy dose of humility when once in a while we are caught out by a question and truly at a loss for words.

I remember being in exactly that situation. It did not concern biological evolution, manuscript evidence for the New Testament, or an ethical question raised by new technology. It was at an assembly at a local first school when a reception-year child raised a hand to politely ask: ‘My rabbit died this weekend, will he be in heaven?’

Life and death in focus
politics & policy

Life and death in focus
James Mildred
James Mildred

Last month, a truly awful abortion amendment was withdrawn from the UK Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Its intention was to legalise abortion to birth for any reason in England and Wales.

Had it succeeded, the door would have been opened to sex-selective abortion and ever-increasing numbers of abortions. In a context where 200,000 abortions took place in England and Wales last year alone and where 9.5 million have taken place since 1967, the situation could hardly be made worse. I’d love to tell you that the amendment was withdrawn because of a growing concern in Parliament about the abortion lobby. The truth, I suspect, is more complex. Tacking an amendment that would have resulted in major social change onto another Bill is a sure-fire way of irking colleagues in the Commons. The MP who tabled the amendment, Diana Johnson, herself claimed it was only a ‘probing amendment’ and she never planned to push it to a vote. At the same time, it was encouraging to see and hear stories of how Christians did their bit – writing to our MPs and engaging with the issue clearly had an impact. Anecdotally I’ve been told that MPs received more than 71,000 emails and letters. For anyone who has been used to being rebuffed by their MP in recent times, it is surely an encouraging reminder to keep going. Sometimes our efforts at lobbying do help to make a difference.

Preparing to die: the greatest thing we have to do

Preparing to die: the greatest thing we have to do
Guest Columnist

‘Please pray that she will go home to be with the Lord soon.’

This unusual prayer request struck me: this was a prayer request for a young mother who would be leaving her grieving husband and three small children behind. Praying for death seemed particularly shocking after spending the last year in a country reeling from the impact of Covid-19.

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