Why is Christian Life and Death Education Needed?

LTED staff with Mr. Carter Pang in the middle of the front row

　　After the seminar, we invited Mr. Carter Pang, the LTED Director of HKBTS, to share why we should promote Christian life and death education and introduce the features and content of the “Certificate in Life and Death Education from Christian Perspective” program.

What is “Life and Death Education”?

　　As the name suggests, life and death education involves exploring the meaning of “life” and examining issues related to “death” through various learning activities and methods. Life and death are closely intertwined. As pointed out by the late Prof. Charles Fu, a strong advocate of life and death education in Taiwan, life and death are inseparable from each other, just like the two sides of the same coin. By exploring such issues, life and death education inspires people to confront their fear of death and work through the grief associated with their own or others’ deaths, awakening a sense of caring and cherishing life, which affirms the value of life. All this plays a crucial role in the holistic development of individuals.

Responding to Societal and Church Needs

　　In fact, whenever natural disasters, accidents, or other tragedies occur, many people are reminded of the proximity of death, triggering related fears and prompting questions about the meaning of life. In recent years, Hong Kong has experienced the impact of the pandemic and dramatic societal changes, leading many to lament how uncertain life can be. In the current environment, we have seen a growing number of churches in Hong Kong being moved to promote life and death education. Therefore, LTED has decided to launch the “Certificate in Life and Death Education from Christian Perspective” program to equip believers in response to the needs of the church.

Viewing Life and Death from Christian Perspective

　　Indeed, there have been numerous life and death education activities organized by various groups in recent years, but why do we still need to offer the “Certificate in Life and Death Education from Christian Perspective” program? Generally speaking, there are two main reasons. Firstly, we have observed that many existing life and death education activities are relatively short, ranging from one to a few sessions. While they may provide participants with fresh and even impactful experiences and feelings, they often fail in offering the opportunity for deeper exploration and reflection on life and death. Therefore, we aim to provide a longer course duration with cognitive, emotional, experiential, and skill-building objectives, hoping that believers can receive more solid, in-depth, and systematic training.

　　Secondly, while life and death education is not exclusive to Christianity and it is undoubtedly important and even necessary regardless of one’s religious beliefs, we must ask: do some of the life and death perspectives presented in these activities align entirely with values in the Christian faith? Should we accept them indiscriminately? For example, a commonly encountered perspective in society is “live in the present, leave no regrets.” While this idea has its merits, is it sufficient for Christians to just “live in the present”? Does “leaving no regrets” imply that everything is permissible? Or, what does it mean to “leave no regrets” within the Christian value system?

　　Another related example is the exploration of the meaning of life and suffering, where some find Viktor E. Frankl’s concept of hope for the future in logotherapy helpful. As Christians, it may be worth considering how Frankl’s hope for the future relates to our hope for the future. How does the concept of “future” in the Christian faith inspire and assist us in viewing life from the perspective of death?

　　In summary, we hope that this program can provide participants with more opportunities to understand and articulate a life and death perspective that aligns with Christian beliefs and put it into practice. That is why our program is named “Life and Death Education from Christian Perspective,” with the part “from Christian Perspective” reflecting this intention.

Learning Christian Life and Death Education

　　The new program “Certificate in Life and Death Education from Christian Perspective” offered by LTED will commence in October. It aims to provide pastors and believers who are interested in understanding life, exploring death, and have the desire to promote life and death education in churches, schools, or communities with a systematic and comprehensive foundation of life and death education that aligns with the Christian faith.

　　The compulsory course of the program, “Introduction to Life and Death Education,” introduces the basic concepts of life and death education and the related issues. It helps participants gain relevant knowledge and learn to integrate and reflect on life and death issues based on Christian faith and theology. In the 2023-24 academic year, Rev. William Lam, Mr. Pasu Ng, Mr. Arnold Leung, Mr. Lam Kwok-man, and others will be co-teaching the course. These instructors have rich knowledge and experience in various areas of life and death education, including religion, clinical practice, ethics, and law. Furthermore, we have invited Rev. William Lam, Mrs. Leung Lo Ka-yee, Mr. Pasu Ng, and Ms. Tong Sun-nam to serve as committee members providing valuable advice for this certificate program. We are truly grateful for their contributions.

　　In the future, we plan to introduce additional subjects to this program, including “Understanding Loss and Grief,” “End of Life Care and Decisions on Life and Death Issues,” “Perspectives on Life and Death Issues,” “An Exploration of Joyful Lives,” “An Exercise on Understanding Death and Dying,” “The Education and Practices on Forgiveness,” “Practices on Churches’ End-of-life Ministry,” “An Introduction to the Theology of Death and Dying,” “Field Trip on Life and Death Education Ministry,” and “Life and Death Education Ministry Project.” These subjects aim to help believers comprehensively explore life and death issues from different perspectives and dimensions.