Date with Death Club
Date with Death Club
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Death Education: because we all, eventually, have a date with death

Death Education: because we all, eventually, have a date with deathDeath Education: because we all, eventually, have a date with deathDeath Education: because we all, eventually, have a date with death
testimonial from participant says "love, love, love this class. who would have guessed?"
Hello

Welcome

So glad you've stopped by our website to enhance your journey to explore mortality. Take your time. Check out the beautiful or provocative images. Let us know if you have questions. A great place to start your death education

Find out more

About DWDC

sepia colored fern

What is the Date with Death Club?

If you found this web site, you are probably one of the growing number of people who wants to 

face the fact of our human mortality 


with less fear and more curiosity, 

with less euphemism and more reality, 

with less conformity and more creativity.  


If that sounds like you, or who you hope to become, 

WELCOME to Date with Death Club.


Maybe you are experiencing more death anxiety than you are comfortable with...


Maybe you want to learn more about end of life because youyou want to explore mortality more...


Maybe death education is your hobby or your calling...

Created by Karen G. Johnston, MSW, M.Div, 

DwDC explores mortality in community.  DwDC is an opportunity to learn, share, and deepen your own understanding of what death means to you and how you want to approach death -- particularly your own. 


Informed by spiritual sensibilities, but no specific religious dogma, Date with Death Club just may be for you.  

Designed as a multi-session learning experience to take place in-person or online, DwDC participants can attend one, many, or all of the offered sessions.

DwDC is not a bereavement or grief support group. 

While it may be healing of the human condition, 

the nature of the DwDC is not specifically therapeutic.

sepia colored autumn leaf, lacy from decay

Different Topics, Building on Each Other

Each Date with Death Club can be tailored to meet the needs of the community where it takes place, the interests of the participants, and the skills of the facilitator. 


The curriculum contains detailed information on each of the topics all related to death education. Sessions are typically structured to be 2 1/2 hours long. 


Each session has been developed with an intentional anti-oppression approach and with a strong pedagogical container to help create the necessary safe[r], brave[r] space for best exploration..

Much love and labor went into the development of the DwDC Curriculum, generated from years of spiritual practice, learning and sharing, accompanying those who were dying, and existing in this mortal world. A great way to explore mortality.


Its use is available to those with positive, justice-affirming, generative intention and impact in their community and this world.


 The DwDC is meant to be an act of community service; as such, commercial use of this curriculum is prohibited. There should be no financial barrier for any participant to take part; as such, DwDC sessions should always be free of charge.

black and white image of lilly

How Can I Join Date with Death Club?

We are all already members of Date with Death Club -- that is the nature of mortality. Some of us have death anxiety. Some of us feel at ease with our mortality.

If you would like to bring a Date with Death Club to your community, please reach out to Karen to explore your leading a DwDC in your own community or asking for her to do so.

If you would like to participate in a Date with Death Club, look here for information on when and where DwDCs are being held.

Date with Death Clubs Happening now

Highland Park, NJ

online Sunday afternoons

online Sunday afternoons

calendar of dates September - June

In-person monthly at the Highland Park (NJ) Public Library facilitated by the founder, Rev. Karen G. Johnston. No registration required. 

online Sunday afternoons

online Sunday afternoons

online Sunday afternoons

 logo with information of holding meetings on the first Sunday of each month, 2 -4pm Eastern

Sponsored by All Souls NYC, this online DwDC is open to the public.  Find out more at this link.

online last Wednesday of the month in the evening

online last Wednesday of the month in the evening

online last Wednesday of the month in the evening

online & open to the public - registration required

online last Wednesday of the month in the evening

online last Wednesday of the month in the evening

open to the public

DwDC interviewed for podcast

Dr. Karen Wyatt interviews Rev. Karen

Check out DwDC on this podcast at End-of-Life University

Take a listen to this hour-long podcast about Date with Death Club - how it started, what it's all about

give to grow DWDC

QR code to pay or donate to DwDC via venmo

Give to Grow DwDC

Interested in helping grow Date with Death Club and helping get it into more communities?  We welcome financial contributions to this effort.


Want to express gratitude for Date with Death Club?  We welcome expressions of generosity

Contributions to our efforts are not tax-deductible as we are not (at this time) established as a non-profit organization.

online orientation for potential facilitators

the curriculum was released to the public in August 2022 - fill out the form below the video to request a copy.


watch this video of an online orientation offered on Sept 1, 2022.

Form to Request Curriculum

list of 14 current sessions

So many different sessions that can be mixed and matched to meet your community's needs

testimonial of DwDC participant including image of participant - white middle-aged woman brown hair

Meet Mx. Mo

statue of meditating skeleton atop a recycling bin

Mx. Mo endorses recycling

Mx. Mo & Lucinda are friends

Mx. Mo endorses recycling

including exploring human composting and other ways to be kinder to the earth when we dispose of our dead bodies

statue of a skeleton in sitting meditation posture

our DwDC mascot

Mx. Mo & Lucinda are friends

Mx. Mo endorses recycling

woman with brown skin holding statue of meditating skeleton in a friendly gesture

Mx. Mo & Lucinda are friends

Mx. Mo & Lucinda are friends

Mx. Mo & Lucinda are friends

Participant Testimonial

video testimonial from a DwDC participant

About the Founder

middle-aged white woman with short brown, pink, blue hair, glasses, expressing enthusiasm

Karen G Johnston

Karen is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, a practicing Buddhist, and in her previous profession, a clinical social worker.  


The heart of her spiritual practice is 

Befriending Death.  


She has trained as an End of Life /Death Doula (INELDA). She spent nearly a decade creating and facilitating engaging, fun trainings for social workers.  She has traveled to Asia, Africa, Europe and throughout the United States of America.  She is an adoptive parent of two grown adult children and an occasional poet.  She grew up in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Central New Jersey.

Contact Us

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Date with Death Club

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    Free Downloads

    Here are helpful handouts that are used in the Date with Death Club. Whether you want to explore mortality, strengthen your death education cred, or take a step towards lessening your death anxiety. 


    If you find them useful, you are welcome to use them for own personal use 

    (no commercial gain). I'd love to hear from you if you do use something you found here.

    End-of-Life BINGO (pdf)

    Download

    DwDC Planning Mem Service form (pdf)

    Download

    DwDC Obituary Elements worksheet (pdf)

    Download

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