Pastoral Care

Care Team
The Care Team is a group of volunteers working together in a coordinated way to meet expressed needs within the parish. When a need for help is identified, a team leader consults with the care receiver and sets up a confidential care team. A caregiver might cook a meal, drive someone to an appointment, make a phone call, pay a visit, write notes or cards, tend to pets, do yard work, or run errands—nothing that requires any special training. Caregivers do what they can, when they can, to offer friendship and support, and always have the opportunity to accept or decline any specific request. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to help fellow parishioners. Pastoral Care is an every-member ministry; everyone is invited to volunteer to do what they can to show God’s love to our members in times of need. Contact: The Rev. Ann Martens.

Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministers are trained and supervised lay members of the parish who provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing life challenges or difficulties. Those in need may be experiencing a chronic illness, loss of a job, or the ongoing care of an infirmed parent, to name a few circumstances. While these situations may be acute or prolonged, such as frequently occur with health issues, they may also present themselves as more short-term issues such as concern by a parent over seeming lackluster career efforts of a child.

Stephen Leaders oversee and direct the ministry in close coordination with the clergy. They recruit, select, train, and supervise the Stephen Ministers; identify people in need of care (with the support of the entire congregation); and match individuals with Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers are the caregivers; each has completed 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving, including general topics such as listening, feelings, boundaries, and assertiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving. In addition, their training covers specialized topics such as ministering to the divorced, hospitalized, bereaved and aging. Each Stephen Minister commits to two years of service. During Lent, the Stephen Ministers sponsored a five-part program sharing these learned skills with the congregation. Contacts: The Rev. Ann Martens.

Intercessory Prayer
The Pastoral Care Commission is looking for people who would like to participate in intercessory prayer on a regular basis, praying for individuals on the prayer lists at times that suit them—perhaps from home or office or while taking a walk—as well as take on additional prayer requests that come in. Contact: The Rev. Ann Martens.