Congregational Care, July 23
Pastor Heather and I are often “immersed” in church. We’ve both led churches for a lot of years and we can mistakenly assume you know what we know. For several weeks, I’ve wanted to share our call to congregational care. I bet my assumption, that you know what we know, is wrong. This is the week where I have the time and space to share.
Offering care to you and your families is an essential ministry of the Body of Christ. In our baptismal vows, we affirm the belonging we find with God and in community. To belong means doing life together, through every season. Some folks have the gift of offering care, comfort and mercy as a part of their spiritual make up. It doesn’t matter whether they are lay or clergy. God wired them up to have a special sense about what people need and to meet those needs through the grace of Jesus Christ. Some clergy have this gift, others don’t. But, the role of the pastor is not really about providing care -- it is about intercession. Pastors are uniquely called to intercede between God and those in need, to offer a connection with God when you feel lost, scared, alone, in pain, or after a loss.
I thought it might be helpful to share our process for offering what is needed in each situation. First, we have to know enough about your situation to evaluate how we will serve your need for care and intercession. The best way for you to give us this information is to contact us directly. You can call or email Pastor Heather, Brittney Blakley (our Caring Director) or me. You can also give us this information through the prayer request form. You can call the church office and leave a message for us. All three of these methods are sure to reach us. You may also tell your Sunday School class, tell a friend at church, tell a staff member on Sunday morning or put it on Facebook. These are much less reliable methods. We might or might not get the message and we likely won’t receive the message with complete accuracy.
Second, once we have the information, this is how we respond. Brittney Blakley and I meet every Sunday after church to look at the prayer requests you’ve submitted and other requests we’ve been following through the week. We agree on the best response to each one which can include any or all of the following: lift for prayer at our weekly staff meeting on Tuesday mornings, share with the prayer team, make a follow up call or connection, list on our prayer email that goes out Tuesday evenings, offer updates to our congregational care ministers.
Third, we try to respond to each concern appropriately. We evaluate our response based on whether it needs care, intercession or both. The concerns needing care are shared with our congregational care ministers, laity who possess these caring gifts and are trained to offer them on behalf of our congregation. We are big believers in writing notes, another way of offering care. A phone call might be made to check in and find out if tangible signs of support are needed, then we recruit folks from the congregation to offer this support. We try to show care in ways that let you know you are seen and that you belong, so you are not alone.
If a concern needs intercession, a pastor to pray with and over you, then Heather and I share that responsibility depending on who is available and who has the deepest relationship with you. Examples of concerns needing intercession: hospitalization, in patient psychiatric care, death, divorce, addiction, family relationship breakdowns, crisis of faith. We consider it a great privilege to be trusted to stand in the gap for you and your family during these times of trial. We hope our physical presence will remind you of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Finally, we track follow up for each concern through several channels of communication. We record each interaction we have on a spreadsheet to which only Heather, Brittney and I have access. This allows us to follow the responses given over a period of time, even if it was provided by more than one person. Brittney communicates often with Heather and I regarding concerns that come up during the week that need intercession. And, sometimes, we just text each other to make sure everyone is in the loop.
Our hope is always that we would represent Christ to you when you need Christ most. We never reach that goal perfectly and sometimes we miss it by a wide margin. And, because one size doesn’t fit all, we sometimes offer to represent Christ to you in ways that don’t feel like a blessing. Even when we fail, our goal remains the same -- to represent Christ to you. I thought it might offer you insight to know our process. We can always use your help as we seek to serve faithfully as your pastors. If you know of a situation that needs intercession, tell us. If you are called to care, keep us in the loop so we can collaborate more effectively. And, when we make a mistake, let us know. We want to do our best. As always, we are grateful for your grace and understanding.
May God’s peace be with you,
