Pastor Pat met with the Stephen Ministers and Lenten small group leaders and participants this week to discuss a path forward for a continuum of excellent pastoral care for our church family. You may feel called to participate in one or more of these ministries. Stephen Ministry is one-on-one care for a person that is going through the process of attaining a new normal in their life after a life-changing event. Effective Stephen Ministry requires an investment of time in training. If you are interested in becoming a Stephen Minister please contact Pastor Pat as soon as possible. We are planning to begin training for Stephen Ministers on Saturday June 7, 9 am to noon, continuing for all four Saturdays in June. This is subject to the availability of all Stephen Minister candidates.
There is a growing need in our church family for a hospital visitation team. It is not always possible for the pastor to get to the hospital in a timely fashion when one of our church family or friends is in need. A 90 minute training course on how to make effective hospital and hospice visits will be offered by Pastor Pat on Sunday June 14 from 11:30 am to 1 pm and on Wednesday June 24 from 7:15 pm to 8:45 pm. A visitation volunteer need only attend one of these session. Both sessions will be held in the Memorial Lounge. If you would like to be part of the visitation team, please contact the church office.
Finally, we need to improve the organization and consistency of our home communion ministry. Home communion is a gift to those in our church family who cannot come to Sunday morning worship. If you would like to be a home communion volunteer, please contact the church office. Training for the home communion team will be offered on Sunday June 7 at 9:15 am and Sunday June 14 at 9:15 am. Both of these sessions will be in the Sanctuary, and again, a volunteer need only attend one session.
Thank you so much for your prayerful consideration of these opportunities to serve. I hope to hear from many of you.