Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care Team
Mission, Primary Purpose and Scope The Pastoral Care Team shall be established by Session to ensure that those needing pastoral care in times of great need, or emergencies will occur in a timely , God honoring way during the time between senior pastors. The team shall be formed to provide care primarily during this transitional time. However, the team may continue to exist with the same or different members to support the activities of a new Senior pastor in the future .
Activities The PCT shall be charged with visitations to those in the body or their families who are sick, injured, hospitalized or involved in emergency situations or crisis. Follow-up with those in need will be done on a case by case basis. The team shall meet as they determine appropriate (monthly?) during the transition period to discuss the ongoing needs, provide and/or receive any support needed by other team members and review the effectiveness of the administration of the PCT.
Secondary Purpose A further purpose of PCT shall be to provide a deeper layer of pastoral care to the body and to be a support for the new pastor. When the new pastor (full time or interim) arrives, the new pastor shall have the option to ask if members of the PCT wish to continue with their roles. This would allow for a smoother transition and it could provide an added layer to caring for those in the body by having a team in place instead of one person.
Organization and Operation
The team shall be composed of
• Chair (TBD?)
• Tony Charles
• Family Pastor ?(Dan Kerwin: If emergency was connected to one of his youth families)
• Deacon representative?
• Nick Faraco
• Anne Soucy
• Phyllis Ross
• Marji Vitali
• Dave Simpson
• Bob and Barbara Japenga
• Rick & Lynne Schoenhardt
• Interim Pastor (when and if appointed)
Organization of care: Team members would sign up for specific time frames to cover emergencies… ie: a specific week, or 2 week period, etc. Any emergencies needing pastoral care would be covered by the person “on duty” at that time. The team may consider a back – up person in the rare event of multiple needs occurring at the same time.
Communication: Lyda Scudder Admin Asst. would provide communication concerning needs that come through the office to the “on duty” person. Lyda would also ensure the accurate contact information would be communicated on the church website and voice mail including the cell phone number for the person who is on call when the office was closed.
Temporary Pastoral Care Assignments


1. Appoint Nick and Kim to be the interim pastoral care leaders / coordinators to, at a minimum recruit those who are willing to provide emergency pastoral care. Secondarily to recruit their replacement.
2. We go with Tony's proposal of emergency pastoral care :
a. Create a team of about 8 people who are willing and able to do 24/7 emergency pastoral care being on call one week at a time.
b. Provide a link on the main page that is updated every Monday morning at 9:30 with the phone number of who to call for emergency pastoral care.
c. Update the answering machine every Monday morning at 9:30 with the phone number of who to call for emergency pastoral care.
Pastoral Care Team Leader Job Description

1. Recruit the team members (with the help of Session and Deacon) both initially and on-going. There are three types of team members:
a. Those who provide on-going visitation of members requiring pastoral care
b. Those who provide for pastoral emergencies and agree to be on-call for a one week period of time
c. Those who provide both
2. Working with the office, coordinating the schedule of the on-call pastoral care representative.
3. Working with the Pastoral Care Team, plan and coordinate at least one annual training/equipping session
4. Convene at least quarterly meetings with the team to discuss on-going needs in the congregation
5. With the office, be the go-to person for scheduling on-going pastoral care visitation
6. With Deacons, Session, and Shepherds, and the office, be the maintainer of the list of those in the congregation who are in need of pastoral care.
7. With Session provide a plan for meeting the pastoral care needs of the congregation (initial plan is in place but this will need to be modified and improved as we go along)