Pastoral Care Team
Create a pastoral care system in which every household receives friendship, encouragement, and caring spiritual support from either a small group leader or caregiver. In addition, these two groups of leaders form a pastoral care team, which assists the pastor(s) in meeting to the spiritual needs of those in the congregation.
BEST SUITED FOR: Any Size Congregation
WHAT'S INVOLVED?
 | Begin by defining the qualifications of caregivers and home group leaders, including: |
- A Christian life that is consistent and an example to others.
- A growing concern for the spiritual well-being of others.
- A strong belief in the importance of intercessory prayer.
- A willingness to learn more about listening and communication skills.
| Define the role of caregivers, including: |
- To provide friendship, encouragement, and caring spiritual support to a cluster of 4-8 households.
- To visit in each household of the cluster at least once per year.
- To give encouragement and support through prayer, cards, notes and affirmations.
- To assist the pastor(s) with crisis care within the cluster during times of illness, hospitalization, death, etc.
- To encourage worship attendance, including the mailing of worship bulletins when households are absent.
| Define the role of home group leaders as being very similar to that of the caregivers, with the exception that home group leaders focus on group meetings rather than home visits. |
| You will also need to clarify what type(s) of home groups you plan to use in your congregation. Although home groups usually include similar components, they tend to focus on either Bible study, praise and worship, discipleship discussions, or personal sharing and prayer. Each of these can provide significant pastoral care, if planned properly. |
| Now that you have your plan, implement it one step at a time: |
- Use an appropriate selection process to appoint the needed number of caregivers. (If there is not an adequate number of qualified and willing persons at first, begin with those that are available).
- Have the caregivers choose their cluster of households for one year at a time, not including households which are presently involved in a home group.
- Bring together the pastor(s), the caregivers, and the leaders of the existing home groups in monthly or bi-monthly meetings for encouragement, comparing notes, prayer, and further training as your pastoral care team.
- Make sure that newcomer households are incorporated into the pastoral care system by adding them to a cluster during the team's periodic meetings.
- After allowing a year or two for the care clusters to develop and become effective, begin to focus your efforts on the development of additional home groups and motivating more persons to be involved in them.
- Year by year, continue to nurture both aspects of this pastoral care system, but seek to motivate as many as possible into the stronger discipleship and accountability which home groups provide.
- If at some point the size of the team becomes unmanageable, subdivide the group and appoint additional pastoral caregivers from within the team to give leadership to the smaller groups.
DO'S AND DON'TS
| DO......have each of your pastors also choose a cluster of households, perhaps focusing on some of the more difficult pastoral care situations. |
| DO......avoid overloading caregivers. If they have the choice as to how many households and which ones are included in their cluster, this is not as likely to happen. |
| DO......consider using a collegiate approach (September to May) for scheduling your care clusters and home groups. In that way the lower participation trends of the summertime will be less disruptive. |
| DON'T......overlook the importance of intercessory prayer and listening skills in caregiving. Practical training in these areas should be provided. |
RESOURCES NEEDED
| A pastor or staff member with both organizational skills and a heart of caring, who can give leadership to this pastoral care team. |
| Qualified and willing members to serve as caregivers and home group leaders. |
COST: Minimal.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE
| Stephen Ministries offers a very comprehensive approach to lay pastoral caregiving. |
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