Unit 1: Overview - Beginning the Journey
1.1 Scripture & Worship
Scripture:
Collect:
Heavenly Father, you have made us to live our lives as a journey back to you; as we set out upon this journey in your service in imitation of your son, our saviour, Jesus Christ, give us the grace to minister, the patience to listen, the constructiveness to act, the generosity to liberate and the energy to enliven all of your children whom we encounter so that, walking alongside them as companions, we may be living patterns of your divine love. We make this prayer to you through Jesus our companion and in the power of The Spirit who never fails. Amen
Intercessions:
Can: Heavenly Father
Res: Guide us on our journey.
- Heavenly Father, as your Son, our saviour, Jesus Christ, walked with his disciples during his mission of comfort and opened their hearts on the road to Emmaus, may we imitate him in love of the Scriptures and in the gentle care of all we meet in his name.
- Heavenly Father, as we begin our journey, give us the strength to face our own incompleteness with courage and humility so that we see ourselves as companions of those we serve and not as superior to them.
- Heavenly Father, sole and eternal judge, give us the self restraint to refrain from judgment, confining our ministry to listening and encouragement so that those we serve may find ways to become closer to you.
- Heavenly father, as we struggle with the flaws and incompleteness of the glorious creation we have tarnished, give us the courage to persevere when all seems lost, to encourage when all seems hopeless and to praise you when all seems bleak; help us to see you in all humanity and to reverence your son in the brokenness that we are.
- Heavenly Father, as we pray together with your children and speak in honour of your name, send the Holy Spirit on our mission of compassion and love so that we may be steadfast witnesses of your unending love.
1.2 Introduction
We are about to begin a journey together which will enable us to make individual journeys with those in need of companionship. Each of us has been individually called by God and accepted for training but we must be prepared to face practical, intellectual and, above all, spiritual challenges and be prepared to face up to our successes and our difficulties with peers and trainers. As we travel, we should reflect on the journey of Jesus from his tranquil home to Calvary and on his listening, healing and teaching along the way.
In this Unit we will consider:
- The overall shape of pastoral service
- The role of the proposed Pastoral Care Team within overall Parish provision
- The working of the Team and the role of individuals.
The outcomes we hope to achieve are:
- An understanding of the concept of Pastoral Care
- The functioning of individuals within a team
- The range of services which a Pastoral Service may offer
- An intellectual and practical under-pinning to the vocation of serving in the area of Pastoral Care.
1.3 Key Concepts
- The objective of a Pastoral Care Team is to:
Minister to those in need of pastoral care (see Introduction Section 3. on Key Concepts) through the shared and distributed gifts of those who have:- Offered themselves for service
- Successfully completed training
- Been appropriately commissioned.
- Ministry - to act as the agent of God through the use of His gifts and by His grace to accord love and respect to all of his children.
1.4 Presentation
- Make a presentation on the concept of the ministry of pastoral care
- Explore the meaning of the Scripture Readings and apply them to today's situation
- Define and explore the key concepts of:
- Listening
- Comfort
- Support
- Travelling alongside
- Refraining from judgment
- Refraining from counselling.
1.5 Case Sketches
- Mark has spent some of his spare time in the last three years visiting the sick but wonders whether a pastoral care course will be too demanding. He does not want to deal with complex emotional problems and although he does not mind listening and saying the odd word, he doesn't want to give advice.
- Jenny is a professional counsellor and wonders whether she should go through a specifically Christian-oriented training course.
- Bill, who is known to be brusque to the point of rudeness, fancies doing something different and asks the Rector if he can join the new Pastoral Care Course.
1.6 Response
- Split into pairs and practice talking and listening
- Discuss personal experiences of being listened to and/or ignored
- Study the Ministry Specification for the team
- Discuss the case Sketches as a starting pint
- Identify the kinds of people who might need pastoral care
- Outline the dangers of Pastoral Care.
1.7 Resources
- www.southwark.anglican.org/training
- Moulds, Tim: Scripture Readings for Unit One
- Carey, Kevin: Key Concepts in Pastoral Care