Pastoral Care Ministry Annual Report 2018

2018 Annual Meeting Pastoral Care Report
I give thanks for the struggle we have been through this year to keep our group
functioning. It has helped us redefine how best to accomplish our goals. Thank
you for praying and doing!
We met four times in 2018. We provided transportation to parishioners in need,
meals for the freshly bereaved or hospitalized, raised resources and visited and
brought communion to the homebound. We have also at times stood with the
clergy at the end of the service to greet and be available for pastoral care needs
and prayer. We want to continue and expand our ministry in 2019. We will meet
quarterly, on the fourth Sunday of the month, following the second service. Our
first meeting in 2019 will be on Sunday, January 27th, at 12:30 in the Gathering-
Room. Our members are: Marilynn Emmons, Etta Cole, Vanya Davis, Pam Herrin,
Tonya Leary, Marvelle Martin, Jeannette Best Nunez, Linda Nwosu, Marian
Franks, Hillary Saunders, Frances Hart, Diana Farmer, Valerie Curry, Samantha
Toomey and Gabriele Mayes (chair).
We have restructured our ministry for maximum participation by the whole
congregation. When pastoral care needs are brought to our attention we will
now share them with you all through an e-blast so you have the chance to
contribute to those who have a specific need.
In fact, we want to encourage you to participate in many aspects of our ministry:
 Sign up to be part of the meal-train. You’ll only get called a couple of times
a year, and may only offer part of a meal, like soup, a salad, or desert.
 Pay attention to the comings and goings and being of our people. Write
cards, make phone-calls when you notice someone’s prolonged absence.
And when you know of something like that, PLEASE LET US KNOW so we
can follow up and people don’t fall through the cracks. Of course, many of
you are already doing this – we just want to make it overt and invite ALL.
 Please take responsibility for what you need and LET US KNOW WHEN YOU
ARE SICK OR NEED HELP! We want to respond – but when we don’t know
because you’re suffering silently we can’t offer support.
 Use your group-membership to give pastoral care to each other – again,
something most of you are already practicing: Foyer-members can keep
track of each other and send in a meal if someone needs it or offer other
care. The same goes for the Brotherhood and ECW, Bible-Studies or the
youth-group and Women’s Spiritual Formation Group, the choir and the
different ministries. Keeping track of each other is an active way of loving.
 Please check your contact-info in the directory.
 Sign up for the transportation-ministry – which is for people who need
occasional rides to church, doctor’s visits etc. Contact me for that.
So these are just a few ideas of how YOU can practice pastoral care… It is the soul
and work of church to take care of each other and build each other up for the
work of ministry. If pastoral care is not happening the way you think it should
then help us! Join us! We’d love to have more members – and I would like to
make a special plea to the youth as well: In the past some of you have come with
me to bring communion to someone. They were over the moon to see a young
person and wanted to know all about them. And, of course, that’s not only true
for the youth. Let me know if any of you would like to come along – anytime!
Thanks be to God that he gave us to each other… that we are his gifts to St Eds,
every one of us here. Let’s love each other even better this coming year!! Then
we will also be better able to love the stranger in the community around us.
Respectfully submitted, Gabriele Mayes, chair.

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