Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep unity through the Spirit of peace.

~ Ephesians 4:2-3

A Framework of Support

As I write about Congregational Care, I am reminded of a song our children have sung and shared. The opening lyrics state, “I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!”  That togetherness creates a cohesiveness of care within and beyond what we lovingly call our Saint John’s family. We establish a church home in which people feel welcomed, recognized, nurtured, appreciated, and encouraged while finding ways in which their spiritual gifts can be integrated and offered.

This Sunday, during the Feast of All Saints, we honor the saints who have lived with us and gone before us. We remember their special, crucial roles in our community and the mutual love exchanged in their lifetimes as well as the care extended to them in their passing. During transition, a team of living saints among us pray, visit, call, and send communications to support them in the process. In John 13:34, we are called to love one another as Jesus loved us – a call taken to heart and action by our church family members.

While discerning your responses on your Skills and Interests Survey, you might consider joining those who are regularly engaged in Care and Prayer in their outreach on Congregational Care teams. The individual team opportunities include: making calls and/or visits to members who are homebound, hospitalized, or living in care facilities; delivering Communion to members unable to receive at church; writing notes to people experiencing medical concerns, mental health issues, unemployment, isolation, loss, grief, and more; making prayer blankets for our hospitalized; assisting with funeral/memorial service reception provisions (usually cookies/tea sandwiches), set-up, and/or cleanup; facilitating support groups; and/or becoming a Prayer Circle email recipient who prays for those listed in the email. With Advent Season approaching, there will also be registration for those wanting to join a caroling team to visit and sing to homebound and health facility residents.

Though people initially cite warm welcomes, beautiful music, and impactful sermons as reasons for coming to Saint John’s, I believe it is your genuine, continual care for one another that provides the scaffolding that supports our growing church family! Like scaffolding, our care team is designed to provide a secure platform, supporting the weight of the tools of renewal while allowing workers to reach the areas in need of care. Lyrics of another song come to mind: “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love, the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above… We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.” May it be so!