Serve > Advisory Board > Pastoral Care
Pastoral Care
An Evening to Remember - Monday, June 4, 2012 at 6 PM We gather to remember loved ones who have died, relationships that have ended, circumstances in our lives that have changed, such as the loss of health, employment or the completion of a significant endeavour. We remember, we acknowledge, we open ourselves to healing.
If you need some time and space to remember, come and join us for a quiet candlelight service with scripture readings, simple music and a reflection by Charles McMulkin. We invite you to stay afterward for light refreshments. |
“I give you a new commandment – that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”
Gospel of John 13:34
From Sunday to Sunday, we sometimes suffer in silence. It may be a broken relationship, a lost job, or a long illness. As a Christian community, we are called to share in the responsibility of caring for one another. Redeemer’s pastoral care team plays a key role in reaching out to those in need. Comprised primarily of lay people, the team works in various ways to assist the clergy in supporting our parish family:
Home visits: When parishioners can’t make it to church and want to stay connected, a member of the pastoral care team can visit at home to share Holy Communion, deliver a meal, or to simply listen and chat. To ensure complete privacy and safety, all pastoral care team members must pass a police check and observe confidentiality at all times.
Hospital visits: Parishioners facing health issues can also arrange for a pastoral care visit while they’re in hospital, and may request communion if they wish.
Other forms of outreach: When face-to-face visits are not convenient, pastoral care volunteers can keep in touch through regular phone calls or e-mails. If mobility is an issue, the pastoral care team can provide transportation to and from church each Sunday. Special requests or concerns can be added to Church of the Redeemer’s prayer chain.
Pastoral Care Events
The pastoral care team organizes a number of events each year to offer a compassionate presence to people who are experiencing a difficult time due to illness, a death, or any of life’s challenges. We welcome others who enjoy event planning to contribute to these. Events include:
Twilight Retreat: A time of quiet contemplation just before the busy Advent season begins. In 2011 this evening took the form of An Advent Labyrinth Journey.
Blue Christmas Service: The Christmas season can be particularly difficult for those grieving a lost loved one, a broken relationship, an illness, or a career setback. The Blue Christmas Service offers a brief place of rest and respite, where people can reflect on their sadness or loss and offer these in prayer.
White Gift Sunday: To symbolize the congregation’s support, small gifts are hand delivered to parishioners who have experienced some sadness or difficulty during the year.
Special Events: These take various forms depending on identified needs.
More about the team: Parishioners are drawn to the pastoral care team by a sense of calling. They initially meet with Redeemer clergy to discern God’s call and to determine which pastoral role would be most fulfilling for them. Members of the pastoral care team meet monthly in Circles of Care to support one another. They strive to constantly improve pastoral care through prayer, reflection, and training. The pastoral care team welcomes those who feel called to this special ministry. If you’re interested in becoming a pastoral care volunteer, please contact our clergy Liska Stefko or Andrew Asbil through the church office.
If you or someone you know would benefit from pastoral care, please contact the church office.
“We write, we make music, we draw pictures because we are listening for meaning, feeling for healing. And during the writing of the story, or the painting, or the composing or singing or playing, we are returned to that open creativity which was ours when we were children. …An artist at work is in a condition of complete and total faith.”
--Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water, p. 181.
On Ash Wednesday, 17 children gathered for a full day of worship, music and art. Our worship taught us that we need God and God needs us. This beautiful tapestry, designed by Samuel Crowther, arrived in black and white, one-dimensional and in fragments. It depicts the faces of all of us in need and a loving lord who needs us in return. The children applied their own individual design and colour, and pieced it all together in their own vision to make it whole and bring this message of mutual love to life.