|
Pastoral
Care in the Church
Personal
Responsibility:
The
basis for all care in a community starts with the responsibility
we have for our own life. God will not and does not violate
our own choices and will, and nor should anyone else. We
choose the way we live, and how we connect with God. There
are numerous examples of people in the gospels who decided
to follow Jesus, and others who chose to stay in their pain
and comfort.
Whatever
help from others that anyone receives in Community Church,
this should never violate their own choice and will. Any
suggestions offered are just that: suggestions … you
are free to take or leave it.
Mutual
Care:
Friendship
is crucial for all human beings. Despite all that He had
created so perfectly, God saw that it was not good that
the first man was alone.
It is
in these relationships that the normal ups and downs of
life can be processed healthily. Friends are there in the
good and bad times, and help us feel accepted enough to
engage with the disappointments and knocks that life throws
at us.
At Community
Church, we hope to help people meet others and build these
kind of friendships - but in the end we all have a part
to play in caring for one another.
Pastoral
Care:
We do
also need others around who can help us when we need fresh
perspective, someone to listen, reflect back, and challenge
our view on our history.
In each
Cluster we have a team of people (Pastoral Support Team
led by a Pastoral Facilitator in each Cluster) who are trained
and available to bring that kind of pastoral care …
if there are some issues you would like to talk through,
then do contact one of them and they will point you in the
right direction.
We do
not want people to become dependant on the "Pastoral
Support Team": our goal is always to promote spiritual
growth in the individual. We want to enable them to work
through their problems rather than come up with the solution
for them. We aim to create an environment of acceptance,
transparency and compassion to make all this happen.
Counselling:
Occasionally
we get stuck in our journey with God, and we don't seem
to be able to move forward. Counselling is not a long term
relationship, but a boundaried short-term process with a
defined goal at the end. Often this will involve a contract,
and payment.
We have
some trained counsellors in the church, and there are some
counselling agencies in Edinburgh. Please speak to one of
the Pastoral Leaders if you want details of people
to contact.
Terminology:
Pastoral
Support Team: A team of people in each cluster to provide
pastoral care in that cluster.
Pastoral
Facilitator: A couple or individual in each cluster
that leads the pastoral support team and facilitates the
pastoral care in the cluster. They are Anne Dodds, Barrie
& Alison Walker, David & Alison Wilson and Andrew
& Kirsty Hook.
Pastoral
Leaders: A team of people who oversee the pastoral care
of the church. The team includes the Pastoral facilitators
and Iain Archibald (who is responsible for Marriage Training
in the church); Ann Symes (who helps in the oversight of
the clusters); David Hewitt (co-ordinates the community
building events, new people & welcome, and cells) and
Rupert Ward who leads the team.
Information on Clusters
|
