Pastoral Care
Introduction
At St George's we are praying and seeking after the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is evident in the Church when the people of God gather together to care, challenge, counsel, forgive, listen, offer hospitality, pray, serve, share Christian truth, share needs, worship, and through many other ways.
In response to this challenge to love each other, we strive to be a church where we experience and share in this kind of community.
Small Groups exist to provide that caring, loving community. These groups are at the very heart of church life; people gathering to learn to love God and cultivate a healthy life with Him – through prayer, Bible study and many other spiritual disciplines. These groups also exist to be places in which friendships are born and cultivated; care is given and received. Where we share and are listened to, prayed for and served. Groups seeking to offer genuine love, worked out in practical and helpful ways.
We also recognise that Small Groups cannot offer all that we need all of the time so we offer additional Pastoral Care, given by teams of people who are gifted by God, trained, supervised and authorised by the leadership of the church.
We seek to be a kingdom community where everyone can be supported and cared for. We encourage you to ask for support, or get someone to ask on your behalf and we will respond as best we can.
These are the areas of Pastoral Care which we currently offer:
Prayer Ministry
Offered every Sunday either during or after the services. If anyone wishes to pray about anything; saying thank you to God, interceding for something, having someone pray for a situation, for healing or for any other reason then please ask one of our trained prayer ministers (they will be wearing badges).
Extended Prayer Ministry
We recognise that prayer ministry in a church service doesn't always provide the amount of time that we need to talk and pray, so there are also a number of people able to offer their time during the week to listen and pray.
Christian Listening
Christian Listeners also provide the ministry of listening and prayer for people. It is distinct from Prayer Ministry; Christian Listening is most valuable when in a time of stress or facing a problem and not knowing what to do or how to handle it. As the person talks in an atmosphere of acceptance and in the love of God, the problem can be explored. The Listener does not give advice, but helps the person to focus on the impact of the problem and encourages them to think about possible ways forward. Prayer is also offered if wanted, before and after the time of sharing. A person may need more than one meeting with a Listener, but it is best used as a short term, focused period of time. Following this, the solution may be clear and the need no longer present.
Further support
Christian Listening and prayer may reveal a need for longer term support. If this is the case then we will do our best to help you find the support you are looking for. We have contacts in a number of different areas, including counselling, that we can help you access.
Visiting Team
There may be times when people would like someone to visit and share a coffee and conversation together. We have a group who visit many people throughout the week and who are available to come and visit you. This is particularly valued by those who are ill or housebound and find it hard to find fellowship.
As well as wanting to encourage Pastoral Care within our small groups we also want to train those who feel called and gifted in this area. There are different kinds of training offered throughout the year; one example being the Pastoral Skills Course, which is designed to train a whole number of people from across many different ministries in the basics of Pastoral Care.
If you, or someone you know, is in need of Pastoral Care, then please speak to any of the clergy or staff team. James Barnett (Team Vicar) oversees the Pastoral Care at St George's - if you would like to speak to him, another member of the clergy, or any of the Pastoral Support Team please contact them through the church office.
Prayer Net
A group of St George's members are committed to praying daily for the needs of others, and would be glad to pray for you. You can email requests direct to prayernet@stgeorgesleeds.org.uk.
The team are authorised by the church to undertake this ministry and you can be assured of total confidentiality. Requests should be as brief as possible; contain the name of the sender; and wherever possible contain the name of the person to be prayed for, but where desired, anonymity will be respected. In exceptional circumstances the coordinator may consider it necessary to inform a member of staff of a situation considered appropriate for attention, and even then only when the sender is informed of this.
If you would be interested in joining the Prayer Net team, please send an email to the above address. |
