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Our pastoral strategy at St James the Less outlines how we hope people will be cared for - as occasional visitors, joiners, and settled members. Since people relate to the church in a number of ways and have a range of different needs, and since our own resources for pastoral care are varied, any strategy adopted requires flexibility and pluriformity as well as expectation and structure.
Our Pastoral Strategy paper is a work in progress and currently looks at:
1.channels of pastoral care available
2.pastoral care of staff
3.valuing volunteers
4.infrastructure required
5.how people can access pastoral support and what they can expect
6.basic guidelines and boundaries in pastoral care
7.what to do when things go wrong
8.limitations of this strategy
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| The main channels of pastoral care are: |
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Clergy. As in all Anglican churches, the vicar has ultimate responsibility for pastoral care in the parish, and as in most churches, is available to everyone on an individual basis. A situation doesn't have to be particularly problematic for you to see the vicar, but sometimes there's an issue you wouldn't want to talk about with others, or it has an angle which you think the vicar may be able to offer particular perspective on. You can see the vicar just once, or several times. Seeing the vicar does not close off other routes of pastoral care, nor does it diminish their importance. In reality, most pastoral care takes place without the vicar's direct involvement, although the vicar has ultimate oversight of everything.
Congregation. The congregation generally has a duty to welcome all comers to church. The warmth of experience felt by people coming to church on Sunday has a direct bearing their pastoral well-being.
Mentoring. Occasionally someone asks if they can meet with a mentor for a period of time. Although we do not have a formal mentoring system, there are a number of people in the church happy to make themselves available to meet with you on a regular basis in this role. Normally this is arranged through, or with reference to, the vicar.
Pastoral Team. These are individuals within the church who have recognised pastoral gifts and are available to meet with you over a number of sessions. At present, an initial meeting would be made by you contacting the vicar or parish office. However, we hope to make this aspect of of our pastoral strategy more easily accessible in future
Counselling. There are a number of qualified counsellors connected to St James, and it is sometimes possible to subsidise the cost of this. Referrals are made through the vicar.
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Home Groups. We encourage every church member to join a home group, and most do. Home groups meet either weekly or fortnightly, offering friendship, Bible Study, prayer, and support. Home groups are therefore a key element in our pastoral strategy. Leaders normally meet two or three times a year, for joint reflection, prayer, and training. Most of the pastoral work of home groups takes place within the group setting, but you may be able to meet privately with the group leader or another member for more confidential support. If leaders find themselves unsure how to handle a particular situation arising within the group, they would normally share this with the vicar or a Cluster Group leader, who supervises three or four groups.
Prayer Ministry. We offer prayer ministry during or after most Sunday Services. Prayer ministry is simply prayer with another person, including listening to God and sharing any sense of God's word to you. You may go for prayer ministry because of something that came up during the service, or because of a situation you brought to church, or both. You may explain as little or as much as you like about the situation. The relationship you have with the Prayer Ministry Team member is for that prayer time only and is confidential. However, if a member of the team is uncertain how to proceed in prayer, they may call upon someone else in the team for insight. The vicar or another designated person oversees the prayer ministry team.
Communication. Keeping in touch through the weekly e-mail, processing newcomers' cards, sending out prayer cards, congratulations & bereavement cards is part of the background fabric of a pastoral community. This is done by the Parish Administrator. |
Download the complete Pastoral Strategy working document.
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Pastoral Strategy