The Caring Congregation Ministry Implementation Guide

Pastors and church leaders genuinely want to care for people in their congregations and communities. But pastors cannot care for an entire church, and most laypersons don't have the training to do it. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for person-to-person care that's been proven to work in small and large churches across the U.S. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive rigorous training and then are commissioned to serve as Congregational Care Ministers, caring for others in their own congregation and their extended community. This remarkable approach to congregational care was first developed by author Karen Lampe and her team at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Kansas City. It has been tested, refined, and strengthened, and is now being adapted in all sorts of congregational settings. One early adapter was co-author Melissa Gepford, who launched a Caring Congregation Ministry in her own rural church. Together, they have created this immensely practical guide for any pastor or leader seeking to create a congregational care ministry. This Implementation Guide is the main book for getting started. It introduces the ministry model and explains the Five Essentials which form the ministry's foundation. It is extremely practical, full of checklists and other tools to help pastors and other leaders understand (and explain) this way of providing congregational care. The Implementation Guide also includes a section focused on the crucial component of this ministry–the Congregational Care Minister, or CCM. This section fully describes the characteristics of CCM's, how to recruit people to this ministry, how to discern if candidates are a good fit, and how to conduct the CCM training over a multi-week period. It details the critical information CCM's must know, and the behaviors and habits they must practice in order to be effective. Note that the companion book, The Caring Congregation Ministry: Care Minister's Manual, is required for the CCM training. It serves as a training workbook, which then becomes the CCM's personal reference manual.

The Care Minister's Manual is the personal training workbook and reference guide for Congregational Care Ministers (CCM's), who serve a central role in the Caring Congregation Ministry. CCM's receive in-depth training, where they learn the theological foundations of congregational care, plus the behaviors, habits, and practices they will need to follow in order to serve others well. Each CCM-in-training should have a copy of this Manual. It serves as their training workbook, which then becomes the CCM's personal reference guide. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for congregational care that's been proven to work in small and large churches across the U.S. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive training and then are commissioned to serve as Congregational Care Ministers or CCM's, caring for the people in their congregation and community. The Caring Congregation Ministry: Implementation Guide is the main book for pastors and other leaders seeking to build, launch, and sustain a Caring Congregation Ministry in their church.

A distinguished historian, academic and occasional evangelist I know was hushed by his stunned wife after he said to a friend he was visiting in the hospital, "I hope you don't die." A sentiment delivered sincerely but oh-so-awkwardly. Expressing care to someone in need--whether within the community of faith or beyond--may seem the most natural thing in the world. For some, it is; for others, it's less so. All can improve. Learn to reach out with God's love and care for others as outlined in this practical book. Farabaugh offers a systemic path for pastoral care using the gifts of the laity in the church. "At a district Council on Ministries' meeting, our conversation focused on the realization that most of the clergy had no assistance in the area of pastoral care and felt overwhelmed by their many, sometimes conflicting, responsibilities," writes Farabaugh. "Most of the churches did not train anyone in caring ministries. Today it is time for clergy and laity to partner in caring for one another." Unique to this course is the ongoing training and accountability meetings outlined for those in this invaluable ministry. During the monthly meetings, participants report on what they have learned and also study aspects of caring for situations and conditions of life, such as illness, suffering, grief and loss. Leader's Guide: Leading in Lay Pastoral Care

Equip your congregation for caring ministries.

"Who is missing?" Mark Stamm says this is a quesion the church should ask every time its members gather around the Lord's Table. Participation in the Lord's Supper is not a ritual action we perform as isolated individuals, Stamm points out. Instead, we partake of the sacrament with the whole church in mind, even those who cannot attend. In Extending the Table Stamm discusses historical, theological, and pastoral questions about home Communion demonstrates the central role Communion has played in Christian life asserts that the church must seek ways to include its "unwillingly absent members" in the celebration of the Lord's Supper offers practical suggestions for inclusion of all people in receiving the sacrament This book is an excellent resource for clergy, laypersons, and scholars committed to deeper understanding and increased strengthening of the body of Christ.

There is a missing link in our ministry efforts Somewhere along the line, we have erroneously made pastoral care the sole responsibility of the pastor. We assumed the clergy are the ones that do ministry, while the laity watches ministry being done. We need a new paradigm For the most part, we provide crisis care instead of pastoral care in our churches. The ensued problem is that when the crisis is over, so is the care. This makes people feel unattached, insecure and neglected, which often results in them falling through the cracks or slipping through the proverbial back door. The Care Revolution provides the answer. It presents a proven, efficient and workable system that enables believers to care for one another, making sure everyone experiences a sense of belonging and acceptance. When church members are trained and developed to connect and care for each other it meets a crucial need that is entirely biblical and should be part of the ongoing ministry of every congregation. Pastoral Care is a Collaborative Effort The Pastor cannot do it alone! Effective pastoral care just happens when pastors and members collaborate in their ministry-efforts. It is only when a congregation is cared for and nurtured that it becomes healthy and consequently has the ability to evangelize more effectively. A hurting and or dysfunctional church simply cannot do it. Evangelism and pastoral care are not contrary to each other--the one depends on the other. Dr. John Bosman has been a pastor for most of his adult life. Immediately before entering into his present international ministry, he served as the lead pastor of Glad Tidings Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for 15 years. Under his leadership, the church grew from fewer than five hundred to a thriving congregation that now occupies a 3,000-seat, state-of-the-art worship center. John has served in both regional and national leadership roles within his denomination. He was a member of the Board of Regents of a stateside university as well as a Bible College in Russia. He is also the founder of both the JWB Institute for Leadership and Laity Development and Hamilton Christian Academy. John and his wife, Anne (who is also an ordained minister), live in Frisco, Texas. Together, they minister nationally and internationally. They have three children and five grandsons.

The Pastor's Handbook (KJV) is intended to meet the continuing need of the Christian minister for guidance and forms as he does the work of the ministry. It seeks to offer options to suit the tastes of the pastor and congregation within the parameters of quality, beauty and dignity. To this end, numerous changes, both large and small, have been made—more selected Scriptures, new alternatives for special occasions, some significant additions and changes. At the same time, every effort has been made to keep the book concise and compact to maximize its usefulness. The formulas should be sufficient for the ordinary needs of the minister. They may be modified or supplemented by materials from the pastor's private collection or his own preparation. Some who stress liberty in prayer and preaching dislike set forms, preferring spontaneity and a free style as they worship. If the spiritual vitality of a church is maintained there need be no fear that these forms will become lifeless rituals. The use of forms should never become merely formal. And if the use of forms adds beauty and dignity to the atmosphere of sacredness, who can object? May the blessing of God attend all who glean from this manual, enabling it them to know what to say and how to say it. This is made also for allowing them to know what to do and how to do it especially as the occasion requires. Gratitude is expressed to many pastors and contributors for this volume. Includes the: worship service, baptism, communion, funerals, anointing services, healing services, membership, installation, baby and child dedication, consecration services, ceremonies for buildings and visitation.

Clergy sexual abuse is a horrible reality. These essays reveal that between ten and twenty percent of clergy offend against the integrity of the pastoral relationship and the vulnerability of those entrusted to their care by crossing the boundary from religious service to sexual activity. The survivors of such abuse face terrible consequences of personal and relational brokenness and the loss of God and the church. The church and pastoral care and counseling agencies become conflicted by competing claims about responsibility and paralyzed by the threat of costly lawsuits from all involved parties. And the ongoing failure to bring perpetrators to account and to bring about vindication for the survivors undermines the vitality of our religious communities and the credibility of our message. . . . The core theme of these essays is the need to rethink and reconstitute power, including our view of God's power, into genuinely mutual and accountable arrangements. Healing, intimacy, reconciliation, and forgiveness derive from justice and vindication, rather than vice versa. The healing and restoration of persons, and a genuine social advance, will come only when we are able to reconceive power and order our practice of ministry, care, and counseling in non-coercive and non-patriarchal terms. The challenge is a cultural challenge, with serious consequences for elevating those of low degree and bringing the mighty down to the possibility of genuine redemption. --from the Introduction