What a spring it has been. One filled with the glory of abundance. Seemingly an endless stream of blossoms on trees and floating in the air that have caused me to pause in my day to day doing and savor it all. We have so much to be grateful for.
I want to take this moment to lift up one blossoming of spring in our church in particular and that is the creation of a pastoral care associates program. Despite the challenges of remote learning and connection, David Treadway, Susan Concannon, and David Dunn completed two courses offered by the UUA Leadership Center on becoming pastoral care givers. The first one was about discernment where they considered the question: “Is this call to serve as a compassionate companion on behalf of the congregation to its members a good match for me?” A question to which they all said “yes” and they decided together to take the second more substantive course on becoming a pastoral care associate.
We have met almost weekly since March practicing the skills suggested in each of the modules including the art of listening, the art of spiritual companioning, doing your inner work, understanding mental health, understanding death and grief, pastoral care to families and children, designing pastoral care programs and serving in times of crisis and conflict.
In the Fall the congregation will be asked to commission them and bless their ministry. But in the meantime, they have offered to cover for me during my annual leave in June. I will be available to them by phone during this time. More specifically, here are the dates and their contact information.
