5 Suggestions for Pastoral Care in the Single–Staff Church
The pastor in a growing, single-staff church, while desiring to meet as many of the needs of his people as possible, may find himself exhausted and frustrated, which in turn may lead to low self-esteem.
Following are five suggestions to help:
1. Organize for caregiving.
Church members’ homes often cluster in geographical areas. This factor allows you to organize your calling geographically. Visit one cluster of homes at a time. Some church members will have unusual schedules. This may result in another grouping. Some people are embroiled in crises (hospitalization, convalescence, moving, work layoffs, etc.) These persons make up another cluster.
Decide how you may best see the most people with the least amount of time between calls. How can the telephone and the mail supplement this process?
2. Research congregational needs.
Make plans to grow as a caregiver. Develop skills in keeping with your congregation’s present and future needs. Look at the age distribution of your congregation. In the next five years who is likely to marry? Who will start families? Who will start to school or leave for college? Who will go into a nursing home? Who will pass away? Knowing the information will help you plan in advance.
Without fanfare or becoming a snoop, collect data on families within the congregation. Persons seem to volunteer this information to a trusted minister who know how to use it redemptively.
3. Program for pastoral care.
Through the use of the church calendar, work with church organizations to provide over a period of years a balanced menu of caring experiences. Programs may focus on personal and spiritual development, marriage enrichment, the improvement of family relationships, grief management, and so on. Some programs can center on the development of caring skills. Persons may come to realize that caring is a ministry of the church and not the exclusive domain of the pastor.
4. Have a place for pastoral care.
Decide ahead of time where you will meet when someone requests to talk to you. This place should afford comfort and security for all parties involved. You will need a place to receive telephone messages without being overheard. Have by the phone a list of community helping persons with their telephone numbers and addresses.
5. Learn from your record keeping.
Records keeping in pastoral care provides several benefits. Early on, data is collected that sets the stage for an ongoing pastoral relationship. Even brief notes following a pastoral call, when compared to earlier notations, can define a person’s progress through an episode of grief. Such records help maintain a flow in pastoral conversations.
Adapted from D. G. McCoury, ed., Pastoring the Single-Staff Church (Nashville: Convention Press, 1990), 30–32.
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