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MEMBERSHIP CARE

Pastoral Care Associates

During this time of interim ministry and the search for and
welcoming of a settled minister, you will be hearing a new
term — “pastoral care associates.” This group will enhance
and expand the functions of the Care Committee. Lay
pastoral associ­ates are trained individuals who work as a team to provide presence and listening as an extension of the minister’s presence. This is over and above the usual services of the Care Committee (cards, food, help with errands, transportation to doctor appointments, etc.). It will involve visits to families experiencing serious illness or bereavement, members and friends who are shut in or in nursing homes, and oth­ers negotiating the various crises of life. Ten people have received special training in helping skills and a basic understanding of the organization of the program. However, every member of the church has an important role in the program — that of notifying a PCA when a need occurs. Guidelines are as follows:
     Except in emergencies, referral to a PCA should be done with the permission of the person being referred. Referral may be made by calling the church office during office hours. Soon referral cards will be placed in the chair pockets and can be filled out and placed in the col­lection plate.
     The Joys and Concerns bulletin board will also be checked for appropriate refer­rals.
     Our new mission statement reflects the fact that we are a caring community. Please help us to care for one another by supporting this attempt to to do so in an efficient way.

Joys and Concerns

Through the years we have evolved from standing at our seats and spontaneously speaking our joys and concerns to a method that suits a larger congregation. Joys and Concerns are written in the book at the back of the Sanctuary, and those in the congregation may read them before or after the service. For wider distribution, Joys and Concerns are sent to jandc@uucs.org and then printed in the different publications and on the web. There is also a Joys and Concerns bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.

Caring Committee

The Caring Committee (CC) provides ministerial assistance to the members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg (UUCS), addressing their joys and concerns. This is accomplished by sending cards, visiting the homebound or hospitalized, making phone calls, sending e-mails, preparing and delivering meals, providing transportation, and organizing memorial service receptions. The committee has a long list of people who are informed when caring needs arise and who help out. In addition, members and friends take care of each other informally when necessary. The Caring Committee may be reached at caring@uucs.org.

UUCS has a long history of caring for its members and friends. (Even interim ministers who break their elbows. . . .) The program described below is the church’s latest means by which to make that care obvious and real. It grows out of an awareness that both church and professional ministry have gone through a transition, requiring ministers to do ever more work in the area of administration. Similarly, that shift has inspired more and more laypersons to learn and practice new ways to support other laypersons. Thus the new Lay Pastoral Care program at UUCS is an excellent supplement to the skills of the parish minister.

Professional ministers are still there for emergencies, short-term pastoral counseling, and referrals. Some of us make pastoral work a key part of our ministries; others, especially interim ministers, do not. This is part of the dance between church and clergy that UUCS will explore with its candidate for its settled position come next spring. But know that there is in place a support system worthy of the church’s strong tradition of caring. Do not hesitate to
contact the Caring Committee (see below) if we can be of
help to you.

Caring for Our Members

When some think of church in the liberal religious tradition, it’s about religious freedom, the life-giving message that truth is both personal and evolving. Others may talk about UUism in terms of witness and justice work — engaging our resources on behalf of a broken planet and its people. But shot through everything else we do is the promise (covenant) to look after one another when trouble finds us. This is important!

Caring Community