Free Spiritual Care: A Guide for Caregivers by Judith Allen Shelly

son, Brian, was arrested
for drunk driving, and the police found marijuana in his car. Suddenly, the Tompkins's lives were thrown into turmoil.
    The following evening Bruce faced the church board at their
monthly meeting. He knew they would soon hear from others
about Brian's arrest. Overcoming deep embarrassment, he
decided to share his story with them. Rather than reacting with
the anger and blaming that he expected, one by one the board
members began sharing their stories of humiliation over their own
teenagers' behavior. Several were in the midst of similar struggles.
The following day, one of the board members called Melissa, saying, "I need to talk to someone, and I know you'll understand after
what Bruce shared last night. Our Mark has been on drugs for
several months now. We don't know where to turn. It's something
you just can't talk about in church!"
    It's something you just can't talk about in church! How sad. The
Christian community is the place where we should be able to talk
about our deepest concerns and find help, but for most Christians
it isn't. By trying to maintain a facade, we cut ourselves off from our most important sources of support and strength. The church
needs to be a hospital for sinners, not a showcase for saints. We
have to revise our understanding of righteousness. Rather than
trying to appear perfect in the eyes of others, we must become a
community of people who know we have been rescued, restored
and forgiven. Then we can reach out in love to others.

    4. Reaching those in need. Jesus called us to serve the broader
community as well as those within the church. Within our neighborhoods, those who have no church affiliation may be even more
alone and needy than people already in the fellowship. Extending
spiritual care to the larger community can come through opening
congregational health fairs to the general public, visiting homebound individuals referred by friends or relatives, advertising support groups in the local newspaper, providing worship services in
retirement communities and extended-care facilities or offering a
Sunday afternoon or weekday healing service.
    How can we make a start at becoming a caring, witnessing
community? Many churches fly into action, trying every innovative program that comes along. Many times those programs fail
because they are not appropriate for that particular community or
there is a lack of qualified leaders or adequate training. Some
churches have so many programs going already that any new program must compete for time in the schedules of leaders and those
to whom the program is directed.
    Just as we need to assess individual spiritual needs, it is important to begin with an assessment of a congregation's resources and
needs before beginning any new approaches. It is important to do
your assessment in that order. Starting with needs can lead to
either becoming overwhelmed at the immensity of the task or
duplicating what is already available. Begin assessing the
resources and programs already in place. You may be surprised at how much your church is already doing to reach out to people
who are in special need of support. Many times these ministries
are hidden, discovered only by word of mouth or reading the fine
print in the monthly newsletter.

A Congregational Resource Assessment
    1. What is the church already doing in regard to health and caring
ministries (healing services, pastoral visits, support groups, teaching, counseling, volunteer services)? Talk to the pastoral staff, the
church secretary, board members, deacons, committee chairs and
others who may not have official titles but seem to be active volunteers.
    2. Who is currently providing these services? What provisions
are in place for support, education, reinforcements?
    3. Canvass the registered nurses in the congregation, asking
about their education, experience and availability. Our congregation keeps a list of nurse members who work in area