-Congregational Care-

Lay persons are recruited and trained to serve on one of three Congregational Care Teams. Each team has a designated co-ordinator who helps with the team's organization and is the one to whom visitors can report. Julie May is the main staff person who overseas this program and trains visitors. As members of the teams listed below become aware of needs they pass along this information to the church staff through the co-ordinator, Julie May, or the church office. Elderly/Shut-In Visitation Team Members of this team agree to visit or phone one or more elderly/shut-in persons throughout a year. The number of visits may vary from once a week to once a month for support, encouragement, friendly conversation, and to assess if there are obvious needs the church staff may be able to meet. Care Center Visitation Team Members of this team are assigned to a Care Center to visit members or residents related to members of the church. Visits are for friendly support and encouragement, and vary from weekly to monthly contacts.(More volunteers are needed on this team.) Eucharistic Ministry Team Members are trained to take consecrated communion elements to shut-ins and care centers.

Visitation Teams   Post Hospitatization Visitation Team Members of this team follow-up with home visits or telephone calls to persons who have been released from the hospital to assess continuing needs and issues of concern. Some of those released from the hospital will be going through therapy, chemotherapy, or other continuing treatment, and some are faced with major life-changing decisions, such as going to a care center or entering a Hospice program.(Need male volunteers) Reaching Out With Music Ministry Members meet on Sunday afternoons to offer a music ministry to shut-ins and members in care centers.(This team needs a leader.) Prayer Ministry This includes prayer chains, Capel Flock Tenders praying for specific prayer requests, prayers at Healing Services, and holding seminars about prayer and praying. (Need leaders: email, Flock Tenders, phone prayer chain) REFERRALS Needs for pastoral care may go beyond the professional expertise or time available to staff. Referrals then may be made to Rev. Tom Stewart or another counselor of a person's choice. A list of counselors can be provided, but each person will be responsible for making the contact. Continuing prayers and support will be offered.

Special Care Programs

Congregational Care offers a wide variety of groups that provide support and care in the context of worship, education, study, and spiritual growth. These include worship, church school classes, and many of the ongoing programs of the church, as well as the following programs.

• LED (Living Each Day) Couples or individuals are encouraged and supported by being a part of a small group of others going through similar trying experiences such as chemotherapy, life-threatening illness, miscarriage, etc.
• Premarriage Seminar Held three or four times a year for all those who are being married at St. Paul's. This seminar offers a unique opportunity for couples to explore various issues of marriage and their relationship.
• Grief/Loss Support Groups An occasional series of sessions offering support to those who have suffered the death of a loved one or some other significant loss in their lives.
• Divorce Recovery Workshop A six session series offering support for persons who are divorced or in the process of divorce. The sessions deal with such issues as feelings, stages of grief, anger, setting of goals, and seeking a new identity.
• CARE
  (Caregivers Attending to the Renewal of Energies)
  A support group for Caregivers, providing primary care to a parent, spouse, or significant other.
• MANTLE
  (Men Attending Now To Life Emergent)
  A fellowship/support group for men who have lost a spouse.
• HEALING SERVICES These are held at on the second Sunday of each month.

This ministry is founded on the belief that "our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit." (I Corinthians 6:19-20); we are called by Christ to "live life to the fullest," (John 10:10) and to "minister to others" (Matthew 22:37-40). The mission of Healing and Wholeness is to enhance the spiritual, mental, and physical well being of the parishioner; to encourage them to actively participate in empowering themselves to view their health spiritually; and to take responsibility for their own health, as well s offer support and comfort to others. The Director of Healing and Wholeness, as a member of the Congregational Care Team, seeks to contribute a whole-person health perspective and experience to the life of the church. The role is not medical, but a case manager and pastoral care model.

The Director serves as an educator and resource person helping persons use a spiritual perspective to find healthy and spiritually alive ways of living and dying. In all activities and contacts, the Director, assisted by the Congregational Care Team, seeks to promote the understanding of the relationship between faith, values, attitudes, lifestyle, and health.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The Congregational Care Team works in a collegial and confidential way. We hope anyone would feel comfortable and confident sharing any needs with these caregiver professionals. They, in turn, will not share anything of a confidential nature without your permission.

At program staff meetings each Tuesday morning, staff share information of a general nature such as illness, hospitalization, and other concerns, along with reviewing prayer requests from the previous weekend. All of these are remembered during the prayer time. A parish nurse is, by law, a mandatory reporter in cases of abuse. The Iowa
reporters in cases of abuse.