Pastoral Care is my primary job responsibility where I serve as Interim Associate Pastor. There is a membership of approximately three hundred, though of course all of those are not in need of pastoral care attention.
A couple of interactions in the past few days have been especially challenging, or surprising, or intense, or meaningful.
Yesterday I visited a parishioner who will soon have surgery, followed by chemo and radiation. He will lose his voice box, and is losing his voice daily. When I got there and sat down on the couch, his wife said that he thought he was going to die. I asked him how he felt about that. That led to some discussions that made the wife feel like she should leave and give him the opportunity for a 'time of confession', or a private conversation with "his pastor. We had a really wonderful time of prayer together. I felt good about it.
Another especially beloved, active, very influential, wonderful man from the church is losing his battle with cancer. A parishioner who visits the couple daily called tonight because she was in need of some pastoral care herself, having such a hard time coping with his illness and the effect on their relationship. It is hard to imagine how much change is coming.
I can listen. I can offer words of encouragement; extend compassion. I can run errands. I can pray. It often feels like so little. But I know those things are the very core of ministry itself. While it seems like so little to me, I do trust that they make a difference.
To be present with. To hold someone's hand. To hear someone's story. Those are sacred things. Holy moments.
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