“Love one another as Christ has loved you.”
The Congregational Care Team, along with our Health Ministry, provides special care to members during illness and other periods of loss, crisis, or need. The Team is meant to be supportive and to complement resources already available to members. The goal of Congregational Care is to match volunteer resources with needs in the congregation to the extent we are able. The Team includes members who have signed up through Time and Talent sheets, those who have been commissioned as Lay Eucharistic Ministers or as Lay Chaplains through Community of Hope, and members with special skills or who have graciously accepted recruitment.
Congregational Care is divided up into ministry areas through which we have opportunity to serve and care for one another. To volunteer for or to request assistance from any of these ministries, please contact Director of Congregational Care BeverlyDavis@ctkelc.org.
- Our Lay Eucharistic Ministers (LEMs) are sent from the Lord’s table on Sundays to take the bread and wine to members who are hospitalized, home-bound, or otherwise unable to be present in the liturgy. The presiding minister sends the LEMS with these words, “In the name of this congregation I send you forth bearing these holy gifts that those to whom you go may share with us in the communion of Christ’s body and blood.” The congregation responds, “We who are many are one body because we all share one bread, one cup. Amen.” LEMs are trained through our Community of Hope.
- Members volunteer to serve on the Meals Team to provide occasional meals to a member or family in need and help organize food on the occasion of a death or other circumstances. A sub-set of the Meals Team, our Dinner Drops, provides a meal for families following the birth of a child.
- Transportation volunteers provide occasional transportation for a doctor’s appointment, worship, shopping, or an emergency.
- Visiting and phoning volunteers contact members who are temporarily or permanently indisposed. They provide a listening ear and a compassionate presence.
- Prayer Note volunteers write notes to members expressing care and support during times of need and to acknowledge life changes
- The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets every Friday morning at 9:00 in the third floor conference room. They knit shawls for both members and friends of the congregation as an expression of care and concern. The shawls are literally a means of wrapping the recipient with love.
When a shawl is completed, all the members of the group lay hands on it and offer a prayer for the person who will receive it. This may be someone experiencing a serious illness, recovering from surgery, or mourning the recent death of a loved one. Shawls may also be given to new mothers or to someone who is homebound. Over the years the group has distributed over 200 shawls.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry includes both members and non-members of Christ the King Church. The group has a number of willing teachers, and they welcome newcomers who don’t know how to knit but would like to learn.
Congregational Nurse Linda Schoene conducts blood pressure screenings on a regular basis on Sunday mornings.
Our Health Ministry grew out of a missional emphasis proposed by the Church Council in 2000. Building upon the work of the Congregational Care Team, a member-to-member support ministry, the Health Ministry Team explored ways to integrate faith and health. In December 2001 Linda Schoene, a licensed registered nurse committed to the healing mission of the church, was commissioned as Congregational Nurse. She coordinates the work of the Health Ministry Team and serves the congregation through health education, support, and advocacy. The Congregational Care Team serves as an important adjunct to health ministry by meeting the needs of church members through meals, prayer notes, visits, phone calls and transportation. You may contact Linda Schoene for further information.