What is Pastoral Care? Pastoral Care is... A ministry of presence Responding to God’s love Founded on faith and prayer Focusing on the other person(s) through active listening Offering support and guidance Shared with and accountable to acommunity of caregivers By taking the 10-week Basic Course offered by the OPCTP, pastoral care visitors develop skills to help them be a compassionate and sustaining presence with others in their suffering. They also learn how to support one another in ministry.

What is a Pastoral Care Team? A Pastoral Care Team is... A faith community’s organized, deliberate and specific response to the pastoral, spiritual and emotional needs of its members. This team brings focus to a ministry which attempts to make visible God’s presence in definite and tangible ways. It does this by fulfilling a two-fold role within the community. First, and most obviously, a pastoral care team responds to the needs of others as they have been identified within the community. A second, equally important role of the team, is to draw the community forward in its own understanding of self and its own need always to be embodying the presence of God for others. The pastoral care team relies on the support of its priest/pastor or faith leaders for support and guidance.

 

All rights reserved © Ottawa Pastoral Care Training Program 2009