Everyone experiences a trying situation or is given a difficult journey at some point in life. Whether it be grief, depression, loss, sickness, loneliness, or a major life transition, everyone knows a season of challenge. People sometimes travel this path alone, without anyone by their side.
Pastoral care is the church’s response to the suffering people experience. Pastoral care goes beyond the regular caregiving church members provide for one another. While the congregation and community can offer support, a seasoned pastor has the training and experience to create space for spiritual healing and guidance.
Pastoral care can take many different forms in various contexts, but it always seeks to meet people at their lowest points and draw them to the mercy and loving care of God. Pastoral care can be offered to anyone. Both members of the church and those outside the congregation are welcome to receive pastoral care. Continue reading to learn more about pastoral care and its role in today’s world.
Jesus sets a precedent for pastoral care in the gospels. The story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man in Mark 2 is an excellent example of the importance of discussing faith and forgiveness in the midst of physical suffering.
Paul follows Christ’s example by encouraging the early church to have endurance and encourage one another in Romans 15:5. Pastoral care has always held special importance in Christian communities. The early church was shaped by biblical and theological perspectives of pastoral care, which carry through to today.
Pastoral care today follows in the footsteps of Jesus and the early church by going to the people wherever they need spiritual healing and recognizing that those in need of physical care are also in need of spiritual care. For these reasons, pastoral care extends well beyond the walls of the church. Pastors and caregivers meet people where they are, providing care to people in hospitals, nursing homes, personal residences, and anywhere that someone may reside who wishes for spiritual guidance, prayer, or care.
Although women served alongside men in the early church by providing pastoral care, the tradition of women providing formal, pastoral care was lost for many centuries. Many denominations still bar women from providing this much-needed care as clergy members. The United Methodist Church has ordained women with full clergy rights for six decades, giving women and men the opportunity to serve in ministry and offer Methodist teachings through pastoral care.
Today’s world faces family and relationship turmoil, injustices, increased isolation and loneliness, a lack of community, and an overall divide. Social media, the pandemic, heightened political divisions, and increased violence all contribute to suffering occurring in people’s daily lives.
Many people feel like they have no one to confide in. A study published in the American Sociological Review revealed that the average person in the U.S. only has one close friend and one in four people report they have no confidantes at all. Leading close-knit church communities, and offering pastoral care can help people heal and create communal bonds with one another.
The miracles Jesus performed were often about reintegrating isolated people back into society. People who were unclean and couldn’t live freely in society, such as the ten lepers (Luke 17) or the hemorrhaging woman (Luke 8), were ushered back into the Jewish community when Jesus healed them.
A visit from a pastoral care provider follows the example of Jesus. They offer community by their own presence and offer healing rituals so that the isolated individual can enter back into regular society when they are better. The practice of offering Holy Communion during pastoral care visits ushers the individual into full participation with the rest of the church community: the Body of Christ.
Not only individuals, but whole churches can experience hardships. The present-day Church has endured losses in attendance, a clergy shortage, and vacant leadership positions. Although this has been hard on many church communities, there are now many professional opportunities available to those called to provide pastoral care.
Pastoral care can help these struggling communities who feel they have no one to turn to. Even if someone who is hurting is unable to attend worship; even if they haven’t been to church in a while; even if they feel like they’ve neglected or gotten lost in their faith; pastoral care can ease their suffering.
Pastoral care is an essential part of ministry to those who serve in the local church because it provides profound spiritual aid to those who need it most. Pastors, chaplains, and spiritual directors guide people toward Christ’s love and justice by providing emotional, social, and spiritual support for those in need and who may be suffering a crisis alone.
This care and support can come in many forms including:
Each of these responsibilities and duties plays an important role in pastoral care, as pastoral care can serve the needs of many different people, such as: