At the heart of the Gospel and what the Christian faith is all about are issues of care and support, understanding and empathy. It is good to care. Noticing or becoming aware that some folk are suffering, worried or distressed and knowing that we need to be sensitive and understanding when expressing our care are important issues especially when often we are dealing with sensitive pieces of information about other people.
We can often find ourselves in situations where we realise that someone needs care, help or support. Someone may tell us that they are unwell or that someone close to them has experienced some tragedy or other. We may notice that someone seems distresses, upset or not their usual self so we ask why and they tell us. When we find ourselves in these situations there are many things that we can do to help. Simply being willing to listen may be all that is needed, you may not need to say or do anything, just the fact that you now know may be enough. (And don’t assume that because you now know that someone is unwell that anyone else knows.) Sometimes it’s appropriate to offer to pray with someone. If this is in church you can find a quiet corner and pray together, light a prayer candle (in silence perhaps) or write a prayer leaf such as they have in the prayer corner at St Peter’s Church. You could offer to visit or send a card or some flowers at a later date yourself if that seems appropriate.
One important thing you can do is to ask if you can share with someone else what the person has shared with you. Particularly you could ask if you could share it with the ministers, David & Kathryn. You should always respect and be sensitive to the wishes of those who share personal information with you about how they or their loved ones are. We should always be sensitive to issues of confidentiality. If a person is willing for you to let the ministers know about the issue or problem then David & Kathryn can contact them as well, pray for them and perhaps offer a visit. This can be very helpful to the person in need.
If someone is willing also you could ask if they would like the Parish Prayer Circle to pray for them. If this is the case then let David or Kathryn Know and they will pass on the information to the Parish Prayer Circle. Also where someone is in need you can ask if they would like their name to be mentioned on the weekly news sheet. If this is the case then let David and Kathryn know so that they are aware of it and can see that the name appears on the sheet so that those doing the intercessions for that day will know who to pray for.
Where someone has an issue or problem that they have been willing to share with the rest of the church congregation then it may be appropriate for the church congregation to offer support and encouragement by sending a card or something. There are two couples in the congregation at St Peter’s who will help with this and arrange on behalf of the church to send ‘expressions of empathy and support’ to people in need. If you feel that there are people for whom it seems appropriate for the church to offer something to then please let the ministers David and Kathryn know.
The Parish Mission Statement
The family of Hednesford Parish
love and worship God as they care
for each other and the community
and actively seek to bring others
to know Jesus Christ.
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