THE CARING CONGREGATION MINISTRY


This Concise Guide to Congregational Care is based on resources that are part of The Caring Congregation Ministry system. The Caring Congregation Ministry is a model for person-to-person care that has been proven to work in small and large churches across the United States. It is a laity-centered ministry, where laypersons receive rigorous training and then are commissioned to serve as congregational care ministers, caring for others in their own congregation and their extended community.

This ministry of Congregational Care was started at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection by the Reverend Karen Lampe, when church leaders and Karen realized that their ministry could be so much more effective if they had a trained group of volunteers to help with all of the caring ministries including hospital calls, support groups/classes, pastoral listening, and any other number of care needs. The ministry grew, was refined, and became an integral part of Resurrection’s congregational life. Other church leaders asked for guidance as they sought to develop this type of ministry for their own congregations. This model of care has been utilized and adapted for many different denominations and scales well to fit any sized church. And now it has been shared with churches throughout the United States.

After retirement from local church ministry, Rev. Lampe established The Caring Congregation, LLC, which hosts seminars, webinars, podcasts, and virtual courses in this method of care. She raised up a team of women throughout the country that collaborates in coaching, consulting, and curating resources to bolster local churches around the world in their congregational care ministries. This book is one of those resources.





HOW THE CARING CONGREGATION MINISTRY MODEL WORKS


Caring for people can get messy. We recognize that each person’s concern or crisis is unique and will require wisdom in determining the next right step for them. We have outlined three general steps to provide care effectively as a congregation.

Intake and Dispatch—Director and dispatcher curate and assign each care request to a CCM (see the digital files for examples of prayer request cards and other useful resources for intake and dispatch).



Follow Up—CCMs receive their assignments weekly and follow up with the person requesting care.



Documentation—After each assigned follow-up, the CCM documents their interaction.