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Caring Supports & Development |
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"BUILDING A CHURCH THAT SUPPORTS A COMMUNITY OF CARING PEOPLE"
Recommendations to the Corporation of St. Jude's Anglican Church, Oakville
Margaret Brockett, January 2010
John: 15:12. Jesus said: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you...."
Ephesians 4: 11, 12; 15, 16. Paul writes: The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.... We must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.
Introduction, Summary of Need and Recommendation.
St Jude's Church, Oakville serves some 700-800 households. Like many other churches, the parish faces all the challenges of a "greying" society. People are living longer with mobility and sensory impairments and are at risk of social isolation. In addition, modern medicine, often debilitating in its delivery, makes it possible for people to live longer with life-threatening diseases and chronic conditions: community based home care and support, however, are limited.
Over ten years, starting in 1997, the Sharing in Caring Program at St. Jude's has provided support for parishioners through a variety of ministries, some more successful than others. In 2006, the work of the clergy was complemented by 12 trained Parish Visitors, in turn supported by a team of another 20+ members who "cared" for more than 75 parishioners living at home and another 60 living in retirement or nursing homes. An attempt to delegate specific responsibilities, initiated by the coordinators of the Program, met with limited success and other options to provide leadership and coordination have been frustrated. The situation at the beginning of 2010 is that the Program can be described as "limping" along at best, perhaps in danger of dying.
In an effort to regain momentum, I offered to take time to consider the bigger picture of caring needs within the parish. This paper is the result of that review and is based on two premises:
That "caring" for one another is a contemporary way of "loving" one another as Jesus has commanded.
That the motivation to care is a work of the Spirit in the life of every human person. It is not confined to special individuals, nor is it the prerogative of any particular group of people.
Discussions with 28 key people in the parish have confirmed that the Sharing in Caring Program is in trouble. While there continue to be many good examples of "caring" happening within specific interest groups in the parish, those people who do not belong to such a group are in danger of falling between the cracks: their needs go unrecognized and unmet. In addition, those who "care" for family members and friends often feel inadequately prepared or informed for the task and there are many other concerns competing for their time and energy.
My recommendation is that St. Jude's employ a person with a background in community development as Convenor of Caring Supports and Development to:
1. Provide leadership, coordination, education, encouragement and support for parishioners actively involved in ministries of caring at St. Jude's and in the wider community.
2. Build and maintain an inventory of the skills, strengths and experience of our parishioners, and of the caring roles in which they are engaged, for purposes of developing and supporting effective caring relationships.
3. Bring people together in caring projects that go beyond the existing group boundaries and engage the multitude of different gifts, skills and experience available in the parish for the benefit of the wider community.
4. Provide a clearing house for community resources and a conduit for useful information about community resources and programs to avoid duplication of effort.
5. Take the initiative to develop collaborative caring ventures with other Oakville churches.
6. Work towards more effective connections and avenues of communication among volunteers to support the ministry of caring.
This paper continues with a full report of the review that I undertook, including discussion of my findings and my rationale for this recommendation as well as the detailed position description for the Convenor of Caring Supports and Development.
History of The Sharing in Caring Program.
The Sharing in Caring approach to pastoral care at St. Jude's began in 1997. Over ten years a model of delivery was developed that is best illustrated by a wheel in which the clergy are central, supported by volunteer parish visitors and sharing in caring team members some of whom would be members of longer-standing organizations, e.g. the Altar Guild. Their activities were not dissimilar from those of the Stephen Ministries, an organization of volunteers trained in the USA and a model for pastoral care adopted by a number of churches known to the two coordinators of the Sharing in Caring Program (Jean Ross and me). In addition to pastoral visits, the Program coordinated expanding support activities such as transportation, the monthly parish lunch, the ministry of flowers, worship services at four retirement/nursing homes and a fledgling ministry in which Lay Ministers took the Eucharist to people in their homes. "The Pantry", a "Casual Corps" and a ministry to the bereaved were off-shoots of the Program. Separate, well attended, educational courses offered training for visitors and family care givers. Other highly popular sessions provided information on social services and the opportunity to discuss the choices that need to be considered by people as they age. The Program was recognized in the Diocese of Niagara as having sufficient merit to be considered by parishes in St. Catharine's, Georgetown and Cayuga.
In 2007, Jean Ross and I were each planning extended times away from Oakville and consideration was given to other ways in which the Sharing in Caring Program might be maintained under different leadership with some changes to the model of delivery. In 2008, a committee was convened under the leadership of Rody Watt to explore the option of hiring a Parish Health Coordinator or Parish Nurse. For a number of different reasons, including financial limitations in the parish and a lack of appropriately qualified applicants, their significant effort foundered. In 2009, I agreed to reconsider the issue of "caring" in and beyond the parish and to present recommendations to Corporation. This report is the outcome of my work and reflections.
Method.
I reviewed a number of different models of pastoral care including that of the parish nurse promoted by Inter-Church Health Ministries, an interdenominational organization that began in Chicago in 1985 under the leadership of the chaplain at the Lutheran General Hospital. The model was introduced to Canada in 1994 and has been adopted by a significant number of congregations including some Anglican parishes. I visited St. Peter's, Coburg, where a long standing member of that parish has been employed as their Parish Nurse over a number of years. I also met with Cindy McCuaig, Co-Chair of Support Ministries at St. John's United Church in Oakville, where there has been experience with the parish nurse role. I talked with Peggy Moore, a lay person with a master's degree in pastoral studies, who fulfils a leadership role in caring as Minister of Pastoral Care at Royal York United Church. I also talked with participants in the Clarkson Church Community Volunteer programs. This is an organization of eight participating churches (United, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Anglican) that has offered transportation services as well as "caring and sharing" over the last 30 to 40 years.
During the months of September and October, 2009, I had discussions with 28 people active in the parish, at least over the last 2 to 3 years, including former assistant curates, Aaron Orear and Martha Tatarnic. We explored the following questions:
1. What do you think Sharing in Caring has encompassed at St. Jude's?
2. What do you think is going well?
3. Where are the gaps?
4. What do you think is getting in the way of people sharing in caring?
5. How do you think St. Jude's could become a more caring community?
I have been in regular conversation with Michael Thompson. Together, we met with a support worker from a community centre in Toronto who is enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Trinity College, to explore the suitability of a community development approach as a means of building caring support at St. Jude's.
A draft of this report was reviewed by four parishioners , who have an interest in the caring ministry of the parish, for purposes of clarity and their reactions to the recommendations. This final report has assimilated their feed-back and is being submitted to the Corporation of St. Jude's Church.
Findings.
As the outcome of the discussions held with parishioners, the following themes have emerged:
What do you think Sharing in Caring has encompassed at St. Jude's?
The Sharing in Caring Program has largely, and correctly, been perceived as a program addressing the needs of older parishioners.
What do you think is going well?
The parish is busy and active and is involved in many ministries or "caring activities" but these are generally carried out in "silos". Those people who belong to a group, such as either of the Choirs, the Garden Guild, the Altar Guild or the Anglican Church Women, are well cared for by their fellow group members. There are a few people who belong to multiple groups and who offer care across silos. There are a few groups, too, that cross the boundaries such as the Monday morning women's Bible study and the prayer group.
Where are the gaps?
There are some people who do not belong to any specific group and whose needs are not readily recognized. The biggest silos that separate people in the parish are the Sunday worship services. Those who attend the 8.00 a.m. service know few of those who worship at 11.00 a.m. and even fewer of those who choose the 9.30 a.m. service. While these services provide the opportunity for parishioners to worship according to their own preferred traditions, they present challenges to the building of caring relationships. As an example, the Sharing in Caring program has been seen as an activity serving the needs of older parishioners who generally worship at 11.00 a.m. and, with one or two exceptions, the parish and lay visitors have all been from that congregation. Its work was not widely recognized by those interviewees who do not regularly attend the 11.00 a.m. service.
There are two other congregations whose attendees and their needs may be neglected: the Wednesday morning and Sunday afternoon Jazz Vespers congregations.
What do you think is getting in the way of people sharing in caring?
There is a tendency on the part of parishioners to think of caring as being a special role to be undertaken by the staff and clergy or by those with evident skills and knowledge. The staff is wonderfully "caring" both within and beyond the parish but currently stretched to capacity.
The Church is the body of Christ, not simply those who are ordained or who work in the office, but clearly there are needs, on the part of parishioners who want to care, that are not being met. There are also other obstacles that get in the way of that caring.
The ability to care for a person is tied to establishing a relationship with that person and appreciating the issues that are important in his or her life. In any large parish, the opportunities for people to get to know one another in more than a superficial way, requires time. Younger parishioners, busy with their families and careers are rarely available during the weekday; competing demands, including those of caring for older family members, make it difficult for them to be involved in evening and weekend activities; getting to know other parishioners is often limited to coffee hour following the Sunday service.
One result is that there is little shared knowledge of people's circumstances and activities. I learned, from those interviewed, of a number of people involved in service groups and other community activities beyond the parish. When these links are unknown, the opportunities for networking and supporting one another in caring are sadly restricted. For example, I learned of at least two parishioners who belong to the same Masonic Lodge as one of our oldest parishioners; both the Lodge and St. Jude's have similar concerns for the well-being of this person and could complement the other's efforts to support this elderly man.
Continuity of care depends on the availability of the care-givers. Volunteers who are retired often spend long periods away from Oakville and so cannot always be available: many of the willing volunteers in the parish fall into this category.
Many caring parishioners are reluctant to intrude on individual privacy or family responsibilities and others do not know how best to offer help or what to say on occasions such as a recent bereavement. In spite of the availability of a multitude of published pamphlets and other sources of information, many people are quite unaware of either public or privately-funded resources that are available to help them when they face a need. Nor do they know how to navigate the systems of social services. Building connections between small groups of people with similar interests and challenges through ongoing discussion of topics relevant to their needs at acceptable times and intervals is one way forward. An example could be a support group for grandparents coping with the needs of their grandchildren at a time of family upheaval. A frequent expression of the lack of awareness and confidence about how to intervene is conveyed in the oft heard complaint that "the church should be doing something"!
How do you think St. Jude's could become a more caring community?
There is a positive response to the suggestion that St. Jude's might offer resources and support to parishioners in their "caring" of others through education, information and coordination of efforts that cross boundaries so that a stronger web of support can be built. Example: members of the Garden Guild develop an educational program for youth, interested in going to work in developing countries, in which they learn the skills of tilling the earth and growing vegetables on allotments in older parishioners' gardens - produce to be used by pantry cooks for the benefit of those in need or made available to the food banks. The side benefit is that the older parishioners meet the younger parishioners!
There is significant interest in the possibility of ecumenical church collaboration that would reach out to meet the needs of residents in Oakville, needs that are not met by existing social programs.
Discussion.
The Church is frequently referred to in scripture as the body of Christ. We can follow St. Paul's example and liken the body of Christ, as represented by St. Jude's Anglican Church in 2010, to the human body. To be a healthy person and to be able to function at one's best as the member of a family within a community, bodily connections must be kept open so that every part can be fed and exercised. Life-giving food needs to be digested and absorbed so that the body's systems can work effectively and together in meaningful activity. If one responsibility of the church is to be a "caring" body, then that "life-giving" Spirit needs to flow, continuously and unimpeded, to all its parts, taken up and utilized in the most effective manner so that every person, individually and collectively, can "care" for other parts of that body and those who come into contact with it, even as God cares for each, and all, of us. To use another bodily analogy, the plaque that threatens to clog arteries needs to be cleared so that the life blood can flow. The findings described above imply the existence of a number of obstacles to caring at St. Jude's and the need to clear the pathways so that caring can take place more effectively within the parish and the wider community of Oakville. I suggest that this cannot be done without the addition of a staff person devoted to the task.
While the original model of Sharing in Caring was operating quite well, the demands had become more than any one or two volunteers were able to handle. Since the coordinators stood down from their responsibilities, the program has limped along, lacking direction and coordination. The clergy are busy people and readily available to parishioners in their pastoral capacity in times of crisis. The Sharing in Caring Program has been reasonably successful in supporting their work through the continuing care of older people and others whose needs are long term. Since 2007, no volunteer has offered to take on the role of coordination which has meant that the office staff have tried to assume much of that responsibility. While it may be appropriate for calls for assistance to be directed to the church office, it interrupts the staff members in giving attention to other aspects of their work. Another consequence is that any caring beyond the parish has been solely in response to requests. Julie Hudak, the business manager, has remarkable "social work" contacts and skills which enable her to deal with such requests but a truly caring community would be involved more widely and proactively.
The Parish Nurse model works well in some churches. It is primarily health-oriented and in some churches where it is operational the focus is on health-promotion activities that are already available in Oakville through publicly sponsored programs. To duplicate such efforts does not seem to be a responsible use of scarce resources. While there are advantages to employing someone from a regulated profession like nursing, there may also be a disadvantage in the perception of the role as one fulfilling the more usual expectations of that profession. The pressing need of St. Jude's in 2010 does not appear to be in providing health care so much as supporting parishioners in their caring roles and breaking down the barriers and obstacles that get in the way of building caring relationships.
A vision for the next ten years should recognize that all parishioners want to care and will do so if they have the resources and support that make it possible and worthwhile.
The Sharing in Caring Program was largely restricted to older people in the parish. In 2010, it is evident that the need for care is not limited by any particular age, interest or geographical boundary and includes those to whom the justice and servant ministries reach out in the wider community. Our parish support of the food agencies is commendable but there are gaps in service there too. The Clarkson Churches offer a marvellous example of collaboration that has been going on for more than thirty years: one outreach project provides rides to medical appointments; another has developed relationships with social service agencies that enable them to respond to very practical social needs and involves some 700 volunteers. The needs in Oakville may be different but together the churches may be equipped to serve in a way that is not realistic for any single church community.
My recommendation is that St. Jude's employ a person dedicated to the support and development of caring ministries, but not a "Director" or even a "Co-ordinator". The title "Convenor" has been chosen to denote the importance of bringing people together to share their resources and learn from one another and so to support one another in their caring. This is a much more challenging role than that of doing, directing or coordinating since it requires a level of understanding of the caring responsibilities that people carry and their commitment to relationships that make that caring worthwhile. A Convenor of Caring Development would bring people and groups together, including people and groups from other churches, to work together on caring concerns of common interest. This role suggests the need for a person with the capacity to think creatively and with the ability to work with people from all walks in life with all their idiosyncrasies and differing ends.
I am recommending a "community development" model which seeks to build the capacities of individuals and groups for specific ends. I have concluded that such a model offers the best way of strengthening St. Jude's as a community of caring people.
Recommendation.
To enable St. Jude's to grow as a community of caring people, there is need for a person of initiative who will provide leadership that is:
committed to the development of caring as a shared ministry of every parishioner;
appreciative of the capacity for each person to care in some way, however small;
alive to the needs of individuals and groups within the parish and beyond;
sensitive to the obstacles being encountered by parishioners in their "caring activities";
knowledgeable about the community and the social/health systems within it;
willing to seek input and expertise from others in and beyond the parish;
flexible in thinking but strong in organizational and coordination skills;
committed to education, collaboration and facilitation; and
able to work in a collaborative mode but also to take direction and to give direction as needed.
I recommend that St. Jude's employ a person with a background in community development as Convenor of Caring Supports and Development to:
1. Provide leadership, coordination, education, encouragement and support for parishioners actively involved in ministries of caring at St. Jude's and in the wider community.
2. Build and maintain an inventory of the skills, strengths and experience of our parishioners, and of the caring roles in which they are engaged, for purposes of developing and supporting effective caring relationships.
3. Bring people together in caring projects that go beyond the existing group boundaries and engage the multitude of different gifts, skills and experience available in the parish for the benefit of the wider community.
4. Provide a clearing house for community resources and a conduit for useful information about community resources and programs to avoid duplication of effort.
5. Take the initiative to develop collaborative caring ventures with other Oakville churches.
6. Work towards more effective connections and avenues of communication among volunteers to support the ministry of caring.
I recommend that this be a full-time position, to be filled by September 2010 as a 16 month contract in the first instance, subject to satisfactory performance and review.
I recommend that the person hired in this position be a member of the St. Jude's ministry team and accountable to the Corporation through the Rector. The Convenor of Caring Supports and Development would take charge of "caring activities", work in cooperation with the Council of Ministries and liaise with the office staff and volunteer leaders of caring support groups, ensuring that decisions and arrangements involving those activities are made in a timely manner.
The 16-month contract is proposed to allow for a period of orientation during which specific targets for the calendar year 2011 will be articulated. The continuation of the position beyond December 2011 would depend upon the progress made towards achieving those targets.
I recommend that the annual salary including all benefits be in the range $65,000 - $72,000 which is in keeping with salaries earned by volunteer coordinators and others in similarly responsible professional positions in the not-for-profit sector.
The Challenge.
There are a number of challenges represented by this report and its recommendations:
The financial challenge at a time of financial recession.
Attracting qualified applicants to the position (see Appendix for position description).
Offering appropriate working accommodation.
Engaging all parishioners in the work of caring.
In a society where the demographics show clearly that people are living longer with chronic problems and dependent on others for care and support, St. Jude's as a community of Christ has the opportunity to harness its human and material resources and build its capacity as a people who care.
In a time of fiscal restraint, people will question how these recommendations can be financed.
Without belittling the financial challenge, we can trust that the support experienced by our parishioners and the wider community through this initiative will make it worthwhile.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.
Endnotes.
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