One of the things we have learned this past year is that Pastor Luther's physical distance from Holy Trinity, coupled with his pastoral responsibilities to a second congregation, occasionally make it difficult for him to meet all of the pastoral care needs of our community in a timely way. We also recognize that, as our congregation ages, we have a growing demand for pastoral care. To meet these changing realities, Holy Trinity is creating a new caregiving team to supplement Pastor Luther's ministry.
This caregiving team will be co-chaired by Yvonne Topping and VJ Strehl, under the supervision of Pastor Luther. Pastor Pamela Brouker (a member of our congregation and a trained hospital chaplain) will also offer occasional consulting and support. Over time, we expect to enlist others in this ministry as it gets off the ground.
The focus of this team's ministry will be to:
offer regular visits and otherwise check in with the needs of those who are homebound; visit and check in with the needs of those who are sick, hospitalized, or healing at home; and provide home communion to those unable to make it to church. Mark Donahue in the office will continue to serve as the "point of contact" for disseminating information to Pastor Luther and the team as pastoral needs arise. Please contact Mark if you or someone you know is homebound, sick, or hospitalized.
Please know that Pastor Luther will always be available for urgent pastoral needs (such as life-threatening illness, end-of-life care, and mental health crises) during the September to May timeframe. During the summer months, when Pastor Luther is full-time at Emmanuel Church, we will have a designated guest pastor on call to respond to emergencies during these months.
Historically, of course, much of what is described above has been provided by our Caring Connections ministry under the very able leadership of Cheryl Brigham. After many years of devoted service, Cheryl has decided to step away from this role to spend more time with family and other interests. This new team will step into the wonderful legacy of this past ministry. Thank you, Cheryl!
Feel free to contact Pastor Luther or any of the team members with questions. Our hope is to provide the best possible care we can to our Holy Trinity family.