Dear friends,
One of the helpful features of the most recent House of Bishops meeting was the time scheduled for various presentations on mission-focused issues. The Rt. Rev. George Packard, bishop suffragan for chaplaincies, spoke with passion about the work the hundreds of military chaplains are doing in Iraq and on the homefront. In his presentation he recommended and distributed a book titled While They’re at War — The True Story of American Families on the Homefront by Kristin Henderson. I read the book and do recommend it to you. It portrayed the stories of soldiers and their loved ones that revealed the intensity they live through on a daily basis, both on the battlefield and the desperate waiting at home.

The reason I write about this for The Southern Cross is that this book reminded me of the hidden nature of so many pastoral care events and issues. For example, the author noted how employers had to wrestle with the problems of military spouses juggling too many things at home with no one to help. Another example pointed out the need for school teachers to be very aware when a student’s parent was deployed. The pastoral point is a simple yet deeply significant one. The presenting issue, in this case a soldier’s deployment, has the potential for a multiple ripple effect. Some of those effects are hidden.

Congregations that have trained Stephen Ministers are aware that a presenting pastoral symptom often includes other pastoral care recipient needs. I applaud those congregations that take on a Stephen Ministry program. However, not all congregations utilize Stephen Ministry. All congregations, though, do have the need to examine the ripple effect of pastoral needs when a presenting symptom is recognized. A death in a family, for example, may cause grief not only in family members but in friends in the parish, or even the parish staff. Congregations that seek to be pastorally sensitive pay attention to the pastoral ripple effects that develop.

A vital congregation is one that takes seriously the “one another” statements of the New Testament. “Love one another,” “Forgive one another,” “Be kind to one another,” are helpful statements. The Holy Scriptures inform us that some of us are called to be pastors, but that doesn’t mean that all pastors are to be ordained. A vital congregation flexes its pastoral muscle. Ask questions and seek answers. In what ways does my church respond to pastoral issues? Do we recognize the pastoral ripple effects that can develop from presenting pastoral symptoms? Is there training available in my church to help us to better ministry? Is there anything I can do with my strengths, time and treasure to help my church be more pastorally vital?

Remember, the main difference between vital congregations and sleeping congregations is this. One has vital Christians involved in its life, and the sleeping one does not. Look around your church and ask yourself this question, “Am I making my church vital?” Your church family will be experienced as vital when not only the presenting pastoral issues are dealt with, but the hidden ones are as well.