The Caring Congregation: Training Manual and Resource Guide

Congregational Care Ministers serve as lay leaders working alongside pastors to provide quality care for the church family. The Caring Congregation serves as a manual with all the necessary resources to help pastors organize their congregations for care and equip people to listen, visit, comfort, and encourage congregants. The book includes a timeline and organized flow for Congregational Care Ministers focusing on prayer, the theology of care, creating a practical care plan, establishing boundaries, learning to listen, visitation etiquette, and support through the final days of life. Also included are reproducible handouts and ready-to-use worksheets, forms, templates, and customizable information to better serve particular geographical locations and other differences between congregations.

Karen Lampe shepherds this ministry and training at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Older congregational care training programs can be expensive and lengthy. This up-to-date product allows any church seeking effective ways to care for the congregation. For more, readers can visit the Church of the Resurrection website for training videos and additional "how-to" leader information.