The Episcopal Church   

The Diocese of Georgia

 

        Deacon School for Ministry

                   Competencies for Pastoral Care

 

Goals:  The goal of the practical training and experience section known as: PASTORAL CARE training is to prepare the candidate for ministry opportunities.

 

The Candidate demonstrates competency as she/he:

 

  1. Identifies the role of ministry of all the baptized and the function and symbol of the three orders in our church.  Understands the differences in the roles of the priest, the laity, and the deacon.
  2. Identifies that there are different ways that pastoral care is delivered.   Understands and can set boundaries, with the use of personal limits and appropriate referrals and knows the resources in the community.
  3. Demonstrates the skills of an effective pastor during life transitions and in a variety of settings, including the institutional setting.
  4. Identifies the components of interpersonal communication and demonstrates the provision of pastoral care involving issues where guidance about ethical decisions is necessary.
  5. Applies self-care and self-awareness techniques in the role of pastoral caregiver.
  6. Applies the dynamics of “expectations” in both the giver and the receiver roles of a pastoral care relationship.
  7. Designs a Pastoral Care program for his/her church, community and self.

 

Methodology:  The material for this block will be delivered using a combination of readings, exercises, discussion and lecture. The first weekend intensive for pastoral care is scheduled for April 13-15 2007 at the Convent of St. Helena, Augusta.

 

Requirements:  Before Ordination, a Candidate will demonstrate competency in these 7 areas.  This is an outline of one way to go about demonstrating competency.  If you have another idea of how you would like to demonstrate a competency, please discuss your ideas with the Examining Chaplain.

 

  1. Prepare a Pastoral Care Team Training Class that includes instruction on the ministry of the baptized and the orders within that ministry.   Either present your class to a group at one of the Deacon’s weekends for their input or videotape the presentation or this lesson.  Be aware that you must include material that appeals to all learning styles.
  2. Interview the person in charge of pastoral care in another church denomination in your city as well as the person in charge of pastoral care in an Episcopalian church (not your own parish) to discover how they each respond to the needs of their communities (both members and non-members) who are hospitalized, chronically ill, grieving, going through a divorce, losing a job, new members, or have other pastoral needs. 
    From this information, develop a pastoral care plan for your congregation.  In this plan, include training about setting boundaries, using personal limits and appropriate referrals.  A comprehensive list of the resources in your community will be part of this plan.  These may include individuals or agencies.  Include the following:

Name of the individual or agency

If an agency, a contact name

Phone #

Physical address

What services are provided?

Who is eligible to receive services?

How is it funded or what are the costs?

What are the hours of operation?

What volunteer opportunities are there?

  1. Describe appropriate pastoral care skills during life transitions using training knowledge from one or more of these programs CPE, Hospice, Community of Hope, Stephen Ministry training, Grace Corps online courses from CDSP or another approved unit of study by writing a short handbook to use when helping those in your parish become more pastoral to each other. Include ‘expectations” in your discussion.
  2. Discuss and show understanding of when and how it is or is not appropriate for a clergy person to enter into the discussion about ethical decisions as an advisor.  Be sure to show your understanding of all confidentiality issues.
  3. Design a plan for self-care and self-awareness for yourself and explain how your plan will impact your ministry.

 

Required Reading:

(Reread with a Pastoral heart and eye)

                  The four Gospels

      The Book of Acts

                   The letter of James

                   First and Second Peter

                   First, Second and Third John

 

Read and be familiar with the Book of Common Prayer:

 

·       Catechism page 855 The Ministry

·       Prayers and Thanksgivings pages 814-841

·       Services of Ordination  pages 510 thru 555 with special attention of course to the Ordination of the Deacon and the Litany for Ordinations.

·       Baptismal Covenant pages 304-305

·       Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child  p 439-445

·       Ministrations to the Sick pages 453-461

·       Ministrations at the Time of Death pages 462-467

 

Select four books from the following list:        

The Art of Being a Healing Presence James E. Miller and Susan C. Cutshall

The Simple Path Mother Theresa

The Making of a Pastoral Person Gerald Niklas

The Saga of Life: Living gracefully through all of the stages John R. Claypool

Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom

Psalms for Healing (Praying with Those in Need) Gretchen Person

Wounded Healer Henri Nouwen

 

Whatever is required by your course of training such as Hospice, CPE, Community of Hope, Stephen Ministry, Grace Corps etc.