HELLO!

A reminder about a grief workshop open to the public being held at Oakwood Terrace. “Bringing Light to Many Faces of Grief: Loss, Loneliness and Guilt” (10 Mount Hope Ave, Dartmouth) Friday, October 16^th $20.00 Registration, 9 AM to 12:30 PM. The facilitator is Rev. Dr. Jody Clarke, Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Atlantic School of Theology. Space is limited; participants must pre-register by October 12^th by calling 469-3702 or email (Tracy) taustin@oakwoodterrace.ns.ca

Speaking of Pastoral Theology, our Woodlawn United Church Pastoral Care Committee meets again Wednesday, September 23^rd at 11 am in the Sams Room. Since I came to Woodlawn two years ago many of our faithful committee members have stepped back from this work to deal with their own health challenges. We have a few new members. The committee visits members of our church who cannot be with us on Sundays. The responsibilities include having a police background check, meeting the person you will be connecting with to determine if they would prefer a call or personal visit and how often. Our committee meets every three months. When we become aware of someone who cannot be with us on Sunday we add them to our list. A committee member visits them.

If you would like to join our committee or know of someone who would like to receive visits from a member of our committee, please let me know. As I have mentioned many times, in ordination clergy do not receive the gift of mind reading. For us to know, you need to let us know.

In addition to the visits of our Pastoral Care committee, I too visit people in our congregation. I visited five people today. I am among the last of the non-retired ministers to visit people without them having a reason to request my presence. My colleagues will sometimes ask, “what do you talk about?” When I call one of the 480 households connected to our church, and I ask if they would like to visit them at their home, at a coffee shop or in my office, they are often confused why I am asking. I tell them I would like to get to know them. The visits matter for several reasons, 1) they help me to know the people I am serving, 2) if the person has a pastoral challenge, they are more likely to call me if we have visited and 3) I can connect those with passion for service and celebration, like pastoral care or singing or outreach, to those in the church coordinating these ministries. Currently, I have visited one-on-one 240 of our 480 households. If you know someone who would like a visit, let me know.

The last 240 households will include people who long ago stopped attending our church for a variety of reasons. In all the churches I previously served, the last to be visited are the hardest to reach, in some cases those I contact are surprised they are still on our list. But for my last two years I will work hard to connect with the remaining households.

Peace, Kevin