Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church

Pastoral care at St. Gregory’s is community-based, serving church members, visitors and the broader community. It relies on a trained network of volunteers of all ages under the direction of Sara Miles, director of ministries. We offer logistical support for patients and families during emergencies and illness; prayer, calls and pastoral support during illnesses and deaths; and spiritual and emotional support for members through individual and group meetings.  We maintain contact with homebound members, and reach out to members in trouble. We offer healing prayer after church services and coordinate ongoing support groups (for example, for those dealing with aging parents, or chronic illness) and special trainings (for example, on the stewardship of last things and preparations for death.) A pastoral care email list circulates requests for prayer and serves as a forum for staying abreast of pastoral care issues in the community.

Pastoral care volunteers take a 4-month training; they work with mentors and the director of pastoral care as part of a team.

In 2007, members of the pastoral care team (Lynn Baird, Cheryl Hendrickson and Sara Miles) wrote this article about community pastoral care for the journal of the San Francisco Medical Society