By The Rev. Dr. Bill Carroll
Like our other ministries here at Christ Church Cranbrook, our pastoral care ministries are inspired by the teaching and example of Jesus. If you read the Gospels, you will notice that Jesus really saw people, especially when they were hurting, sick, or in trouble. Without fail, he responded to these same people with love, forgiveness, acceptance, and healing. At Christ Church, we believe that each and every one of us is a beloved child of God, especially the most vulnerable among us, whom Jesus called “members of my family.” All of our clergy and several teams of laypeople are responsible for pastoral care, which is an expression of our shared baptismal commitment to “seek and serve Christ in ALL persons.”
Whether you are a member of Christ Church or not, you should feel free to call on us if you need pastoral care. People often reach out to us if they have experienced death or other loss, changes in employment, a divorce or other relationship difficulties, a hospitalization or other health concerns, questions about faith, or any crisis of meaning and purpose. People also reach out to us in happier times, such at the birth of a child, an upcoming marriage, or other celebrations.
The heart of these ministries is accompanying people on their spiritual journeys. Among other things, this means listening to others with empathy, praying with and for people, sharing the sacraments and other tangible signs of God’s healing grace with them, and reassuring them of God’s never-failing love. We are happy to help directly when we can or to facilitate connections with those most able to help.
The best way to let us know that you need pastoral care is to reach out to any of our clergy. This can be done, however you would be most comfortable doing so, including the contact forms on our website. I (Fr. Bill Carroll) am the member of the clergy responsible for coordinating our systems of care and the different teams that provide this ministry. My email is bcarroll@christchurchcranbrook.org. My cell phone number is 248-878-3650. For routine matters, please feel free to call, text, or email me during business hours. In a crisis or emergency, you may reach out to me at any time, day or night We are eager to hear from you, so that we can help care for you or your loved ones.
An additional note on the prayer list: In general, we have discontinued the practice of reading all prayers received during the weekend and on Sunday mornings at the 10 am service. (This was initially a response to Covid-19, when everyone was doing church at home.) The prayer list for Sunday is put together on Friday afternoon and is compiled by Suzy Bai. For time-sensitive prayer concerns that arise after Friday (such as a death or critical illness), please text or call me (248-878-3650), so that we can add them by hand and respond in other ways as appropriate.
We are also actively looking for people who could make phone calls to check in with their fellow parishioners. As few as 4 phone calls per months would be very helpful, though we can also use people who would be willing to make several calls per week. The purpose here is to build up relationships within the Body of Christ and to provide another avenue for us to know about who may be in need of additional care.
This comes we prayer for all of you, and blessings for a Holy Lent and joyous Eastertide.
Fr. Bill Carroll