Develop A Pastoral Care Ministry in Your Church is a combined text from the book Effective Pastoral Care in the Local Church by Kathy Smith and 5 Steps to Effective Christian Counseling by Stan DeKoven. Dr. Kathy writes: This combined work offers a comprehensive textbook for the course, Develop a Pastoral Care Ministry in Your Church.
Why is it important to develop a pastoral team of care approach to ministry? It is the essence of the mandate of God for the body to join together in unity as one. The church is where each individual member of the body comes together to not only get their own personal needs met, but to also do their part to meet the needs of the other members of the body. The body is where each joint (relationship) supplies the needs of the church. Pastors were never meant to fulfill all the needs of their individual church members, but they were called to train, equip, mentor, and teach each member to do the work of the ministry and fulfill their own personal calling in the Lord.
The work of the ministry is dispersed throughout the body of Christ as God has called and gifted them individually. Not all are ears, or eyes, or noses… but as each is gifted, we come together in relationships to meet the needs of the body as a whole. We come together as one in Christ; maturing to fulfill our role and take our place as an effective functioning member of that body. We each have a role to play and a job to do. Pastors who try to do it all, cannot effectively care for more than a handful of congregants.
The local body cannot grow beyond a certain point because the needs of the body are not effectively being met by a pastor does it all approach. The pastors who try will find the growth of their local church has been stunted or limited. Effective church growth both in numbers and maturity can only be achieved when all hands are on deck to do their part in fulfilling the ministry of the church. Developing a pastoral care team approach to ministry is essential to the growth of a healthy local church.
Dr. Stan writes: One of the most important roles for a pastor is the care of God’s people. Pastors are referred to as shepherds in scripture, with a primary responsibility of providing guidance (leading), nurture (feeding and teaching), and protection from the wolves of the world. Pastoral care is critical to the growth and sustaining of Christ’s church; unfortunately, due to many reasons this area of responsibility is neglected. One primary reason is the unreasonable expectation God’s people have of a local Pastor. Pastors are looked to for more than teaching the principles of God’s word and guiding God’s people with wisdom. They are looked at as the first source of advice for marriage, financial concerns, petty business squabbles, etc. Thus, no individual pastor with a congregation of over seventy can give healthy Pastoral Care; what pastors need is a team to help in the nurture and care of the church.
