Lay pastor lends an ear to those in need
“I’m one of the lay pastors with the Community of Hope at our church. We visit our sick people, and sometimes we get names of others who just need someone to come see them.
“Some of them get very few visitors or none at all. They’re very lonely. So we go sit with them, ask them what they like to do when they’re well, and we’re good listeners if they have something to get off their chests. It might be, ‘I’m really mad at my sister-in-law.’ But sometimes what they share can be pretty potent stuff. We let them know that they can tell us whatever is on their minds, and that it’s OK because we are vowed not to share the information further unless they ask us to.
“We took a course over a number of months to learn what would be required of us and how to handle different situations. We know that if something is too heavy for our own hearts, we should share with another pastor. And if we learn that something is going on, like abuse of some kind, we need to find some way to take care of that so it doesn’t continue.
“I’ve been doing this for about six years now, and it’s really fulfilling work. It’s amazing just to see so much of God’s work in those we visit.”
— Barbara Wilson
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