JUNE EVENT AT CSR

Pastoral care ministry among Spring Enrichment topics

BY KATE BLAIN
ASSISTANT EDITOR

Among the many courses at this year's Spring Enrichment (see pages 13-20) are four designed to help Catholics make the most of their visits to people in hospitals, nursing homes and other settings.

The "Living for the Lord" series, as the four are collectively known, grew from an experience at St. Pius X parish in Loudonville.

Jeanne Pitkin, pastoral care associate there, came to the parish five years ago under a grant to coordinate pastoral care ministry in the parish. People were already visiting hospital and nursing home patients, and the homebound, she said, but the effort needed organization.

More than friends

"There's a difference between a social visit and a pastoral visit," Ms. Pitkin noted. "It's more than just being a friend; you want to bring Christ's presence to that person."

When volunteering to visit someone in the hospital as a parish representative, for example, "you're going there to be with the person, and you can't carry your own agenda."

Visitors, she said, need to know the right words to help the person's situation and consider their feelings.

Of courses

Ms. Pitkin and fellow parishioner Dave James decided to teach a course on those issues. Their first effort drew people to Loudonville from Schenectady, Rensselaer and other towns, eager to make their ministry better. The course was offered again and again; each time, there was a waiting list of people wanting to take it.

The teachers realized "there was a craving out there to affirm their gifts and improve their listening skills," said Ms. Pitkin. "We said, `We're reaching beyond our boundaries. This should be a diocesan effort.'"

At the same time, several other parishes in Albany County were looking to train parishioners in pastoral care. They held a weekend course and hoped to continue their efforts.

All together now

The groups eventually met and ended up writing the curriculum for eight courses: "ministering pastorally," "listening with the heart," "end of life issues," "creating and nourishing a parish visitation ministry," "the mystery of suffering and death," "bereavement," "being a minister of healing in pastoral care settings," and "prayer."

The first four topics will be offered at this year's Spring Enrichment, June 2-5 at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. The others will be offered in the future.

Ms. Pitkin, who is co-teaching one of the courses, is excited to see what began as a parish course blossom into a diocesan effort.

"It's a sacred ministry," she said of pastoral care. "We want to be the best we can be."

(For information on the "Living for the Lord" courses, call 453-6630.)

(4/10/2003)