I’ve been thinking this week about the where of pastoral care.
Here’s where some of it has happened for the pastoral care givers at our church just in the past few months:
- In hospital rooms;
- By a lakeshore;
- In the church lobby;
- At the county jail;
- In the Worship Center;
- At the county mental health facility;
- At funeral homes;
- Over lunches and dinners;
- At the Welcome Desk;
- In cabins at a campground;
- While serving meals at the Charlotte Rescue Mission;
- During band practice;
- In the K-Zone;
- In a converted garage now home to HalfWay House;
- In a converted video store now home to BigHouse;
- In rehab facilities;
- At the YMCA.
It’s all reminiscent of Deuteronomy 6:4-6:
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Have I left any out?