Presbyterian Mission Agency pastoral care Archives

Compassion fatigue in the church

Posted July 27th, 2021

A year of shepherding God’s people through a pandemic has put a strain on pastors as they have had to rethink how to do everything from pastoral care to worship. And the strain of constantly thinking differently and creatively while tending flocks that are eager for some sense of normalcy can result in developing compassion fatigue.

It’s time to reconnect

Posted June 20th, 2021

Congregations are discovering what “together” means and what being there for one another can look like in a post-pandemic world.

‘Voices of Jubilee’ encourages, inspires incarcerated youth

Posted January 4th, 2021

In the fall of 2018, youth at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center (BAJCC) in Chesterfield County, Virginia, asked to start a gospel choir. The request reached the Rev. Lauren Ramseur and the Rev. Ashley Diaz Mejias who, along with friends, collaborated to support the initiative. Ramseur and Mejias soon discovered that they were “doing church” — gathering twice a month at the correctional center for a community of worship. The group named themselves the Voices of Jubilee.

Acquiring pastoral skills at age 13

Posted May 7th, 2020

The Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn, now the CEO and executive director of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, learned his first pastoral care skills at the tender age of 13 after his friend died of leukemia.

Deacons: breathing new life in an ancient church office

Posted May 1st, 2020

There is often ambiguity about what deacons do. Some Presbyterian churches are taking another look at this ministry and redefining it to meet their needs.

Honrar la vida de un paciente con demencia

Posted June 13th, 2018

Él era un hombre de pocas palabras. Mis visitas a menudo consistían en un monólogo que yo elaboraba cuidadosamente en torno a preguntas veladas, con la esperanza de que él ofreciera detalles de su vida sin agitarse. Pero sus respuestas eran cortas; unas pocas palabras enunciadas con una voz grave que se volvía más fuerte si estaba molesto con el tema.

Honoring a dementia patient’s life

Posted June 13th, 2018

He was a man of few words. My visits often consisted of a monologue I carefully constructed around veiled questions, hoping he would offer up details about his life without getting agitated. But his responses were short — a few words uttered in a deep voice that got louder if he was irritated by the subject matter.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance deploys National Response Team to Las Vegas

Posted October 13th, 2017

It’s been nearly two weeks since hundreds of rounds were fired into a large crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing 59 people and injuring 489, resulting in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Council for Chaplains & Military Personnel

Posted October 24th, 2016

As you are reading this, over 200 Presbyterian teaching elders are scattered throughout our nation and the world in service to church and country. These teaching elders serve in federal chaplaincy positions with the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.