Breaking Ground: The Church and Cultural Renewal
At LICC, we’re passionate about seeing everyday followers of Jesus make a difference right where they already are. Monday to Saturday, we’re the scatter...
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It’s been 20 years since the phrase ‘Blue Monday’ entered our cultural vocabulary. Falling on the third Monday of January, the date’s meant to reflect the lowest point in the year for people – with the long winter months ahead, the post-Christmas effect, and already-failed resolutions all being contributing factors.
Blue Monday, though, has absolutely no scientific basis. It started as a marketing ploy for a travel agent to boost holiday sales. After all, one day can hardly represent the mood of an entire nation. But while Blue Monday may be a myth, it does provide an opportunity to highlight – and consider – the importance of wellbeing and mental health. In fact, Samaritans came up with an alternative approach – ‘Brew Monday’ – encouraging people to take time out for a cup of tea and connect with someone they care about. The point being that we don’t need to wait for bad days to happen in people’s lives to be there for them.
And so, our next lunchtime webinar will focus on pastoral care, with a particular emphasis on caring for people in the everyday, not just on bad days. We’ll be drawing on our latest resource, Vital Signs, to see the connection between pastoral care and pastoral equipping. And we’ll also explore what it might it look like to walk alongside people through the ups and downs of everyday life, enabling them to appreciate the reality of God’s presence with them on their ordinary days in their ordinary places.
Pastoral care is a key part of church life. And whatever our pastoral care practice, it’s important for people get support and help when they need it. When it’s present needs or crises in our churches – like the death of a loved one, a health concern, or marital problems – we need to respond to them well. But pastoral care can, by its nature, be largely reactive; given the often huge demands on church leaders, that’s understandable.
A consequence of that, though, is that we can easily overlook those who don’t have a pressing need for pastoral support or those not going through anything significant enough to make it onto the pastoral care radar, those for whom it’s less Blue Monday than just ‘Dull Monday’ or ‘Ordinary Monday’? What does pastoral care look like for these people? How do we encourage and support them in a way that equips them and walks with them in their everyday?
A key to this is acknowledging that pastoral care isn’t just for the individual pastor – that way leads to burnout. Sharing the privilege and responsibility of pastoral care is vital. So, whatever your church leadership role involves, we’ll also explore how pastoral equipping can be done by the many, not just the few. And as well as the biblical foundations and theory of pastoral equipping, we’ll be thoroughly practical, too.
And all this in one hour over lunch. So, grab a sandwich and a cuppa and join us at 1pm on Monday 3 February. We look forward to seeing you there.
Revd Jules Gadsby
Church Engagement Specialist
Is this an online Zoom meeting?
If so, I would like to attend it tomorrow, please.