Pastoral Care At St. John's Today

Father Jim, Mother Kathleen and Deacon Liz share in leading the pastoral care of the community. Prayer, counseling, spiritual direction, marital and premarital counseling and planning, baptismal training, and funeral counseling and planning all are part of the daily work of the clergy. Helpful referrals are made as needed. Our priests each visit the hospital weekly, and make home visits as well.

Being an urban parish, our doors welcome the homeless and hungry throughout the week as well, and every effort is made to help them spiritually in ways that support their return to a sustainable life. Our offerings include prayer, Holy Communion, and our Soup Bank, from which we can offer a hot meal, helpful referrals, and some Christian companionship.

Our clergy believe strongly that the ministry of pastoral care is most powerfully given and received when the community can be involved. On Sundays following our 10:15 service, during which our ill and homebound are prayed for by name, our Flower Guild delivers flowers, and our Lay Eucharistic Ministers provide Holy Eucharist, to homebound parishioners. We’ve added a new “Telephone Ministry” within the community of checking in regularly with parishioners who have been unable to attend regular services, making sure that they know they are missed and prayed for.

As Father Jim so aptly put it, “Pastoral care comes first; everything else is secondary.”