This ministry was begun in October 2006 to educate our congregation and others in our community about dementia illness so that we could be a knowledgeable, welcoming community of believers reaching out in love to those who are facing the difficulties of illness and aging.
Our primary goal is to create a loving, welcoming and caring place for caregivers and care receivers to find encouragement, support, education, respite, resources, renewal and social fellowship.
The first thing we did was to organize a Care Team – The first work of the Care Team was to provide a monthly event for caregivers…it has grown to include care receivers, and others facing illnesses, particularly those of aging.
Programs throughout the year
There are many other programs we hope to present throughout the year – education such as the DVD series “The Savvy Caregiver” – http://www.memorylossdvd.com/ will be presented free of charge to the community.
What began as Caregiver Outreach has become Care Ministries…
We have a Card Ministry – sending cards to shut-ins or those going through hard times. Our oldest member of our Care Team provides a Phone Ministry – calling each member of the church on their special day – a special way of caring.
Other ministries that have grown because one person had a vision and felt called to trust God’s leading…
OPPORTUNITIES:
As more and more families are facing the difficulties of dementia illnesses and caregiving becomes part of their lives, there is going to be more and more need for churches to reach out to caregivers.
God calls us to care – there are many in care homes who never have a visitor. We need more Care Pals.
There are many who need the warming presence of a shawl, created by loving, caring hands…to know that someone cares for them.
If you are searching for blessings – come join us.
Membership in our Care Team is not restricted to our church membership – anyone with a caring heart who wants to serve God in this special ministry is invited to be part of our Caregiver Outreach Ministry.
We believe there are many others who have a passion in their heart to serve by caring – we urge them to become part of our Care Ministries.
And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17
We began by holding a tea once a month – we call it Tea at 2:00. Always on the last Wednesday of the month at 2:00 p.m., it is open to anyone in the community – we now encourage anyone who is facing care issues to come join us – it is not exclusive... [more]
Christian Caregiver Conference In 2008 we were the first church in the nation (that we know of) to provide a free day of education/training for caregivers. We held our first Christian Caregiver Conference – an all day, free training conference to... [more]
CREATIVE CIRCLE This caring ministry was established by Margie Riedel to provide opportunities for those who have creative talents to gather together to “create” – most of the effort goes to make “Prayer Shawls” – either knitting or c... [more]
CARE PALS As a result of the special time she spent with a friend who was dying of cancer, Linda Ream realized there was a need for those who are confined to long term care – and she felt called to do something. Her loving concern resulted in a ... [more]