Pastoral Care

The Rev’d Dr. Benjamin Anthony, Associate Rector Pastoral care takes many forms. At the heart of it is a direct interaction between people, often the one-on-one interaction between individuals. This personal—interpersonal—interaction is the space where pastoral care is needed and delivered. And it is precisely the space that has been invaded, distanced, and emptied by the threat of COVID-19 and the practices necessary to slow its spread.

The events, programs, and practices that have in previous years sustained pastoral care ministries at Trinity have largely been set aside. Creative and adaptive responses have enabled pastoral care to continue throughout this past year and reinforced the reality that pastoral care is a community-wide responsibility. Pastoral care is the community seeing and caring for its members as individuals and drawing those individuals back into community’s embrace. While some familiar tentpoles of the pastoral care tent (like Fall and Spring Eucharist and Lunch for Seniors) had to be suspended, others continued in an adapted and often online form. The faithful team of Lay Eucharistic Visitors adapted their ministry to social distance measures and the lockdown of residential eldercare facilities. Visits consisted of phone calls or phone-assisted visits through room windows at residences and the rite of Private Home Communion was adapted to use the now-familiar rite for Spiritual Communion. Small groups that continued to meet through videoconferencing apps like Zoom were critical sites of pastoral care. Groups such as the Monday Bible Study, the Rector’s Study Group on Tuesdays, the Trinity Caregivers group on the third Thursday of each month, the twice-monthly Men’s Group have all continued to meet via Zoom. No one would mistake a videoconference for a conversation in the Crist Room but no one who participates in these small groups would express anything but gratitude for the opportunity to see others and to be seen by them. Pastoral care was also delivered during 2020 through the delivery of material tokens of care and affection. Meal trains were organized for those moving through seasons of grief, new life, and medical hardship. The Parish Life Committee’s delivery of Poinsettias and an Advent care package was a tangible expression of prayer and love for the members of our community whose age makes them especially vulnerable to the threat of COVID-19. When the grief and isolation of this time has passed and the difficult insights it has created can be received, I hope that we will have discovered the riches we have in one another. And I hope that we will see that how important it is that we care for one another and do so accordingly.

Trinity Men’s Breakfast

Peter Sehlinger, Chair Before the pandemic, the Trinity Men’s Group met for breakfast at 8:15 a.m.on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at Duo’s Kitchen. The group resumed meetings on Zoom in December at 9:15 a.m. We celebrated our fourth anniversary in January. We offer an opportunity for attendees to share experiences and get better acquainted. While largely social in nature, at each meeting Ross McKenna reads a short scriptural passage and a commentary from the tract Forward Day by Day, which are followed by discussion. All men at Trinity are encouraged and welcome to join us at these meetings. Trinity Caregivers’ Support Group

Peter Sehlinger, Chair The Trinity Caregivers’ Group began meeting in the summer of 2014 and is composed of individuals who are caregivers for relatives and friends suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, strokes, and other debilitating medical problems. The group met on the third Thursday of the month at 3:30 p.m., until the pandemic forced them to cancel their gatherings in March. In November the group resumed meeting at the same time via Zoom. They are joined by two resource persons who have been caregivers, and by the Rev’d James Knowles, the group’s chaplain. We share experiences and offer support to fellow caregivers, and offer suggestions and available resources. All conversations remain strictly confidential. Caregivers at Trinity and elsewhere are invited to attend our meetings.