About Pastoral Ministry Team

Ministry is a quality of relationship
between and among human beings
that beckons forth hidden possibilities.

It is inviting people into deeper,
more constant more reverent relationship
with the world and one another.

By Gordon B. McKeeman

Pastoral Ministry at UUCC

The Unitarian Universalist Community Church (UUCC) is committed to providing a caring, helpful response to the needs of our members, friends, families and community. While the Minister is available to meet with members and friends for pastoral care the ongoing needs of the growing community requires a more expansive caring community.

The lay Pastoral Ministry Team (PMT) was started in 2011 to respond to the pastoral needs of UUCC. Members of the Pastoral Ministry Team are members and friends of UUCC who have a desire to be present to the community during times of stress, grief and change.

The Pastoral Ministry Team is prepared to provide confidential, caring and compassionate presence to members and friends of UUCC during times of grief, loss, life changes and stress. The team is prepared to respond to the communal needs of the congregation, disheartening community events and social issues of our times. Pastoral responses to the community have included holiday grief service, holiday delivery of poinsettias to grieving families and individuals, a day of dismantling fear, shame and stigma around mental illness.

One lay Pastoral Minister takes up the work of organizing the Caring Community which includes arranging for rides to church services, congregational events and providing meals to families when they are sick and in times of grief.

The Lay Pastoral Minister

The lay Pastoral Minister is an extension of the Minister not a substitute. When serving in the role of lay Pastoral Minister, he or she represents the church as the Minister would. He or she is committed to providing an expansive pastoral response to the community.

A lay Pastoral Minister is more than a companion and care provider. They are present to listen deeply and bear witness to the events and stories of a persons life in such a way that provides spiritual care and comfort. They are there to support the exploration of personal values, morals and ethics and help find meaning and purpose in all of life’s complexity.

The lay Pastoral Minister provides care that is

• Sustained - A lay Pastoral Minister provides regular and dependable visits to members and friends of the congregation. This includes providing connection to the UUCC community when service attendance becomes impractical or impossible.
• Relevant - The Pastoral Ministry Team provides pastoral programs such as grief or healing services to respond to community events and common times of stress (i.e., holidays) as well as emergencies that affect the congregation.
• Confidential - A lay Pastoral Minister respects stories shared and receives them into confidence accept when to do so would put the individual or another person at risk. Confidences shared with the lay Pastoral Minister are may be shared with the Minister as part of the supervisory and support process.
• Professional - The lay Pastoral Minister has completed the required training; knows how to listen with empathy and compassion; is able to guide or prompt deeper spiritual thinking and practices, and is able to set aside personal life circumstances to be fully present to another person.

The Lay Pastoral Minister is not...

• a personal care provider
• there to ‘fix’ another person’s ‘problem’
• there to judge or grant approval
• a decision maker
• an advice giver

For further information, please see:

The Pastoral Ministry Team may be available to assist families with logistical and more physical and nutritional needs during times such as a death in the family, surgery, accident, etc. The PMT mobilizes the congregation to provide meals, run errands, and provide some transportation to medical appointments and also may coordinate fellowship following Memorial services and Celebrations of life.

Pastoral Ministry Ethics and Boundaries

Meeting Information

The Pastoral Ministry Team meets monthly.