SMC family & friends,

Our God is mighty! God has revealed His all-encompassing power through the short life of Summerville Methodist Church. By God’s grace, our family of faith has not only grown in number; we are witnessing growth in the love of God, one another, and our neighbors!

An objective of mine for this fall is to develop an organizational plan for pastoral care. My intention is to be available to all of you in a manner that is healthy and helpful. To that end, I would like to explain how I will be approaching Pastoral Care and how each of you can help me care for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of our congregants.

My “organizational plan for pastoral care” is to distinguish care needs by level of urgency. As Pastoral Care needs are brought to our attention, Mrs. Sarah and I will organize into five categories. Here is a list of those categories with descriptions and examples.

1. Critical — The highest level of urgency is applied to a critical crisis that requires the Pastor’s immediate attention. In my experience, a critical crisis is an active death, a sudden tragedy, or an unexpected medical event where the outcome is uncertain.

2. Urgent — A higher level of urgency is necessary for a rapidly developing situation or when the diagnosis alters the future. In my experience, an urgent event is an unscheduled or high-risk surgery. Or, an urgent event could describe an illness or an ailment that places a parishioner in the ICU or CCU.

3. Stable — The majority of our congregation’s Pastoral needs would be categorized as stable events. A stable event refers to a significant medical situation where the patient is in stable condition or the procedure is highly routine or low-risk. In my experience, examples of a stable event would be a scheduled surgery (like a knee replacement) or an extended hospital

stay for medical treatment.

4. Transitional — A lower level of urgency is applied to situations where the danger has passed, but the parishioner is still rehabilitating or transitioning back to normal life. In my experience, transitional urgency applies to parishioners who are placed in a rehabilitation unit, facility, or sent home to do OT or PT.

5. Chronic — The lowest level of urgency is needed for ongoing conditions or chronic illnesses. While the urgency of Pastoral Care is the lowest among ongoing circumstances, that does not mean the parishioners' condition is not serious, nor that their health is less important to the congregation. A Chronic circumstance is an ongoing health concern that deserves the congregation’s continual care. In my experience, a chronic circumstance refers to ongoing

illnesses, the home-bound, or members living in care-based facilities. We also recognize members serving a tour, or a missionary serving a mission, would be identified as being in an ongoing situation that merits our prayers and attention.

There are two points of clarification. First, I would consider someone placed under the care of hospice or receiving end-of-life care to be among the “critical” or the “urgent.” My second point of clarification is that this information will not be made public. The “organizational plan” will be used between Mrs. Sarah and me to better respond to and monitor needs within our congregation.

The “organizational plan for pastor care” I am describing will only work if Sarah and I are aware of the needs of our congregation. We kindly ask that you help us maintain our watch over the congregation by keeping us informed of Pastoral Care needs. There are several ways to communicate needs with our church office.

We ask you to help us by communicating in the following ways:

1. Communicate the need to Mrs. Sarah by calling or texting the SMC Office Line (843.879.8817). This phone number redirects calls to Mrs. Sarah’s personal cell phone. Sarah answers these calls during her office hours, which are Mondays 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Please use this number in the case of an Emergency after hours and on weekends, too. Emergency messages are brought to Sarah’s attention. Mrs. Sarah is able to reach me at all times, so she

is the best person to help me respond and monitor Pastoral Care needs.

2. Emailing Mrs. Sarah at secretary@summervillemethodistchurch.org for non-critical or non- urgent needs is a good way to communicate a need, as well. She monitors her emails and responds in a timely manner during her designated work hours.

3. Our Congregational Care Team has created Care Cards. These cards are placed on the information table on Sunday morning. Take some of these cards home or pick them up on a Sunday morning. You can fill these cards out for yourself or for someone else, and they give several options from visitation to receiving/giving of prayer shawls. Simply fill out the card and place it in the offering plate.

4. Check “Request a Visit/Call” on the Pew Pad. Please make sure to include contact information so that I can reach you. These sheets are collected and reviewed each week. Any concerns or prayer requests are communicated to me.

5. Fill out a Prayer Request under the “Prayer” Tab on our website,

summervillemethodistchurch.org. These prayer requests are shared with me as well.

The best method, as you can tell, is to filter information through Sarah. While I have identified additional means of communicating information to me, I need to identify a few unreliable means of communication.

1. Assuming someone will tell me. Over the course of my ministry, I have learned that a lot of people do not want to be a bother to me. They assume I will learn of this circumstance and will respond when I am available. Unfortunately, this often results in me not learning of your circumstance or leaving me to wonder if you are just seeking privacy.

2. Sending me a message on Facebook or other social media platforms. I rarely look at my Facebook messages. There have been numerous times when I do not find these messages for days or weeks.

3. Mentioning the need to me on a Sunday morning. While I am present in the moment, my mind is also in a lot of different places on Sundays. Most information shared with me in passing at service on Sunday does not make it to my desk on Monday.

4. Asking my wife (or other family members) to relay a message.

God has blessed us with the gift of one another, a community formed by our shared faith in Jesus Christ. Caring for one another is more than a responsibility; it is our opportunity to participate in something bigger than ourselves. Thank you, in advance, for helping Mrs. Sarah and me better

organize the congregation’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. May God’s favor remain with us, and may we choose to remain faithful to God!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Ross Chellis