Care Community

If your church already engages in providing compassionate care and support for individuals facing life challenges, but you want to increase your skills and efficacy. The Church Cares strategy allows you to create a full Cares ministry to those with personal struggles, family, health or mental health challenges in your church. Ready for this? Read on...

Looking for something smaller to start with?

Try the 6-week free Care, Prayer & Share Course

The Course

1. Find a Coordinator

Each church will nominate someone as a coordinator for The Church Cares ministry.
Typically, the coordinator has a mental health background or strong interpersonal abilities and spiritual maturity.
The Church Cares coordinator will be in charge of this ministry for your church. We will help equip your coordinator with training materials and consultation.

2. Select Your Carers

There are many people in your church with God-given gifts to help others. Start a list of people you think would be good to invite for this ministry, or ask your leadership team to nominate them.
Characteristics of a good carer are those able to sit quietly with someone in need, unlikely to gossip, willing to help, and pray.
Your church will decide how to select carers and determine their suitability for the role.
We offer a screening template as an option to assist in this task. Click here to download our screening template for carers
This process helps to ensure that the most qualified and capable individuals are selected to serve as carers for the church.

3. Identify the Sharers

Who in our community needs to share a burden? (Hint: everyone!) As a church you would decide who you are going to help with your ministry. We like to think of Acts 1:8 for this: How will you help those in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the end of the earth?
- Church members struggling with emotional difficulties, grief, unhealthy habits, marriage and family issues, teenagers in your youth ministry, or those with spiritual struggles.
- Affiliated ministries of your church may be a target such as a food pantry, fall festival attenders, or day care center parents.
- Your local community may need help. You could offer this ministry to your community.
- Online help. The 7cups app has a specific section for The Church Cares. Your church helpers could engage the people on this app to provide care for them.
- Worldwide. There may be opportunities for mission trips, non-profit ministries and sister churches in other locations, or other ministries to provide help to others.

When new sharers are identified, we offer a tool for screening sharers to understand level of need.
- Click here to download the screening tool for sharers
New sharers can sign up with The Church Cares ministry through their church. Contact the church coordinator about how to register at your church.
If your church doesn't have a Church Cares ministry, encourage them to start one. In the meantime, you can access the 7cups app for 24-7 peer support and assistance.

4. Equip Your Carers

Orient your Carers
- Carers will complete the orientation training (hint: it's the same material as the Care, Prayer & Share 6-week course)
- The Church Cares offers the training materials for your church. Sign up here, or email us request information to do the training yourself.
Carers then practice on each other to get used to the role or on volunteers from your community who are not in high need (your choice)
Initial training is focused on being a great listener and the ability to support sharers as they create good goals in keeping with Christian community wisdom.
The church should create a referral list of church and community resources for Carers and Sharers to access if there are urgent needs, or as resources for general needs.

5. Start Providing Care

We recommend establishing a monthly Care Group meeting where you have speakers, books, or discussions of issues and pray for those who are in need of care. From that group you can form carer-sharer pairs to support each other throughout the month. The carer-sharer pairs are similar to how Alcoholics Anonymous have sponsor relationships for support.
The Carer and Sharer would meet in your Care Group and meet individually for personal and spiritual support. Generally the meetings are short-term, maybe 4-6 times.
The coordinator provides support for Carers in their ministry role
- Some churches do a monthly online meeting with the coordinator to support Carers while other churches create support groups for Carers to support each other.
- The Church Cares team has support for helpers. Message us if interested, info@thechurchcares.com
The goal is to provide spiritual care, help the Sharer create personal goals, find resources in the community, and engage with your church's ministry opportunities.

6. Engage Church Ministry

The church decides what longer-term support would fit that help-seeker to integrate into your church - such as
- church-based Care support groups for anyone
- natural existing ministry of the church (e.g., men's ministry or small group)
- support groups for specific issues such as grief, parents of disabled children, substance abuse, or depression
- referral to community resources beyond your church such as medical, mental health, or economic resources.
Our team can provide resources for the church regarding these decisions and recommend programs for church-based support groups.

Ready to talk with us about Partnering?

Tell Me More

Care Community

1. Find a Coordinator

Each church will nominate someone as a coordinator for The Church Cares ministry.

Typically, the coordinator has a mental health background or strong interpersonal abilities and spiritual maturity.

The Church Cares coordinator will be in charge of this ministry for your church. We will help equip your coordinator with training materials and consultation.

2. Select Your Carers

There are many people in your church with God-given gifts to help others. Start a list of people you think would be good to invite for this ministry, or ask your leadership team to nominate them.

Characteristics of a good carer are those able to sit quietly with someone in need, unlikely to gossip, willing to help, and pray.

Your church will decide how to select carers and determine their suitability for the role.

We offer a screening template as an option to assist in this task. Click here to download our screening template for carers

This process helps to ensure that the most qualified and capable individuals are selected to serve as carers for the church.​

3. Identify the Sharers

Who in our community needs to share a burden? (Hint: everyone!) As a church you would decide who you are going to help with your ministry. We like to think of Acts 1:8 for this: How will you help those in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the end of the earth?​​

Church members struggling with emotional difficulties, grief, unhealthy habits, marriage and family issues, teenagers in your youth ministry, or those with spiritual struggles.​

Affiliated ministries of your church may be a target such as a food pantry, fall festival attenders, or day care center parents.

Your local community may need help. You could offer this ministry to your community.

Online help. The 7cups app has a specific section for The Church Cares. Your church helpers could engage the people on this app to provide care for them.

Worldwide. There may be opportunities for mission trips, non-profit ministries and sister churches in other locations, or other ministries to provide help to others.

​​

When new sharers are identified, we offer a tool for screening sharers to understand level of need.

Click here to download the screening tool for sharers ​

New sharers can sign up with The Church Cares ministry through their church. Contact the church coordinator about how to register at your church.

If your church doesn't have a Church Cares ministry, encourage them to start one. In the meantime, you can access the 7cups app for 24-7 peer support and assistance.

4. Equip Your Carers

The Church Cares offers the training materials for your church. Sign up here, or email us request information to do the training yourself.

Carers then practice on each other to get used to the role or on volunteers from your community who are not in high need (your choice)

Initial training is focused on being a great listener and the ability to support sharers as they create good goals in keeping with Christian community wisdom.

The church should create a referral list of church and community resources for Carers and Sharers to access if there are urgent needs, or as resources for general needs.

5. Start Providing Care

The Carer and Sharer would meet in your Care Group and meet individually for personal and spiritual support. Generally the meetings are short-term, maybe 4-6 times.

The coordinator provides support for Carers in their ministry role

Some churches do a monthly online meeting with the coordinator to support Carers while other churches create support groups ​for Carers to support each other.

The Church Cares team has support for helpers. Message us if interested, info@thechurchcares.com

The goal is to provide spiritual care, help the Sharer create personal goals, find resources in the community, and engage with your church's ministry opportunities.

6. Engage Church Ministry

The church decides what longer-term support would fit that help-seeker to integrate into your church - such as

church-based Care support groups for anyone

natural existing ministry of the church (e.g., men's ministry or small group)

support groups for specific issues such as grief, parents of disabled children, substance abuse, or depression

referral to community resources beyond your church such as medical, mental health, or economic resources.

Our team can provide resources for the church regarding these decisions and recommend programs for church-based support groups.

Ready to talk with us about Partnering?

This process helps to ensure that the most qualified and capable individuals are selected to serve as carers for the church.

Who in our community needs to share a burden? (Hint: everyone!) As a church you would decide who you are going to help with your ministry. We like to think of Acts 1:8 for this: How will you help those in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the end of the earth?

Church members struggling with emotional difficulties, grief, unhealthy habits, marriage and family issues, teenagers in your youth ministry, or those with spiritual struggles.

Click here to download the screening tool for sharers

Some churches do a monthly online meeting with the coordinator to support Carers while other churches create support groups for Carers to support each other.