PASTORAL CARE

Support Ministries:

  • Lay Eucharist Ministers are trained lay ministers who visit the homebound to bring prayer and the sacrament of Holy Communion.
  • Prayer Chain Ministry is a volunteer group who pray for members of the congregation, their families, friends, or colleagues struggling with serious illness, crisis, or difficult life experiences.
  • Pay It Forward is a confidential support ministry that strives to show Christ's love by caring for one another in times of need or crisis such as illness, birth, unemployment, mourning, divorce. This is accomplished through providing meals, transportation, and any other practical assistance.
  • Prayer Shawl Ministry is a small group who make shawls in prayer as a physical sign of God's ever-present love and caring and are given to those in need of God's comfort. We meet in the narthex at 9:15 a.m. the third Sunday of every month to swap patterns, bless completed shawls and pray. Please join us!
  • Laying-on of Hands
    Since 2006 the Healing Ministry Team of the Parish Healthcare Ministry has been offer anointing along with the laying-on of hands during contemporary services. Anointing with oil is a symbol of our sacred connection to God and was used by the elders of the early church in communion with prayers for healing. (James 5:14)
Parish Healthcare Ministry
Caring for the Body of Christ

Dedicated to nurturing mind, body, and spirit. This ministry provides workshops and health-related resources, informative presentations on health issues, Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry training, blood pressure monitoring, and also sponsors blood drives. Members of the Pastoral Care Ministry Teams, Stephen Ministry and Parish Healthcare, have attended Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry workshops to learn the principles and practice of the laying-on-of-hands to enhance our Christian care-giving program. The practice of the laying-on-of-hands is modeled after Jesus Christ's own ministry of healing and is a way of "communicating" the very Spirit of God to another person to facilitate healing for their highest good. During Contemporary Worship, a healing/prayer station is prepared in a quiet area of the worship space for all who seek consolation or emotional, spiritual, physical or relational healing. This rite of healing does not replace God's gifts that come through the scientific and medical community, nor does it promise a cure. Instead, it celebrates God's presence and comfort in time of suffering, God's promise of wholeness and peace, and God's love embodied in the community of faith.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. -Colossians 3:13b

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd embarked in early 2009 to establish a "Culture of Peace." Much has taken place since then. We established a Peacemaking team; we have had numerous small group studies with more than 120 "graduates"; and we established a Reconciliation Team ready to help members with daily, down-in-the-trenches conflict and disagreements.

We want to make you aware of a greater opportunity - the opportunity to attend the annual Peacemaker Conference, close to home in Reston, VA, just outside Washington, DC near Dulles airport. On September 16-19, Peacemaker Ministries will focus the conference on Forgiveness.

Forgiveness - what a concept. Have you ever asked for Forgiveness from another? Has another ever asked you for Forgiveness? Were you forgiven? Did you forgive another? Really forgive another? What does Forgiveness really mean? Perhaps you could find some answers in the workshops:
  • How Should Christians Respond to Unrepentant Offenders?
  • Living Out the Gospel through Family Peacemaking
  • Dealing With Unforgiveness
  • Personal Why do I do what I do?
  • Exploring Motivations of the Heart
Go to the Web site to find out more on these and other workshops and consider signing up for the conference to join five LCGS members who have already signed up. http://www.peacemakerconference.net/ Questions? Please contact Owen Ashbrook

1515 Emmorton Road
Bel Air MD 21014
410-838-8081