CALLED TO CARE

Caring for our Members

Called to Care is a care giving ministry, developed by the United Church of Christ. Through it, a team of members of St. Paul’s UCC in Mechanicsburg seeks to live out with renewed faithfulness Jesus’ command to love one another.

 

This program has held a vital role in our congregation since 1991. It is administered entirely of lay persons. The Call to Care is a call to all baptized Christians — a call which the members of the team demonstrate in many ways.

After 20 hours of training, these members are equipped to do a wide variety of tasks, including visiting persons in institutions, hospitals, in their homes, or wherever called.

 

They visit when someone is lonely, during illness of either a physical or emotional nature, or any of the other reasons a friendly visit is needed.  Transportation is provided for medical needs of church members and cards are sent for special events in individual lives.  Meals are provided along with child care when the need arises. This ministry tries to meet persons during their need, whatever it might be. The recipients of care span a range that is wide and diverse.

 

The team is always looking for persons interested in becoming part of this ministry. Anyone interested in becoming part of this team is invited to speak to the pastor or the coordinator of the program.

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY

The purpose of our ministry is to create shawls that cradle the recipient of the prayer shawl in hope, keep them in joy, grace them with peace, and wrap them in love.

 

We meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 1:00-2:30 PM in the church parlor. If you do knit or crochet but you can’t make it to our meetings, we would invite you to make a shawl at home and bring it to the church office. Our shawls are given to persons within our congregation and to others near and far away.

Our opening prayer at each meeting wraps us in the compassion and love of the holy One and grounds us in the purpose of our work:  “To knit and crochet God’s love, care, and warmth into shawls for those who need them.”

 

The shawls that we knit and crochet seem to be on loan from some higher place. The totality of the shawl is more than the sum of the creator of the shawl, the wearer, and the yarn, and is something we can’t possess.