Caregiving Teams

Our church has several persons with profound personal struggles. This is a great thing in my opinion, but at times it is a challenge. It is a good thing because churches should be places for people to heal and grow. It is a challenge because churches are often pushed beyond their core strengths in dealing with people

At one point in a recent stafff discussion about how to manage a rather needy person's demands for more support with certain issues, I shared with a staff person that we should make our continued assistance with this person contingent on them bringing us on a caregiving team with other people in our community working with this person. At first it was just a spur of the moment thought, but now I am beginning to think this is really a good idea.

Too often when working with people it has become very clear to me that I am not getting the whole story from someone. I then come to find out that I am being told one story, another caregiver is being told another story, and I feel like I am being manipulated and played.

Maybe as pastors, when we are asked to help someone, especially on an ongoing basis, we should insist on more transparency between other caregivers and pastors. I think this might be especially helpful when financial support is requested. Even if not, it might save us all a lot of time.

Why aren't we more focused on developing caregiving teams?