Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care

We support the many ways we journey with each other in transitional moments of life.

The mission of our Pastoral Care Ministry is to provide quality, timely, and professional spiritual and emotional support in an intimate and confidential environment, modeled on the life and ministry of Christ. Our clergy, along with a team of trained laity, provide pastoral care to all parishioners, especially in times of grief, illness, and crisis—creating a shared experience of healing, renewal, and growth.

Addiction & Recovery Care Ministry:

Works to increase awareness and understanding of addictions of all kinds and to offer support to members of our community facing addiction issues. We want people to have a faith-based, non-judgmental resource for support of these issues. We meet monthly for education, support, discussion, and fellowship on the third Sunday of the month between the last two services in McGill Hall.

Baptisms:

By baptism a person is adopted into God’s family and is made a full member of the church. A person who has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in another Christian community does not need to be baptized again when they join an Episcopal church.

Eucharistic Visitors:

Trained lay ministers who bring communion to members of the community who are unable to attend worship due to hospitalization or being homebound.

Flower Ministry:

Deliver altar flowers to a congregation member each Sunday as a sign of support, thanks, or other special recognition.

Funerals

Please report the death of parishioner to the clergy of the parish as soon as possible (church office: 703-938-6521). The pastoral care emergency line (703-216-1864) may be used at any hour to reach the clergy on call. The Rector and staff are ready to be of assistance and can be with the family at the funeral home, if desired. The clergy should be consulted before a date and time is set for the funeral or memorial service.

Gestalt Soul Care:

Gestalt Soul Care (GSC) is a powerful set of tools for healing, formation, and growth. It is a unique holistic and healing blend of Gestalt approaches, Aesthetic principles, 12 Step Wisdom, and Coaching techniques. GSC offers individuals and group settings a confidential, gentle, and safe spiritually-integrated process to let go, let down, and rest. This work allows participants to draw out strength, insights, and inner healing from their work. We are greatly enriched by the wide diversity of theology and worship styles of our participants.

All retreats, events, and training programs of Gestalt Soul Care are open and inclusive, with various trainings and workshops offered regularly. Questions? Reach out to Alexandra MacCracken or visit gestaltsoulcare.com.

Healing Prayer Team:

Holy Comforter offers healing prayers monthly on the first Sunday of each month with the Laying on of Hands and Anointing for Healing. The Healing Prayer Ministry includes a team of lay healers who have gone through intentional training and formation; all prayer requests are confidential.

Listening Hearts:

Lay ministers, trained in spiritual discernment, prepared to offer prayerful support to individual or groups wrestling with a problem or issue, who want to seek God’s guidance in a focused way. Individuals struggling with life priorities, ethical choices, job decisions, calls to ministry—lay or ordained—or other difficulty can rely on strict confidentiality.

Marriage Ministry:

The marriage ministry serves to support and encourage married people in their marriage walks in our Christian community. This ministry is aimed at married people of all ages and stages, including thriving marriages and those going through struggles.

Prayer Chain:

Consists of parishioners who receive confidential intercessory prayer requests to which they devote part of their prayer time each day.

Relationship Recovery Group:

Wellness support group for women who are going through separation or divorce or are struggling to recover from either in the past. Meets two Sundays per month to share and process the many complexities of this transition and discover tools for recovery. Meets the second and fourth Sunday after the final service in McGill Hall.

Stephen Ministry:

Congregation members trained to offer high-quality, one-to-one Christian care to people going through difficult times. All referrals and meetings are confidential.

Weddings:

Christian marriage is a solemn and public covenant in the presence of God. In the Episcopal Church it is required that one, at least, of the parties must be a baptized Christian; that the ceremony be attested by at least two witnesses; and that the marriage conform to the laws of the State and the canons of this Church.