‘Intense pastoring’
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sometimes the cell phone rings at 2 a.m., and a Minister on Call answers in a middle-of-the-night fog. There’s been an accident. He jots down a few notes and gets dressed to go meet the family at the hospital.
In the automated age where many phones are answered by cyber robots with monotone voices, people in need can call Southeast Christian Church to connect with a live, trained person who is willing to help.
“We don’t want anyone to be alone in the midst of tragedy,” said Dave Kennedy, the Pastoral Care Ministry Leader who oversees the Minister on Call (MOC) program.
The ministry began about six years ago to meet the needs of people in crisis who need to reach a pastor. Those who volunteer are Southeast staff members, elders and leaders who are qualified and want to be on the front lines of ministry. It also makes the big church smaller in the eyes of people who need to talk with a pastor.
Kennedy calls the job of MOC “intense pastoring.”
People on the verge of suicide or divorce call in. Some face bankruptcy, eviction, job loss, a serious illness or the loss of someone close.
“This is intense,” said Kennedy. “But it’s no more than what Jesus did all the time. Most of the things He dealt with were crisis situations—helping the hungry, the sick and those who were troubled. We’re doing what He did on a daily basis. Sometimes we think it’s going above and beyond, but it’s really not.”
Southeast’s ministers, including Senior Minister Dave Stone and Teaching Minister Kyle Idleman take a week, along with about 60 volunteers who carry the MOC cell phone 24/7.
Collectively, they answer about 1,000 calls a year.
The worst ones involve children.
“It’s very difficult to respond in any way that will help these families,” Kennedy said. “But we can sit with the family and pray with them.”
Former staff member Mike Graham is the Minister on Call every Thursday morning. He talks with those coming for help, prays with them and tries to determine the best avenue of aid.
He recently met with a man who needed help with his rent. Graham connected him to ministries that could help and gave him several leads to painting jobs. He also met with a woman who asked for clothes and school supplies for her young son. Graham found jeans, shirts and a backpack at LifeBridge, Southeast’s temporary
support ministry for those in need.
In the last year, he’s talked with a man recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, couples having marriage issues and many with financial problems. In his experience, about 75 percent of those who come during the day request help with food and gasoline. Another 10 percent need help with spiritual issues.
“There are a lot of hurting people out there,” Graham said. “Most have waited too long to get help. I’m glad we can be there for them.”
Bill Beauchamp, former elder, has been MOC on Tuesday afternoons for the last five years.
“This is a pastoral opportunity,” he said. “I still pray for people I met years ago. I met one lady about five years ago who had everything going against her—especially her health, but the depth of her trust in God shamed me. I met a man who had lost his job and family and kept saying over and over, ‘What’s a man to do?’ I still pray for
him.”
Beauchamp said he’s forgotten the names, but he cannot forget the faces.