Pastoral Care
Please see our prayer list at the end of this page.
LAY PASTORAL CARE AT ST. ANNE’S
People need care in a great variety of situations and for numerous reasons. At Saint Anne’s, we seek to care for one another in as many ways as there are needs. We live out our baptismal covenant to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving [our] neighbors as [our]selves” in several ways, including pastoral care offered by lay congregants. Pastoral care may be defined as support, warmth, help, and presence, and may take many forms. Following are the pastoral care groups at St. Anne’s:
Community of Hope International (COHI)
COHI lay ministers practice a ministry of presence, visiting parishioners and others in immediate need or whose circumstances may temporarily or permanently have impaired their ability to get out as they wish. COHI lay ministers, who undergo a 14-class training, also meet monthly for continuing education and mutual support in their spiritual growth. Click here for more information or to request a COHI visit: CohiResources@gmail.com
Another ministry of COHI is the Care Giver Resources Library at cohicare.wordpress.com
Eucharistic Visitors
Eucharistic Visitors are lay people who are trained and licensed by the diocese to share bread and wine from Sunday Eucharist with those who may be shut in or ill. Their ministry augments Clergy visits, making it possible for communion to be shared more often.
Flower Guild
Flower Guild members plan, procure, arrange, and place church altar flowers on Sundays and for special services, including weddings, funerals, receptions, and parties. Every Sunday, Flower Guild members break down the altar flowers and arrange them into smaller vases which they deliver to parishioners who are celebrating, recovering, shut in their homes or institutions, or being appreciated for their service.
Flower Delivery
You may simply want to deliver the flowers prepared for those who are celebrating, recovering, shut in, etc., and not arrange them. If you are interested in volunteering for this special ministry, please contact Katherine Kinser at kpkinser@bellsouth.net or 404-247-2677. Deliveries may be made on Sunday or Monday.
Guild of the Christ Child
The Guild welcomes the newly-baptized and their families into St. Anne’s community. Members greet those to be baptized and their families; provide a book about baptism and spiritual development to each family; take photos of the newly-baptized and their families to post on the parish bulletin board; and touch base with families to answer questions about parish resources and opportunities.
Help Committee
The Help Committee provides food to families and individuals dealing with extended illnesses or circumstances that make it difficult or impossible to prepare food. The committee welcomes volunteers who cook as well as those who will deliver food.
Invite Welcome Connect
Invite Welcome Connect provides information sessions, tours, and contacts to singles, couples, and families interested in learning more about, or joining, St. Anne’s. They host Newcomers Breakfasts two or three times a year for visitors and parishioners to meet each other.
Moveable Feast Committee
The Moveable Feast, a self-funding ministry, meets several times a year in the church kitchen to prepare, package, and freeze simple meals for parishioners who may need a meal or two. When the committee meets, they start at 5:00 and cook, eat, drink, and talk until the meals are packaged and placed in the freezer. Children are welcome and dinner is provided. Any church member may sign out and deliver meals.
Narcolepsy Atlanta’s Monthly Support Group
Narcolepsy Atlanta meets on the third Saturday of each month from 11:30 am– 1 pm at St. Anne’s in the conference room. People with narcolepsy, hypersomnia, sleep apnea and those who love them are invited. This group of 160 people is lead by Annzie Hine with the goal of creating a supportive environment for sufferers and supporters of all ages. For more information, email narcolepsyatlanta@gmail.com or find us at www.facebook.com/groups/NarcolepsyAtlanta
Parish Visitors Committee
The Parish Visitors committee’s mission is to add sunshine and company to parishioners who are not able to get to church regularly. With casual visits, cards at holidays, birthdays, and throughout the year, and phone calls, Parish Visitors stay in touch with these parishioners. Members meet five or six times a year to plan, compare notes, and address cards. .
Prayer Shawl Ministry
Since 2007 this group has met monthly to prayerfully knit and crochet shawls to help support those who have experienced a loss, welcomed a baby, or planned a move from St. Anne’s. For fellowship and knitting, the group meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at St. Anne’s Terrace in the 3rd floor sunroom and works from a couple of standard patterns. Inexperienced knitters are welcome. After they are completed, shawls are blessed during a Sunday morning service, stored in the office, and delivered by parishioners to those who need them. Recipients comment that the shawls remind them that they are wrapped in the warmth, love, caring fellowship, and prayers of the St Anne’s community.
The Souper Squad – the gift of nurturing soup
There is a wonderful variety of homemade soups available in containers in the big freezer in the St. Anne’s kitchen, courtesy of the St. Anne’s Souper Squad. Please help yourself to soup to take to church members, friends, neighbors who might need a comforting bowl of soup (or grab some for yourself!). There are gift bags and oyster crackers in a bin on the second-from-the-bottom shelf of the rack to the right of the little white refrigerator. We welcome all donations of homemade soup and will even provide containers (also in the bin). Many thanks to those who have already provided delicious soup. Any questions, call Barbara Fairchild (404.351.8698) or Carol Drummond (404.317.4348).
COHI at the Ministry Fair, 2019