“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
The good that we do to one another is pleasing to God. In the work that God gives us to do, it is easy to get bogged down and entangled in the messiness of a fallen world. We stumble, grow weary, and lose heart. But through the actions of a fellow brother or sister in Christ, we receive God’s grace and are given strength to again take up the work God has for us.
With this understanding, the Northern Illinois District has formed the Church Worker Care Team for the care and wellbeing of called professional church workers. The team consists of five church work professionals who can provide counsel and comradeship to a church worker facing a difficult situation or issue.
The five Care Team members are:
Dr. Debbie Arfsten, Director of DCE Program, Concordia University Chicago
Rev. Brian Davies, Pastor, Lord of Glory Lutheran Church, Gray’s Lake
Rev. Mike Gudgel, Pastor, St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Lemont
Dari Hartmann, DCE, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Mount Prospect
Rev. Caleb Schauer, Pastor, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Union
Coming from different backgrounds in life and ministry, these Team members can connect with a variety of church workers.
“We envisioned church professionals being able to come alongside [church workers] and provide, for a time, care, support, and listening,” says Rev. Kris Whitby, part of the NID Wellness Committee. The Wellness Committee was commissioned by President Buss, and from the needs they identified, the Church Worker Care Team was formed.
One of those needs was for an appropriate work/life balance. “The proneness to overwork is often an internal pressure that church workers put on themselves. ‘I’m serving God, and I’m supposed to self-sacrifice to do it,’” says Pastor Whitby. “It sounds good, but that’s where Satan can worm his way in.”
Getting the perspective of a fellow church worker can help one to realize where work and life are out of balance and take action to correct the mismatch.
Another need identified by the Wellness Committee was for companionship in the midst of difficulty.
“When church workers struggle with a problem, they frequently feel rather isolated. This can lead to ways of coping that are not healthy,” says Pastor Whitby. “Addictive behaviors become more easily developed. This can lead to a sense of depression and feeling defeated, a sapping of energy for other aspects of life.”
Against this tendency to self-isolate, the Care Team gives a place where church workers can turn when they are not sure where else to go.
Initially, all meetings with Care Team members will be held virtually, but eventually, the Care Team member and the care receiver will make arrangements according to their convenience.
The Care Team members are not trained to provide counseling services. Rather, they have been trained to approach the care relationship from a coaching perspective. They will provide spiritual support and fraternal encouragement to help the care receiver meet the challenges facing them, whatever they might be.
To contact Care Team members, called professional church workers can visit the webpage on the NID website, www.nidlcms.org/care-team. Contacts with Care Team members are kept confidential, in accordance with the covenant which both Team members and care receivers sign. Only general categories of concern will be shared with the District so that it can provide better care to church workers as a whole.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:23-25
For the facing of the trials of this life, God has granted us one another to be conduits of His grace. He promised the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to those who believe in Him. May we not forget it when we are in need.
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