Bringing the Parish Home
Program Background
Our Parish has a significant number of members who are living alone and in their senior years who are not able to come to church and worship together.
Due to the long years of merger and the recent covid epidemic we lost touch with many who built our faith community and the church. As a caring community it is one of our primary duties to reach out to them and reconnect them to our parish life.
Today we are blessed to have a great team under the leadership of Sr. Lincy Augustine, our Pastoral Ministry Coordinator — and our program is growing in large numbers. We were also able to recruit a group of dedicated volunteers — known as Ministers of Care — who bring the parish home to those who can no longer physically come to be with us at Mass. Our parish goal is to expand this ministry to reach every senior of our parish and recruit many more volunteers who are willing to bring our love and care to everyone through their ministry of presence, listening and bringing Jesus through the Eucharist. If we can be of any assistance as you create or enhance a senior ministry program in your parish, please reach out. We would be happy to be a partner in this important work.
— Fr. Matthew Perumpil
As we journey together in faith, we recognize the challenges that many of our older adults face — especially those living alone, managing health concerns, or grieving the loss of a loved one.
Many are unable to attend or participate in-person the church activities. Social isolation can have profound effects on wellbeing, but as a parish community, we are called to bring comfort, companionship, and spiritual support to those in need.
If you’d like to learn more about our Senior Ministry Program or establishing a similar program in your parish, contact me.
Strengthening Connections with Senior Parishioners
Older adults often become socially disconnected and as such are at a higher risk of becoming lonely or isolated and experiencing negative health effects. The goal of the Senior Ministry Program is to strengthen the connection among the senior members of our parish community and offer holistic spiritual and wellness support.
Reasons Parishioners Become Disconnected Include:
- Medical Conditions/Health Concerns
- Mobility Issues
- Access to Transportation
- The “COVID effect (Never returning to in-person parish life after the pandemic)
- Not updating contact information
Parishes Can Make a Difference
Parishes are uniquely positioned to be a bridge between socially isolated individuals and health enhancing engagement opportunities and resources because parishioners already have a trusted relationship with the parish. Reconnecting with parishioners who have become disconnected is a multi-step process.
The approach will vary from parish to parish, depending on existing programs & practices. In this document, Mother of Perpetual Help Pastoral Ministry Coordinator Sr. Lincy Augustine shares what worked here.
Identify Disconnected Members & Initiate Contact
Establish a Point Person
The first step in the process is designating one or two people — a pastoral associate, deacon, or dedicated volunteer — who can shepherd the new program by developing and implementing the plan to identify disconnected members.
NOTE: If this person is a volunteer, a staff partner with access to the parish register will be needed.
At Mother of Perpetual Help, disconnected parishioners were found by aggregating existing information from disparate ministries/outreach efforts, and contacting parishioners directly using the filtering capabilities of the parish registry. Listed below are ideas for “finding” those who may be disconnected and/or benefit from a deeper parish connection facilitated by a senior ministry program.
Anyone who requests Holy Communion be brought to the home, either by a Eucharistic Minister, friend, relative or other person, is likely no longer attending Mass.
Those who request that the bulletin be mailed to their home each week likely are unable to attend Mass regulary.
Did someone just stop showing up to Women’s Group meetings, or another group or parish activity? Ask ministry members and parish groups about members who are “missing.”
Demographic filtering capabilities can be used to identify people in a specific age range (75 or older is a good place to start). You can also filter by marital status to identify widows. Also search for those living in senior centers. After generating these lists, share them with ministry groups to see if names are recognized.
After identifying parishioners who are disconnected, reach out to them via telephone, keeping the conversation casual. Schedule a home visit. If the phone number does not work, a house call by a staff member or trained volunteer may be necessary.
Form an Outreach Team (Ministers of Care)
Recruit & Train Volunteers to Visit Homebound Parishioners
The goal of a comprehensive senior ministry program is to create and maintain a parish connection with all seniors, regardless of where they live or their ability to participate. Ministers of Care are the senior ministry volunteers who strengthen the parish connection among those seniors who are unable to attend Mass or participate in parish activities by bringing the parish to them.
Ideal candidates to serve in this way are:
- Eucharistic Ministers: Some parishioners already bring Holy Communion to loved ones. Recognizing and encouraging them to expand their outreach can help grow the ministry.
- Active Church Participants: As the link between homebound parishioners and the parish, active members are better informed about parish activities and can share updates.
- Prayerful People & Good Listeners: Prayerful individuals bring spiritual depth to the ministry, while good listeners can empathize with the homebound, who often seek companionship.
- Adaptable Individuals: A willingness to be flexible is crucial as visit schedules may change to respect the wishes of those unable to receive guests due to health reasons.
- Widows: While some widows may benefit from being visited, others may find new purpose serving as a volunteer in this ministry.
Duties of a Minister of Care include:
- Sharing updates about parish happenings, such as special events and upcoming programs.
- Highlighting opportunities that seniors might participate in, either fully or partially.
- Providing a kind, encouraging word to uplift the spirit and inspire greater involvement.
- Bringing Holy Communion (if the Minister of Care is also a Eucharistic Minister.)
Establish a relationship with family members of those they visit and serve as an additional resource — especially if family isn’t nearby.
Training Ministers of Care
Training helps new volunteers to understand the ministry’s importance. Veteran volunteers provide a model for newcomers, who shadow them on home visits until they are comfortable to go out alone. Those who bring Holy Communion are also given a prayer booklet, a pyx, and candles.
MPH also hosted a facilitator-led volunteer training session that included scripture, videos, thoughtful discussion and role-playing. Attendees learned a number of skills, including active listening and praying. Volunteers who attended this session now serve to train other volunteers.
Trust is built slowly between ministers of care and those they visit. Initial visits may just consist of praying or bringing Holy Communion. As rapport is established, volunteers learn more about those they visit and ways the parish might better serve them not just spiritually, but with a focus on whole person wellness.
Gather Information about Parishioner’s Unmet Needs
We conducted social isolation and loneliness surveys every 90 days to monitor changes in subjective feelings, as experienced by those who were visited.
We used three assessments based on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, with possible answers assigned a point value.
While assessments aren’t required for senior ministry programs, they are helpful way of gathering information about the needs of parishioners and giving the parish an opportunity to respond with appropriate resources.
The UCLA Lonlieness Scale is free to use for non-profits and research. This link from the NIH (link here) has the questionnaire and instructions on how to accurately score it.
Offer In-Home and In-Person Activities
Collaborative Events and Activities
In addition to providing visits to the homebound, the senior ministry program organizes events for seniors in the parish and the community is a way to create opportunities for engagement and socializing.
In-person events, which can occur at the parish, or perhaps in a senior living center where multiple parishioners reside, serve to create a connection among mobile seniors, as well as to help the parish identify those who might need support in the future. These events also offer an opportunity to assess the general well-being of those in attendance who are not necessarily homebound, but may have other unmet needs.
The assessment that was used on home visits at MPH was also made available to those who attended events, taken voluntarily. Those who scored highly were added to our list for possible visits.
For the homebound who cannot easily attend in-person events, the team set out to develop special ways to “bring the parish home” to them through cookie & lunch deliveries, caroling, and other activities.
