As a school ministry, we are people who care. It’s intrinsic to everything we are. We care about people, their struggles, their hurts, their concerns. We want to be there for those who are finding things difficult, and we want such people to know that here at our school, they may find some peace, some rest, some comfort, and again, above all, people who care.
That is not to say that we can always do anything to substantively help. After all, we engage with many people who are hurting through issues of their own creation, and we cannot force them to change self-destructive patterns of behavior. We relate with people who struggle with medical issues that are entirely beyond their control. We interact with families to whom things just happen, out of the blue, when there is really not a thing that could have been done differently to avoid the issues. We find ourselves wanting to help, but sometimes the best we can do is simply make sure people know we care about them.
So what does that look like? How do we demonstrate that caring is fundamental to our school ministry?
1. We pray. We pray continuously. We let people know we are praying for them. When appropriate and helpful, we actively pray with the hurting individuals. And when we can, we rally the prayer warriors to circle around others and also pray.
2. We listen. Parents and students will come to us with their struggles, their burdens, and their needs, and taking the time to listen to them when they need or want to share is a huge part of caring. People need to see that they are important enough to us that we want to give our time to hearing and sharing their challenges.
3. We invite. Dealing with difficulties can be very isolating. We can show we care by inviting and engaging those who are hurting to become involved in our events and activities, both on a corporate level (school and church functions) and a personal level (invite over for dinner, to go to a movie, to go shopping).
4. Finally, we offer. Sometimes, there are ways we know we might be able to genuinely provide assistance. There is a line we must be attentive to, a line between assisting and enabling, but when we can see there is genuine difficulty with which meaningful assistance could make an impact, offering to be there in such a way is a very tangible way to care.
Lutheran Schools at their best are foundational institutions of caring. All I’ve detailed above happens at each Lutheran school I know of, both through the school as a whole as well as by individuals of the school ministry. In fact, there is far more caring action taking place than most people are ever personally aware. What a marvelous place to serve, being God’s tool in an active ministry of caring.
That is not to say that we can always do anything to substantively help. After all, we engage with many people who are hurting through issues of their own creation, and we cannot force them to change self-destructive patterns of behavior. We relate with people who struggle with medical issues that are entirely beyond their control. We interact with families to whom things just happen, out of the blue, when there is really not a thing that could have been done differently to avoid the issues. We find ourselves wanting to help, but sometimes the best we can do is simply make sure people know we care about them.
So what does that look like? How do we demonstrate that caring is fundamental to our school ministry?
1. We pray. We pray continuously. We let people know we are praying for them. When appropriate and helpful, we actively pray with the hurting individuals. And when we can, we rally the prayer warriors to circle around others and also pray.
2. We listen. Parents and students will come to us with their struggles, their burdens, and their needs, and taking the time to listen to them when they need or want to share is a huge part of caring. People need to see that they are important enough to us that we want to give our time to hearing and sharing their challenges.
3. We invite. Dealing with difficulties can be very isolating. We can show we care by inviting and engaging those who are hurting to become involved in our events and activities, both on a corporate level (school and church functions) and a personal level (invite over for dinner, to go to a movie, to go shopping).
4. Finally, we offer. Sometimes, there are ways we know we might be able to genuinely provide assistance. There is a line we must be attentive to, a line between assisting and enabling, but when we can see there is genuine difficulty with which meaningful assistance could make an impact, offering to be there in such a way is a very tangible way to care.
Lutheran Schools at their best are foundational institutions of caring. All I’ve detailed above happens at each Lutheran school I know of, both through the school as a whole as well as by individuals of the school ministry. In fact, there is far more caring action taking place than most people are ever personally aware. What a marvelous place to serve, being God’s tool in an active ministry of caring.