Foundation course
This course is designed for pastoral care teams, home group leaders and anyone else involved in delivering pastoral care in congregations. It covers the big picture of pastoral care and provides guidelines, including key areas such as confidentiality.
There is also a related course for elders, ‘Prepared to Lead’, which includes sessions on pastoral care. Because more is expected of elders in terms of spiritual leadership, this course, while still biblical in content, is pitched differently.
The course is structured as a two-hour session but could be delivered over two sessions if needed. It includes short talks, group discussions and scenarios and should be delivered by the Minister, pastoral care coordinator or another appropriate person. Trainer’s notes and a PowerPoint presentation are available, the PowerPoint can be printed as a handout (three slides per page).
The course is available free of charge to trainers within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
To request a copy in Word and PowerPoint format, contact Pamela Patton in the Council for Congregational Life and Witness:
Request a copy
Pastoral care training: mental health awareness
The course is not intended to make people experts in mental health. It will raise awareness of the issues and help people involved in pastoral care know what support they can provide alongside the expert help that is required. Further resources are found on the mental health resources page.
It is suggested that either the pastoral care material from the 'Prepared to Lead' course for elders or the pastoral care foundation course for pastoral care teams and small group leaders is run first before this course. For participants who are already trained and relatively experienced in providing pastoral care, this course could be run on its own.
The course is designed to be delivered in a two hour session. It is designed to be delivered by the minister, pastoral care coordinator or other appropriate person and is in the form of short talks, group discussions and scenarios. Trainer's notes and a PowerPoint are included (the PowerPoint acts as a handout when printed three slides per page).
The course is available free of charge to trainers within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in electronic format (Word document and PowerPoint) on request from Pamela Patton in the Council for Congregational Life and Witness.
Request a copy
Pastoral care training: bereavement
This course is designed for elders, pastoral care teams, small group leaders and anyone else involved in delivering pastoral care in congregations. The course primarily covers pastoral care for bereavement but also aims to increase understanding of pastoral care for anyone suffering from a loss which results in a grieving process such as a loss of health or moving into a nursing home.
It is suggested that either the pastoral care material from the 'Prepared to Lead' course for elders or the pastoral care foundation course for pastoral care teams and small group leaders is run first before this course. For participants who are already trained and relatively experienced in providing pastoral care, this course could be run on its own.
The course is designed to be delivered in a two hour session but could be run over two sessions if more time is required. It is designed to be delivered by the minister, pastoral care coordinator or other appropriate person and is in the form of short talks, group discussions and scenarios. Trainer's notes and a PowerPoint are included (the PowerPoint acts as a handout when printed three slides per page).
The course is available free of charge to trainers within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in electronic format (Word document and PowerPoint) on request from Pamela Patton in the Council for Congregaional Life and Witness.
Request a copy