Support and Guidance Ministry

Everyone has wounds, both physical and emotional, at some time or other in his/her life. Emotional scars, take a much longer time to heal than physical ones. But the good news is that Jesus can meet your needs for inner, hidden wounds, for He says: “I am the LORD who heals you”. Exodus 15:26. He both heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds.

Support Groups

We have two main focus areas: DivorceCare and GriefShare. Divorce Care is headed by our ministry leader Andrew Worthington. Trevor David is the ministry leader for GriefShare.

Lay Shepherd Ministry

In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus’s words to Peter - and to us - “Feed my sheep”.(John 21.15)

From our goal as a church we see the tremendous responsibility God has given us to care for His sheep,

This is not something we believe the minister should be doing alone; rather we seek to equip ordinary lay members to do this!

What are the objectives of pastoring?

According to Ephesians 4.11-16 they are :-

1. Building up the body of Christ.
2. Attaining unity of the faith.
3. Assisting people to maturity.
4. Enabling people to measure up to the
“stature of the fullness of Christ”.
5. Speaking the truth in love.
6. Helping people “to grow up in Christ”.

BUT how are we to do this?

To accomplish these objectives, we need to reach all the members of the church on a one-on-one basis, by equipping and training of lay pastors to pastor these members in the church.

In Exodus 18 we are shown how lay people , who are properly equipped , can pastor small groups of families. The commonly held belief that only the minister can pastor , is false.

The elders to which Peter gave this charge, “Tend the flock of God that is in your charge” (1 Pet 5:2) were not people with counselling diplomas or theological degrees. The model given to Moses was this....

“You cannot do it alone” (vs. 18)

“Teach them ...and show them how...” (vs. 19)

“Select capable men and women...” (vs. 21)

“Appoint them over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens ”( vs. 21)

and the outcome?

“the load will be made lighter because they will share it with you...and they will all be satisfied.”
(Ex 18:23)

Every Lay Shepherd seeks to achieve the following goal based on the acrostic PACE.

P – PRAY for each one regularly

A – Be AVAILABLE

C – CONTACT each one on a regular basis

E – Provide a Christian EXAMPLE

We have started a Lay Shepherd Ministry at Willows that seeks to effectively take care of all the members of the church and thereby fulfill our Lord’s directive to feed His sheep.

We have periodic workshops where we train and equip lay people to fulfill the task of pastoral care.

Our prayer is that God will raise up from our body many more Lay Shepherds who will be available to take care of one another.

Are you willing to take up the towel of a servant and take care of God’s flock here at Willows?

Please contact the church office for more details.

Become involved

The serving opportunities in the Support and Guidance Ministry include being:

The Support and Guidance Team Leader, which involves:

• Co-ordinating and allocating team members to minister to people in need.
• Ensuring the teams' capacity and capability through recruitment, training and retention.
• Liaising with the church office for counselling and escalating special needs to the Pastor.
• Liaising with other relevant ministries.

Support and Guidance Team Member, which involves:

• Assisting with ministry.
• Interceding for the ministry.
• Being available for altar call ministry.
• Attending courses.

If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact the church office.