I’ve been at Grace now seven months and I’m settling in somewhat. I’ve learned a great deal about the parish, the job, and about myself in the process. One of the things I’ve learned is that my day is quickly filled with routine administrative tasks–everything from dealing with tension between volunteers and staff, thinking about issues in the homeless shelter or security, or of course financial matters. And then there’s the dishwasher.

What that has meant is pastoral care has played a minor role in my work so far. A large reason for that minor role is the fact that Grace has a cadre of Eucharistic Visitors who regularly take communion to our homebound and hospitalized members. In addition, we have a very gifted and energetic deacon who has taken responsibility for much of our pastoral care needs.

I finally made space today for making some pastoral visits of my own. It’s about time, after seven months. I spent the morning with a parishioner in his home, admiring his art collection, getting to know him better, and sharing our interests in the relationship of body and mind, and our concern for the homeless.

This afternoon Deacon Carol and I made the rounds of Oakwood. We spent a lovely afternoon with parishioners who are rarely able to make it to services. I got to know them a little bit, we shared something of our lives, our interests, our hopes and fears. And at the end of it, I was totally exhausted, as drained as I would have been had I spent the afternoon going over our financial statements (which I had done on Tuesday). But I was also exhilarated by the opportunity to get to know people, make connections, and think about ways of spending time with them on a regular basis (as I was coming home, it struck me that a monthly service at the facility where we spent the afternoon today, would be a great way of connecting regularly with our parishioners there.

And, OK, since it’s Lent, I’ll make a confession. I’ve got two close relatives, a brother and sister of my dad, who are in difficult medical situations. Feeling helpless to respond to their situation, it’s probably made it more likely that I would reach out to people I can visit.