This set of resource pages is offered as a way to equip local NCA church leaders with tools to address congregation care needs which your congregation might not otherwise feel equipped to handle.

Very few congregational care problems which arise are so complex that lay person cannot effectively begin to address them. While serving in both small and large churches, both very urban gentrified churches and urban diverse congregations, as well as a smaller church in a small town, I have become convinced that the vast majority of congregational needs which arise can actually be addressed by small groups and congregation members who are not in formal leadership roles, if these folks are walking with Christ, are gifted so as to address these needs, and are trained and equipped to handle the needs.

It is not assured that a larger church is more capable to address every care need than a smaller church. A larger church may be more diversely equipped and have greater number of people to ask to help. But a recent experience in a smaller church was instructive to me. When someone passed away, not only was I as a pastor notified, but another church leader was notified as well, per longstanding local arrangement with the funeral home. I would immediately get details rolling for family care and services , but the other church leader had usually already rounded up a team to serve the family both the day of the funeral as well as arrange for some basic expressions of care for the family in the weeks following the services. That left me to focus on spiritual and emotional care and followup, which itself can be effectively spread out among equipped church members as I am discovering in the congregation I presently serve. The point is, both small and large churches can be equipped for congregational care if we as churches so choose.

And so my remaining efforts in the church I now am part of are to identify and equip such folks in congregational care, leaving myself available to oversee and support the equipped volunteers, as well as focus on a few very complex care scenarios. This mindset and goal can be yours as a church leader in whatever congregation you lead.

You church may have more capability to address congregational care needs than they are aware of, and for that reason the first resource may be for leaders to understand the extend to which individual church members are actually following Christ, and then understand the type of giftedness each member is entrusted with by the Holy Spirit. As a pastor in various small churches I found I could as one person rather easily address needs as they arose within those smaller congregations (whether I addressed them effectively or not is a different discussion). But on a few occasions I have been part of larger congregations, in which the numbers of members in need at times exceeded the capacity of one minister to address each person effectively. So knowing and developing the gift-sets of your congregation members, and integrating them into your plan for congregational care, is an invaluable resource.

But there are some complexities in congregational care need which arise, none of which only the pastor or elder or deacon is able to address, but which the members and even the leaders of the congregation have not to this point been equipped to handle, and so the pastor is the go-to person to offer care in this case. But if that is the majority of a pastor or leader's work, other necessary leadership ministries may receive less attention than necessary.

The resources and links provided here are an attempt to highlight existing teams and individuals in your general area, who can both address a particular need better or at least more quickly than you can, as well as offer training to your congregation members who evidence giftedness in that area of care. Rather than think of these resources as the next phase of care when something gets too difficult for you to handle, perhaps consider them as "depth of bench" or a backstop to your congregation's care ministry. Some needs we farm out or call in the experts because we are not yet equipped as congregations to handle, but in general may our outlook be to gain more capability and networking in our area, so that we as congregations are that city set on a hill in the name of Christ.

Effort has been made to highlight resources who help in complex needs, or who can assist in ways which a financially-stressed congregation may not have capacity to handle. Several listings are not specifically "Christian," although in the counseling realm I specifically searched for "Christian Counselors." Eight general types of need are addressed here:

• Abuse and Trafficking

• Christian Counseling

• Suicide Intervention and Prevention

• Aging Issues & Dementia (usually, but not limited to, older adults)

• Financial Coaching

• Bereavement care

• Addictions

• Marriage Foundations and Enrichment

Each of these needs likely intersect with your congregation at one time or another, and each of these needs can be more difficult to address due to people keeping quiet about the need, or not quite knowing where to turn. And each of these needs can be areas in which some of your congregation can be equipped to minister, within your area.