support for life's challenges
Together, we pray for comfort and healing when a member of our community is facing illness or life's stresses and traumas.
help during physical illness
When you are sick, our community wants to be of both practical and spiritual help to you. Please don't wait for the church to contact you - call a member of our clergy staff immediately and let us mobilize our resources. There are many ways we can offer support.
If you are facing the challenges of a chronic illness, a trained, confidential lay minister can be helpful in addition to clergy visits. This person will journey with you as a spiritual friend, listening, praying, and sharing with you.
Members of the congregation called Lay Eucharistic Visitors are also available to bring you communion, anoint you for healing, and bring you copies of sermons and service leaflets. We will also arrange for rides to the doctor, meals, and other practical assistance when needed from our Helping Hands Ministry Team.
help during emotional suffering
Anxiety, depression, and other forms of emotional suffering are often intractable when faced alone. We want to give you support and pray with you during this painful time. One-on-one prayer as well as visits with clergy staff and the friendship of a trained, confidential lay minister all can help protect you from isolation and offer friendship and support. If a referral to a professional therapist is needed, we can help you find someone competent and affordable in a timely way. You can reach our clergy staff during the day by calling our church office at 626/282-5147.
reconciliation with God
If you are feeling cut off from God or burdened by your conscience in a way that separates you from God and others, the sacrament of reconciliation (often called “confession”) can help ease your suffering. A member of our clergy staff will listen and pray with you, supporting you as you find the path toward reconciliation with God.
Sometimes we simply need help in figuring out what is right when facing a complex moral dilemma. Together you and a member of our clergy staff can lay the problem before God and seek a deep level of truth and peace for you in the face of this ethical challenge.
companionship in grief
If you have lost someone dear to you, clergy and lay ministers can offer sharing and support.
food for your marriage
Many of us need help from time to time in navigating this most special sacramental relationship. We know that a sound marriage is vital to the spiritual health of partners and their children. If you would like to lovingly tend your marriage, a member of our clergy staff can offer you options that will work for your family.
insight into parenting
Parenting asks that we be our best selves through one challenge after another. Talking things through with other parents can make all the difference, helping us to be intentional rather than reactive parents. COS offers two groups for busy parents. Each Sunday morning at 9 o'clock, parents of children of all ages meet to read and discuss significant parenting books. PINT SIZE is a group for young mothers of infants and toddlers that meets each Wednesday morning from 9:30-11:30 am under the leadership of LCT Joan Biersch and Preschool Director Diane Goodrich. Speakers on topics such as sleep, nutrition, discipline, and neurological development visit the group.
confidentiality
Your involvement with our Healing care team will be kept strictly confidential by both church staff and parishioner members.