What are your reasons for wanting to become involved in pastoral friending ?

 Is your prime reason to help others, or to fulfil your own needs?

Don’t be put off by the size of the Handbook! It should be a useful reference source for you for some of the basic aspects of pastoral friending.

Listening and thinking are essential features of this Program.  Pastoral care involves both of these elements. It is vital that we listen to those around us and especially to those for whom we are caring.    

Please also look at the videos recommended in some modules. These provide different perspectives on each of the matters being considered. And, you should think about what is presented and determine your own position on each of the issues discussed. (If you are unable to watch the videos, transcripts of the presentations are provided.)

Our spirituality – the transcendent or uplifted nature of our ‘inner-self’, is central to our well-being. Everyone has spirituality. Everyone has an ‘inner-self’ that can be lifted above the ordinary. It is acknowledged that spirituality can attain even greater importance in individuals as they approach older age and the end of life where peace of mind is sought. As one spiritual carer put it, “Our spirituality is what makes us tick!” We should recognise, however, that while we would like everyone to have a Christian spirituality, this is not always the case of people with whom we may be friends and want to help.

The Handbook is designed to provide information about spirituality in a person’s well-being and how pastoral friends can be trained to encourage spiritual development to help people achieve a greater peace of mind. Please refer to the Handbook to extend your understanding of some of the issues, although, there will be no questions that require your reading of it.

The Handbook provides:

  A context for a contemporary approach to pastoral conversations;

  A reference source for all pastoral carers and friends;