Faith Community Care

Faith Community Care (FCC) brings together Christian health professionals and care workers to facilitate a health focus to pastoral care and promote whole person health care.

FCC is a contemporary iteration of ‘Diakonia’ understood as the gift of serving or ministering to others, especially the most vulnerable in need of support, in order to relieve spiritual, mental and physical distress (Acts 6:1-7). This care focuses on the whole person and their relationships, seeking to effect peace, healing, whole health, and ‘shalom’.  

Faith Community Care brings an intentional whole person (body, mind, spirit, relationships) health focus to traditional pastoral care, adding scope and outreach capacity to this existing ministry. A more expansive paper discussing the theological rationale for health and care ministry in today’s churches is available in our resources Australian Faith Community Nurses Association – Resources

Jesus’ ministry sought to “preach, teach and heal” (Luke 9:2). He came to bring justice, show compassion, restore us, and transform our lives now and for eternity. For that, followers of Jesus seek to worship him as “living sacrifices” [Romans 12 :1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”]. As those who follow Jesus Christ we seek to love God and our neighbour with our whole being, because God commands it [Luke 10: 21, NIV– “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”] 

Jesus’ ministry focused on freeing the oppressed, reconciling the broken, enriching the poor, releasing the captive, welcoming the isolated, sheltering the homeless, providing for the vulnerable with acts of love, justice and proclamation of good news (Luke 4:18; Matt. 25:31ff). Loving our neighbour is not a charitable choice, rather it is a commandment to go and do the same, and “love one another as Christ loved us” (John 13:34). 

Therefore ministries that enable compassionate care are essential activities for today’s Christian churches, organisations, faith-based schools and community services. When we serve the most vulnerable, we are in fact serving Jesus Christ. What a privilege! What an essential and important ministry!  “…For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matthew 25:35-40, ESV)

It is the mission of the whole church, and every person has a valuable part to play. However, some people already have knowledge about various aspects of that mission. They may work in health and care related service areas, and in so doing they have acquired specific knowledge and skills that can benefit a Faith Community Care ministry in your church. Other FCC workers may provide this care through their lived experience, or knowledge and skills acquired through study, as well as their God-given gifts and talents. When these are united with their Christian values, attitudes and spiritual gifts, profound transformative changes can occur that are life-giving. The context in which the FCC worker ministers is the faith community and the geographic, or cultural community which that group serves.

The Christian focus of Faith Community Care is the WHOLE HEALTH of the person, the community, and the creation. This biblical, holistic, and life-enhancing focus addresses many of the key health and wellbeing concerns of our community, that are unmet by Australia’s pressured and fragmented health and community care systems.

Faith Community Care focuses on vulnerable community members. E.g. People who are:

  • Experiencing acute illness
  • Frail and ageing
  • Living with chronic conditions
  • Living with disabilities
  • Experiencing mental and/or spiritual distress
  • Experiencing relationship breakdown
  • Experiencing loss, grief or suffering
  • At risk of abuse, violence, trauma, homelessness

The knowledge and skills of health professionals, especially Faith Community Nurses, accompanied by lay Faith Community Care workers can provide today’s church with real opportunities to effectively ‘LOVE one another’ (John 13:34-35) and ‘LOVE our neighbour’ (Mark 12:30-31).

AFCNA provides excellent Christ-centred education, information and resources to facilitate everyone to provide effective Faith Community Care.

Faith Community Care focuses on HEALTH:

  • Health promotion
  • Empowerment
  • Advocacy and referral
  • Listening and visiting
  • Transformative relationships
  • Hope and spiritual care

AFCNA can equip you to be an effective carer:

  • We develop and share resources to facilitate effective whole-person (holistic) care, to support your church’s ministry to ‘love your neighbour’, focusing on the most vulnerable in your community, as well as people within your church family. 
  • We educate registered nurses to undertake a unique role as a Faith Community Nurse within a faith community care ministry in your Christian church, community service, aged care, or school setting.

More information about Faith Community Care. Visit our resource page to download your copies 

AFCNA invites you to be part of God's work in the world!

Faith Community Care and Faith Community Nursing are biblical responses of compassionate, helpful and hopeful care of the whole person provided by Christian individuals and faith communities.

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