Welcome! This is a resource package for deaneries and parishes who want to equip lay workers for the ministry of pastoral care and to build local pastoral care teams. It is designed to run over 12 weeks (10 sessions and 2 breaks) with some recommended activities to be completed each week. 

It contains a set of resources for each of the sessions and suggested session plans for the Course Leaders. Each session will take about 2 hours. It is designed for delivery in person, in a group. Ideally Pastoral Care teams who will work together should be trained together.

It is possible to register individual members of your group if they would like access to Moodle. Alternatively, the Course Leaders can register and download resources to distribute.

At the end of the programme, parishes may want to consider commissioning pastoral teams locally. This needs to be with the agreement of the incumbent (or Rural Dean in vacancy) and the PCC. Guidance on local commissioning is available from the Lichfield Diocese website.

It is recommended that two Course Leaders should deliver the training together; either Clergy, Readers or ALMs with significant experience of pastoral care and some prior training in this ministry.