There are many people in our congregation with the gifts of mercy. Of course, not all with this gift are called to be Lay Pastors - but, I believe there are enough St. Paul members with this and other pastoral gifts to eventually enable us to include every person in this ministry. Being a good listener. Being comfortable with visiting people. Lay people are gifted and called to care for others in many ways.
Christians look after one another.
We just don't call it pastoring, but it really is. Lay people are gifted by the Holy Spirit and called to pastor others. The size of our congregation and the time required just to respond to critical needs of individuals and address the many other tasks required of our clergy leave them little time to stay in close touch with all members. This is why we need Lay Pastors. The Lay Pastor Ministry provides us a way to better use and develop our pastoral gifts, and make our caring and looking after one another more focused and available.