EUCHARISTIC VISITORS

A New Caregiving Ministry at SOTV
by Lynne Silva-Breen

Generations of Christians have grown up going to church on a Sunday morning. Getting ourselves ready and out the door, we join a river of people who come to church buildings and prepare hospitality, set up for  worship services, care for children, sing, preach, pray, and share the sacraments. 

These worshipful traditions are so important to us; they renew us for our daily discipleship and form the core of our Christian devotion.  

What happens when we are prevented from  weekly in-person worship? We found out quite abruptly in 2020 when the COVID-19 virus spread across the globe, taking the lives of millions of people across the world, and making public health directives the stuff of everyday decisions. Almost overnight, parish  leaders found ways to use the internet to broadcast services to members. We gathered around our computers to find out how digital community works. 

Leaders learned how to use that technology, and another regular worship style was born. We “livestream” our 9:45 AM Sunday service  to anyone who cares to join us via our website. Past services are available to watch anytime. It’s a great way to stay connected to our pastors and community, even when we can’t be present.  

But we are people born to be physically connected to one another. We long to feel the energy of others, to share the sights and sounds of worship, and to embrace our friends—to be church together. 

In our congregation, we have many folks who can’t come to services easily. These are whom we have historically called homebound, who no longer drive or whose bodies limit the time they can comfortably be in busy public spaces like church. Churches have historically made visiting with individuals in their homes a priority, and our congregation has had Visitation Pastors whose main role has been to tend to this portion of our community.  

As our congregation ages, the numbers of  members limited to their home grows. To this end, our leadership, led by Pastor Lindsey Bina, imagined an expanded role for lay ministry: a visitation team who would share conversation, care, and Holy Communion with our homebound membership. This team would be a complement to the visitation ministry of our pastors and expand our outreach as it develops the spiritual gifts of our membership. 

 Eucharistic Visitation (EV) ministry has its roots in the early church as Christians met one another in their homes, sharing a more intimate worship style as the young church began to grow. Most recently, lay distribution of the blessed Eucharist to people’s homes has been a part of most Episcopal congregations in our country, as well as many ELCA churches.  

To develop this new ministry, Lynne Silva- Breen, an SOTV member and former ELCA pastor and Licensed Family Therapist, was hired to fill this role. Lynne has been working with all our pastors and care teams to learn how SOTV has managed member visitation, to create a process of systematically tracking information, and to recruit and train these new volunteer ministers. 

Our initial team of twenty has been meeting this fall, training in sharing a home communion liturgy, caring conversation skills, and Safe Church practices for visiting with older folks in their homes. You will begin to see them receive their blessed communion kits during our Holy Communion services beginning in November 2025.  

Our EV team was recognized and blessed at the 9:45 AM worship service on Reformation Sunday, October 26. We are excited to have them begin and ask for your prayers and support as they embark on this new worship ministry. 

If you have questions about this new ministry or are interested in what it means to get involved in our Eucharistic Visitors or other Care ministries, please reach out to Lynne Silva-Breen or Pastor Lindsey Bina.  

Please join us in giving thanks for their commitment and in prayerfully supporting them as they begin this vital new ministry.