EUCHARISTIC VISITORS RECEIVE SPECIAL GIFT

By Lynn Silva-Breen, visitation ministry coordinator

Late last October, our congregation blessed a new lay visitation team: our Eucharistic Visitors. These 22 volunteers were trained to lead Lutheran worship with Holy Communion and offer caring relationships to our growing number of homebound members. While the list of individuals served changes regularly, the Eucharistic Visitation Team currently visits 44 people who cannot easily attend worship or events at SOTV and who otherwise might be visited less frequently.  

Parts of our congregation are aging which is a natural and expected part of doing life together. It is reflected in the high number of emergency, hospitalization, and end-of- life calls our pastors receive. With the addition of our Eucharistic Visitor ministry, our pastors have greater flexibility to respond to these urgent needs. At the same time, training volunteers to assist with visitation allows homebound members to receive meaningful care and stay deeply connected to SOTV.  

We anticipate this need will keep growing, and our EV team will expand to meet it. We are so glad to have these members working alongside our pastors to share SOTV’s compassion beyond our walls!  

Each team member carries a home communion kit with wafers and wine blessed during worship. (You may have noticed the point in our Communion liturgy where we pray for their ministry.)  

Several months ago, dedicated quilter and church member Lois Pedersen and I were talking about how fabric arts have beautified worship spaces across the centuries. Her quilt squares reminded me of corporals — the small altar cloths placed beneath the chalice and paten during Communion. I wondered: wouldn’t that be a beautiful way to link the ministries of quilting and visitation?  

Lois embraced the idea and crafted a simple corporal cloth for each of our Eucharistic Visitors to use when sharing Holy Communion with homebound members. Made of a thin, hand-washable cotton blend, each cloth features hand-frayed edges and an embroidered silver cross. As our visitors set up the communion elements, these gifts create a visual connection back to our congregational altar, which is adorned with seasonal paraments and a full white altar cloth.  

These handmade corporals are a lovely gift and a meaningful addition to our visitation ministry.  

Thank you, Lois! Your generosity deeply blesses this ministry! And thanks be to God for our EV team and the members we serve.  

We are the church, wherever we are.