Testimonials

Rev. Mark Aune, Senior Pastor for Augustana Lutheran Church, West Saint Paul, MN

Jesus says the two greatest commandments are to love God with heart, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Care ministry volunteers are people that want to live out their faith in a way that makes a difference in people’s lives, that matters in people’s lives, and that fulfills the command of Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself. Care Ministry Network allows members of our congregation to provide pastoral care and care for God’s people with proper training and resources. The volunteers it has empowered have helped people stay in their homes and through times of transition. It’s opened up a whole new area of ministry to a larger group of volunteers.

Julie Omland, Care Ministry Leader, Incarnation Lutheran, Shoreview, MN

Care Ministry Network has been a great fit for our congregation. We can use any or all of the educational modules. We don’t have to use any one particular training curriculum. We can design our own program from among the training modules. Plus, they’re easy and convenient to use. Almost everyone has either a home computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. And by training teams of congregational volunteers, no one individual has to do it alone.

Julia Nordling, Parish Nurse, Centennial United Methodist Church, Roseville, MN

Care Ministry Network’s online training system is an answer to our prayers. As a parish nurse, I have a limited number of work hours, so I rely on volunteers to help care for parishioners. Volunteers make meals, drive, do light housekeeping, run errands, and visit. They work hand-in-hand with our pastor and me. I don’t have the time to create a complete training system for our volunteers. But because volunteers often visit in people’s homes, it’s important that teams of volunteers be properly trained. With Care Ministry Network, congregations can choose which training tools fit best for them. Volunteers can complete training modules on their own time, wherever they are. And because it’s available 24/7, I can get volunteers started right away.

Evangelical Lutheran Parish Nurse Association, Region 3 (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota)

This high-quality online training system is a godsend. Being able to offer potential volunteers easily accessible, “do-it-on-your-own-time” training modules increases how fast we could get volunteers ready to serve. Because we are sometimes asking volunteers to visit in peoples’ homes, it is essential that they receive instruction regarding boundaries and confidentiality. In creating a team of volunteers in our congregations, it is important that they have a “common language”, that they all have been exposed to the same information. And because many of our members work in rural isolation, the online platform makes it available to them without difficult and costly travel.