Glenabbey church - community care


adult	/ community care:

First Contact
First Contact is based around the times when we first meet people. People come to Glenabbey for many reasons but most of them only stay if they can see and experience a sense of being made welcome, a warmth in the people they meet, a desire to be known, a sense of "God is in this place", a feeling that real life change can happen, a distinctive. This is why we put such an emphasis on the teaching and application of the Word of God in our Main Services, Spirit, Home Groups and Icons.

Welcome Team
The opportunity to create a good impression, to connect with people, begins with the Welcome Team. From car parking, greeting people as they arrive, ushering them to their seats and engaging in conversations, our desire is that the "First Contact" with Glenabbey is a good one.

Newcomers Meals
Twice a year we invite those who have started attending Glenabbey since the last newcomers meal to join with us for a complimentary meal. The purpose of the meal is to have the opportunity to introduce the newcomers to the Elders and their wives and key representatives from the different ministry areas within Glenabbey.

Hospitality
To enable us to provide hospitality to those who visit us from overseas we have put together a small team to provide accommodation and meals where appropriate and necessary.

Professional Christian Counselling
Glenabbey offers a free Professional Christian Counselling Service with fully qualified counsellors from Tuesday-Thursday each week. In the warm and friendly atmosphere of our specially designed counselling rooms qualified counsellors now regularly deal with those who have emotional, physical, spiritual, social and relational needs. The first session is used for an assessment of the situation and following this the counsellor will offer further sessions if it is necessary. Sessions normally run for 50 minutes. As a bridge to the community we have found that 85% of referrals do not attend Glenabbey with 1/3 having no church connection at all, giving us the opportunity to get alongside and care for those in need showing love in a way that will hopefully draw people closer to God.

Pastoral Visitation Team
The Pastoral Visitation team provides the primary context for delivery of pastoral care for Newcomers and to those who have been unable to connect to a Home Group or Icon. The purpose of this team is to be available to visit people at home or in hospital. This is primarily for encouragement and support. Visits consist of sharing Scripture and praying with the individual being visited.

Life Matters
In our desire to meet the needs of the community we run a number of courses specifically designed to address life issues. These currently include:

Pre-marriage counselling
Marriage Course
Parenting
Rebuilders

adult

/ community care: