Care Companion Program

What is the Care Companion Program at Dayspring?

The Pastoral Care Companion Program (PCCP) is a pastoral visitation program that matches trained lay visitors with individuals in the community who are living in extended care facilities or in their own homes, and who, for one reason or another, may be at risk for loneliness and isolation.

Dayspring church is a community of faith and care, the foundation and guiding principle for the PCCP program is based on one of the statements of our denominations faith.

“Love means seeking the best for others and is the mark of a Christian. Love for God leads to love for others. Love of God and of our neighbour fulfils the law of God”
Living Faith 8.3.2.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O, my God I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night but find no rest”
Psalm 22

Loneliness is the cheater of human life and spirit. Chronic loneliness brings feelings of abandonment, and of being unloved, it consumes our wellbeing and our spirit. Chronic loneliness eats away at the rich and poor alike, it strikes the young and the old, it has no social or economic barriers, each one of us is at some time in our lives at risk of suffering from chronic loneliness, the enemy of humankind and the threat to our being. Chronic loneliness may occur when living in a crowded nursing home, or living alone at home, it may occur following the death of a spouse or loved one, it may appear when dealing with a chronic debilitating illness, or it may surface when faced with a life transition such as job loss, relationship breakdown, or financial hardship.

The PCCP provides our Partners with the life giving gift of meaningful, social contact with a caring, interested and dedicated individual. Experiences are shared, life accomplishments honored, good times remembered, fears articulated, special days recalled, losses observed, and comfort offered. The simple things in life that mean so much, contribute so much to our well being and to who we are as human beings.

Caring for self, while caring for others.

“You shall love your neighbour as you love yourself”
Mat 22: 39

Jesus’ commandment calls for equality of care and respect for the needs of both the caregiver and the care receiver. Cognizant that care-giving can become a burden, we provide our Companions with tools and support to help balance the needs of their Partner with their own needs. Our PCCP workshop equips our Companions with a Biblical understanding of why we provide pastoral care as well as the need to care for self. Resources and written materials are given to help Companions deal with situations that may arise while visiting. Assurance is given that when individuals become Companions they join a much larger team of pastoral care providers in a very intentional pastoral ministry. Those individuals include: the minister; parish nurse; elders and other Companions. No one is alone in this ministry.

“The healing ministry is a shared ministry. The healer is God, who makes us whole and can use each one of us, broken as we are, to express God’s healing and love”
(“The Pattern of our Days” – Iona Community)

If you are interested in attending our upcoming Pastoral Care Companion Workshop, would like more information on this program, or know of an individual who would benefit from becoming a Partner, please speak to the PCCP Coordinator, Margaret McKague.

For more information on our Care Companion Program, please email the PCCP Coordinator, our Pastoral Team, phone the church, or come in and chat.