PASTORAL VISITING LAY EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS (PVLEMS)
Pastoral Visiting Lay Eucharistic Ministry (PVLEM) This ministry provides the opportunity for licensed laity to take the Holy Communion to members of the congregation who are not able to be present at church on Sunday. This includes those who are permanently or temporarily home bound as well those who are hospitalized. It extends the community from those attending church to include those at home. The PVLEM scheduled for the first week of the month joins John Nicholson and assists with the service at the Grand Oaks nursing home. This is a most fulfilling ministry both for the PVLEMs and for those receiving the Eucharist. To serve, one must attend training provided by the Diocese and become licensed.
HELEN SCHMITZ
GRAND OAKS
The Eucharist is central to the Episcopal form of worship, as we all experience each Sunday, so it’s especially joyful to be able to serve communion to a group of elderly residents at Grand Oaks, the senior center situated adjacent to Sibley Hospital . And each month, on the first Sunday of the month, other parishioners have shared that joy with me, helping serve the pre-blessed or transfigured wine and wafers for a group of ten or more Episcopalians, many confined to wheelchairs, some unable to speak, and all expressing with their eyes or smiles their gratitude for having participated in the Lord's Supper , especially the sensation of physical touching that wonderfully comes out of the Passing of the Peace.
The Grand Oaks group has insisted on having their service in the small chapel (rather than the larger congregational room) so it remains a service with a strong sense of community not unlike the earliest Christian gatherings. While they're reluctant to read any lessons, once when the passing of the peace was inadvertently omitted, they had little compunction in so noting and insisting that it be exchanged at the end of the service. They listen politely to whatever brief homily is provided. But most sincerely, and with great gratification, they make a special effort to always conclude with a heartfelt personal handshake and a repeated assertion that "this means a lot to all of us, thank you!"
Any parishioner is welcome to come assist, to share in the joy of fulfilling God's ritual, and to meet some delightful Christians, if only too briefly.
JOHN NICHOLSON
