The Starfish Ministry at North Falmouth Congregational Church    

Have you ever wished that you could “make a difference” in this world? The following parable adapted from an essay by the late anthropologist, poet, and writer Loren Eiseley illustrates how every kindness counts:

“After a terrible storm, thousands of starfish   were washed up on a beach, and were slowly dying as the sun baked their bodies.  A young man walked along the beach, picking up the desperate creatures and tossing them back into the ocean, one by one. An older man saw his efforts and asked “why do you bother? You can’t save them all, or even a fracture of them. You can’t possibly think you are making a difference.” The young man picked up another starfish and tossed it into the ocean. He turned to the older man and said, “I made a difference to that one.”

The Starfish Ministry is a team of folks who want to participate in the ministry of caring.  Typically, card writing, flower delivery at holidays, and visits are part of the work of this group. People visit those who are home bound, those in nursing homes or rehab centers. This is not meant to replace the pastor’s visits, rather to add to them. In order to be better prepared for this ministry of caring, Pastor Nancy will offer two training sessions on May 2 and 9 from 4-5 p.m. Come if you are already serving in this way at church, come if you want to become involved, come if you are curious about how to be a lay caregiver. The sessions will include scriptural basis for care giving, listening skills, the difference between a social visit and a pastoral one, and how to enter the space of a visit effectively. Sign up on the sheet in the Covenant Room.