Ashlar Of Newtown Seeking Volunteers For Geriatric Lay Ministry Program

Aging, with its many challenges, is often a time when spiritual resources and emotional support are vital to the elderly and their families. Unfortunately, there are not enough people trained to provide the pastoral care and spiritual resources vital to an elderly person’s well-being. 

Masonicare and its affiliate, Ashlar of Newtown, are meeting that need by offering the “Lay Training in Geriatric Ministry” program. Open to people of all faiths, the program has been teaching basic ministry skills to volunteers from the community for more than 14 years.

The award-winning program was conceived and designed by the Reverend Anne Baltzell, Masonicare’s director of spiritual services. Reverend Kurt Shaffert provides the lay training at Ashlar of Newtown. Chaplain Shaffert, who joined Masonicare in 2006, has a background as a parish pastor in Vermont and as a lecturer in pastoral care at Yale Divinity School.

Participants in the eight-week training program, which is will begin soon, will attend 2½-hour sessions at Ashlar of Newtown, 139 Toddy Hill Road. Topics covered will include “Introduction and Orientation to our Facility,” “The Pastoral Care Visit,” “Dealing with Issues of Loss,” and “Ethical Issues in a Nursing Home Setting.” Continuing education and support sessions will be offered monthly following training.

After completing the course, participants are expected to make a one-year commitment to provide approximately four hours per week of pastoral ministry at Ashlar of Newtown. In addition to making a difference in the lives of residents, volunteers will learn skills that will enable them to minister effectively to older members of their own families, church, and the community as well.

Anyone interested in learning more about or participating in the “Lay Training in Geriatric Ministry” program at Ashlar of Newtown is invited to call Chaplain Kurt Shaffert at 203-679-6259 or sending e-mail to Kshaffert@Masonicare.org.