Care Ministry Guide

Staff pilot November–December 2026. Full launch January 2027.

Part 1: The Care Ministry

Care Ministry exists to help every person at Stewart Road feel seen, known, and loved, and to draw them closer to the Lord. Its foundation is 1 John 1:1–4: fellowship with one another that leads to fellowship with the Father and the Son.

Care Ministry is not built around problems. It will meet people in hard seasons, but the goal is that most of its time goes to people who are hungry to grow, so that a healthy, joyful culture shapes the church.

Core values

• Joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and it is the value that draws people in. Care Ministry carries joy into every conversation.
• Hope. Nothing a person brings is bigger than God. Whoever carries the most hope in a conversation has the most influence.
• Connection to the Lord. The aim is not to draw people to ourselves but to Him. He is their source, healer, and redeemer.
• Presence, not solutions. A connection is listening and praying, not fixing.

Who serves: elders, pastoral staff, altar workers, and the intercessory prayer teams. Everyone on the team is a vetted leader with access to Care Ministry notes.

Language: a contact with someone is called a connection.

The three tiers

Everyone starts in Tier 3. A tier signals how much connection a person needs right now, whether the reason is growth or struggle.

Move someone up to Tier 2 when they show

• More hunger: they want to serve, sign up for a class, or start attending services they didn’t attend before.
• Disconnection: about 4 weeks in a row away from a ministry, or 7–8 weeks of declining to serve.
• A life change: a new job, a child going through something, or another shift that may need a check-in.

Move someone up to Tier 1 when they

• Come to the altar for prayer. The altar worker who prayed with them is assigned.
• Call the office with a need: illness, a hospital stay, a death, or a request to meet with a pastor.
• Meet with a pastor, staff member, the prayer team, or the healing prayer team. The person they met with is assigned.
• Take a big step: starting Next Steps, asking to serve, or consistently showing up to classes.

Moving down

Care Ministry points people to the Lord rather than carrying their burdens for them.

• After a month in Tier 1, someone who is not engaging (not coming to classes, prayer ministry, or the altar) moves to Tier 2.
• After another month like that, they move to Tier 3.

What a connection looks like

A connection is a wellness check: a short, Spirit-led moment of listening and prayer. It can be a phone call, a home visit, a conversation at church, or a simple text. A call or an in-person visit is the goal; a text still counts.

Questions that open a conversation

• How are things going? How is your family?
• How is your marriage?
• Is there an area where you’re struggling?
• What has God been speaking to you about lately?
• Is there anything I can pray with you about, or stand in agreement with you on?

Guidelines

• Listen first. Hear what is going on in their life before saying much.
• Be present, not a problem solver. Point them to the Lord, who is the one who changes things.
• Follow the Holy Spirit. When someone comes to mind, reach out. It often takes only a moment and can change the course of someone’s week.
• Make it personal. Before reaching out, read the notes others have left. “I saw that you talked with our team last week, and we’ve been praying for you” means more than a cold call.
• Look for the next step. A connection may show that someone should move to a different tier.

Ownership and teamwork

People are assigned to team members, not to tiers. Being assigned to someone means “God is working through this leader for this person,” not “this person is mine and no one else’s.”

• Taking someone on. Pray over the Unclaimed list and take the people the Lord puts on your heart.
• Handing off. If someone would benefit from another leader’s story or gifting, hand them off. The new leader sees every note so far.
• Taking over. When someone moves into your area (for example, from Next Steps into a class you lead), you may take them over. Give the previous leader a quick heads-up.
• Working alongside another leader. If someone assigned to another leader is on your heart, talk with that leader first: “Is there anything I should know?” Then add your own note after you connect.
• Discipleship. Bringing someone you are discipling on a home or hospital visit is encouraged.

The Care Ministry Signal group

• Post tier moves: “Moving ___ to Tier 1, I’m reaching out.”
• If someone needs care and you will not be the one following up, post their name, the situation, and their phone number. Leadership will add them and find the right person.

Notes and confidentiality

Every connection gets a note. Notes are how the team prays well, follows up well, and avoids starting from zero. Over a year, every person in Tier 3 should have at least 2 notes, and most will have more.

A good note

• Says what kind of connection it was (call, visit, text, conversation at church).
• Gives a general picture of how they are doing.
• Names what the team can pray for.
• Records milestones: finished Next Steps, completed a class, started serving.

Keep out of notes

• Private details shared in confidence.
• Medical, financial, or family specifics beyond a general summary.
• Anything that could become a source of gossip.

“Called and talked for 10 minutes. Going through a hard season at work; asked for prayer for wisdom and peace.”

Only vetted Care Ministry team members can see these notes. A full training on writing notes will be held during the staff pilot.

Guarding your heart

Care Ministry is front-line ministry. Spending time with people who are hurting can affect the one who cares for them, so every team member serves from a place of submission to the Lord.

• Go in Spirit-led. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead each conversation before it starts.
• Don’t carry what isn’t yours. Hurting people may try to place the weight of their lives on you. Care Ministry comes alongside and points to the One who carries burdens; it does not take ownership of someone’s problems.
• Take thoughts captive. If, after a conversation, you notice discouragement, heaviness, or thoughts that are not your own, recognize them, bring them to Christ, and do not adopt them as part of who you are.
• Stay submitted. “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Resisting works from a place of submission.
• Carry hope. No situation is bigger than God. If someone has more faith in their problem than you have in God, the conversation will weigh you down. Keep your eyes on Him.

If you are carrying something heavy after a connection, reach out to a pastor or a fellow team member. No one does this ministry alone.

Part 2: Using this website

The Care Ministry website works on a phone, tablet, or computer. Everything saved here is kept in Planning Center under your name.

Signing in

1. Go to care.stewartroad.org.
2. Tap Sign in with Planning Center and use your normal Planning Center login.
3. If you see “Your Planning Center account isn’t on the Care Ministry team yet,” contact the church office to be added.

You stay signed in on that device. Use Sign out on shared computers.

Finding people and the lists

The search box at the top searches everyone in the church, no matter which list is open. You can type part of a name, phone number, or email address, or a tag such as “Tier 1,” “weekly,” “unclaimed,” “overdue,” “prayer,” or a team member’s name. Tap Clear search or any list button to go back.

Each person shows a colored label:

• Due now time to connect.
• Overdue by X days past due for their tier.
• Next connection [date] already connected; they come back on that date.

Use Sort to order a list by most overdue first, Tier 1 first, or A–Z by last name.

Logging a connection

1. Tap the person’s name to open their page. On a phone, tap Back to list at the top to return.
2. To call, tap the Call button.
3. After you connect, type a short note under Log a connection.
4. Tap Save connection.

The note is saved with your name and the date, and the person moves to Next connection for their tier: 1 week (Tier 1), 1 month (Tier 2), or 6 months (Tier 3). When that date comes, they show as Due now again.

No answer? Leave a voicemail, then tap No answer, left a voicemail. The site logs it and brings them back in 3 days.

Moving tiers, claiming and handing off

1. On a person’s page, under Move to a different tier, tap Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3.
2. A box asks you to confirm. Tap Yes, move to Tier X, or Cancel, go back.

• Take this person: claims someone from the Unclaimed list.
• Take over from [name]: moves someone assigned to another leader to you. A box asks you to confirm.
• Hand off to: pick a team member from the menu, tap Hand off, and confirm.

Adding someone, photos, and help

1. Search for their name.
2. If they show Not in Care Ministry, open their page and tap Add to Care Ministry, then confirm.
3. They start in Tier 3, assigned to you. Move them to another tier if needed.

If someone isn’t in Planning Center at all, post their name and phone number in the Care Ministry Signal group so the office can add them.

• Photos come from the person’s Planning Center profile. To add or change one, tap Change photo under their picture; it opens their profile in Planning Center.
• Open in Planning Center shows their full profile: household, addresses, groups, and more.

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