Long Term Care Home Ministries in North America:

Caring as Christians in the ‘Covid Era’

A FREE Webinar on July 10, Saturday

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT

Register HERE

Long Term Care Homes have been in the news a lot these COVID-days.  There have been such headlines as COVID-19 highlights Canada’s care home crisis,  Restoring trust: COVID-19 and the future of long-term care in Canada, Ontario largely ignored long-term care as COVID-19 crisis began, internal documents reveal, and many more.  In the USA the situation has not been much different:

Nearly One-Third of U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Are Linked to Nursing Homes.  Even before COVID there was a huge need in LTC Homes:  more than 115,000 people with their families receive care and support in Ontario’s 636 long-term care homes every year; there are more than 15,000 LTC Homes in the USA with 1.7 million licensed beds.

To facilitate a caring response of Christian Churches we will present a FREE Webinar on July 10, Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT.  The restrictions for caring Christian ministry from outside the homes have been lifted more south of the border than as yet in Ontario.  We are inviting two chaplains from Ohio who are friends and colleagues to join us to share their experiences now that they have been allowed once again to continue their services in LTC Homes.   They have found some significant changes.

Join us to learn how these two ministries have been serving for years pre-COVID, what they have done during COVID lockdowns, and now how they are continuing to care for the residents, families, and staff.  Tom McCormick, chaplain and lead facilitator for the Word & Spirit Program in MINISTRY FOR THE AGING will be hosting Bill Goodrich President & Founder of God Cares Ministry and Chaplain Chris Herman, founder with his wife Carol, of St. Lazarus Mission.

Chris Herman is a husband and the father of three adult children. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1988.  His coursework for his MA in Ministry from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University emphasized developing flourishing local church congregations in the long term care context. He led the planting of Christ our Hope Anglican Church in Dayton, Ohio.  Currently, Chris leads five congregations in Dayton, Ohio area nursing homes.  He and his wife, Carol, began this ministry together in 1991: St. Lazarus Mission.

Bill Goodrich served three years in the United States Army as a combat engineer, worked for Alcoa in Quality Control for 13 years, during which time he was born again. At the age of 26, Bill began visiting in local nursing homes to bring comfort to those who were lonely. In 1994, Bill founded God Cares Ministry and began working with churches to adopt nursing homes as an outreach in their community. This work has spread across the USA.  Bill serves together with his wife Cathy.

Tom McCormick has ministered for over 45 years in Nursing Homes and has served as a chaplain at both a Long Term Care Home and a Retirement Community in Richmond Hill.  In the 1980’s he published a manual for training others. In 2003 he coauthored Nursing Home Ministry: Where Hidden Treasures are Found with Bill Goodrich.  Currently he is facilitating a program in Ministries for the Aging.  Tom has served as an overseas missionary in Peru, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, India, and China.  He lives near Toronto, Canada.

If you wish to register for this webinar, please click HERE.