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CURRENTLY IN BOOKS
A must-read for caregivers

John Schmidt

Soul Care: Caregiving in the Church Herb Kopp. Winnipeg, Man.: Kindred Productions, 2001. 60 pp. $6.95.

In this short volume, Herb Kopp, long-time pastor and current Manitoba MB Conference minister, provides a very helpful overview of the need and importance of providing soul care in the local church. He states, “This manual is designed for lay caregivers, to introduce the subject and to train in the skills of basic caregiving.” His desire is that “this booklet will help develop a passion for caregiving and will whet the appetite for more reading and additional training.”

In ten chapters, Kopp touches on the primary areas where caregivers will need training and guidance in order to provide the soul care people need. Each chapter begins with an aim, then describes the pastoral care problem being considered, and concludes by asking pointed questions for discussion, reflection and action. One of the strengths of this book is the incisive questions raised to challenge the caregiver to think through how soul care can best be provided.

While the author has intentionally written this manual in a “non-academic” style, this does not mean the material lacks academic excellence. Kopp is an experienced pastoral caregiver whose wise counsel will benefit both pastoral and lay caregivers. The topics covered, the questions raised and the need for application to specific situations allows for a broad range of uses for this material. I highly recommend that pastors, care group coaches, deacons and others responsible for caregiving in a congregation use this material as a valuable part of training lay women and men in the skills of caregiving. The contents could easily be supplemented to provide a 10-week course in the local church to train people in basic caregiving skills.

A book such as this is a welcome addition to the area of caregiving and should be a must-read for those responsible to train caregivers in the church. Many people facing a broad range of needs and challenges will be helped by this valuable manual.

John Schmidt is campus pastor and director of internship at Columbia Bible College and a member of North Langley Community Church, Langley, B.C.

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Last modified July 10, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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