Lessons Learned

Lay Ministries

Increasingly in congregations, pastoral care is done by the laity, either by individual members of the congregation or through the efforts of community partners. Congregations often include people with a mental health or medical background who are willing to be trained in victim assistance as a focus of their lay ministry. They can act as liaisons between crime victims and other community services. In addition, a congregation may include members with particular skills or knowledge who can help crime victims fill out victim impact statements or victim compensation applications, accompany them to court, or translate materials into their primary language. In the final phase of the VS 2000 training workshops, participants frequently identified the need to engage lay leaders within congregations and to collaborate with victim resources in their communities.

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