In Sustaining Presence, Earl E. Shelp and Ronald H. Sunderland present their insight that the care of congregational members is a communal activity within a church, and that laity care teams are a proven, effective way of delivering pastoral care. They express the idea that pastoral ministry is a function of the church, not only of the ordained. The function of sustaining is the defining feature of pastoral care, while the function of presence is the defining method.The larger part of this book is comprised of chapters that apply care team models to specific audiences -- the elderly, people who have Alzheimer"s disease, people with AIDS, and children -- and their particular needs.Sustaining Presence is a resource that makes the case for formation of care teams to perform the important ministry of relating in a meaningful way to those in need. People who apply the strategies in this book will be giving of themselves to help others, serving God in the spirit of Christ.