Cancer Support Group

Our purpose is to provide support to -- and get support from -- those who have or had cancer. Spouses, other care givers, or friends are encouraged to participate.

We are a group that ranges from the newly diagnosed to those who are now considered to be cancer-free. Our combined experiences allow us to offer support on many levels -- sharing with those who have just been diagnosed with cancer, helping with day-to-day struggles, expressing feelings and concerns, and sharing medical experience and clinical information. We are strengthened in this endeavor by our faith and prayer as well as the realization that we are bound on a spiritual level by a unique understanding of life compromised by cancer. But, we are not gloomy; humor and joy abound.

The group functions on two levels: one is a meeting the second Saturday of each month (with exceptions that are announced), and the other is person-to-person communications in the form of visits, telephone calls, etc. We also gather from time to time for a purely social event -- dinner, Christmas party, or cookout.

There is a convener of the group who guides the progress of the Saturday discussions, bearing in mind the needs and sensitivities of all the participants. The person-to-person communication typically develops on its own, as members find common bonds with one another.

Over the years of the group's existence since our beginning in the fall of 1996, new friendships have developed and old friendships have strengthened, all enriched by the honesty and candor of caring people sharing their common concerns.

For further information, contact Rev. Lauren McFeaters at the church office.