Needing the services of a pastor

Staying connected to God when your loved one has terminal cancer. How can a member stay connected and grow closer to God during his last days if pastor doesn't share word and sacrament, if treatment or illness keeps cancer patient from attending church? We get sporadic, at best, calls most initiated by family. Occasional phone calls from appointed member but never sharing God's word or sacrament. When asking, I am told pastor is too busy. Is there a way to help people who can't get to church stay connected to God and grow in faith and partake of the sacrament and hear God's word?

I trust that this is an unfortunate case of communication in the congregation that has gone awry somehow. The divine call that pastors receive to serve a congregation charges them: “To discharge toward all the members of our congregation the functions of a pastor, that is, to watch over their souls in an evangelical manner (Acts 20:28); in particular to visit the sick and the dying, to admonish indifferent and erring members (2 Timothy 4:2) and to be ever zealous for the winning of souls for Christ’s kingdom.”  [italics added]

Your pastor has been called to do the very thing you are asking: to minister with word and sacrament to those who are unable to attend worship services and to visit the sick and dying. Do contact your pastor and make him aware again of your loved one’s situation. Request a visit. If necessary, enlist the help of a friend to make contact. When necessary, contact the chairman of your congregation’s board of elders.

I encourage you and your loved one to keep focused on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), knowing and trusting him that you are safe in his hands, possessing the eternal life he won (John 10:27-30). God bless you.