Chapter One THE ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE I think the greatest gift she brought was her presence. She did not worry about saying the right thing to ease all our troubles; she simply shared in our troubles with us. Pastoral care has many faces and takes many forms. In short, pastoral care is an outreach of compassion often accompanied by an action of care. That action can be as ordinary as offering food to someone who is isolated and lonely or as complicated as intervening in a medical crisis. Let me illustrate.