The Rev. Peggy Muncie writes of her recent trip to India, where she taught basic pastoral care skills to clergy and lay ministers.

A Journey to India

Chaplains often say we receive more than we give. True. But we do a lot of giving. Day in and day out, we find ourselves in the intimate intricacies of ministry in the hospital, the long-term-care facility, the hospice…our venue of practice, offering of ourselves to patients, families, and staff. We learn from our service and over the years, with blessing, this service may be transformed into wisdom.

I have practiced the professional art of chaplaincy for twenty plus years, in both hospital and long-term-care settings. I believed I had accumulated a body of knowledge that I could share. But where was G-d calling me to share those skills and the wisdom of my years?

The answers came in an unexpected invitation. Last May the Bishop in Madras of the Church of South India visited St. Luke’s Hospital Center in New York area. After a short discussion he extended an invitation for me to come to his Diocese and teach basic pastoral care skills to the clergy and lay ministers. This opened the door for one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences of ministry in my life.

For two weeks I was in residence in the Madras Diocese of the Church of South India (CSI). The CSI became a united church in 1947 bringing together the Anglican/Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ into one central body of worship and polity. The Church runs over 35 schools, five hospitals and many other service institutions for the poor and afflicted. The clergy serve parishes offering care to 10,000 to 50,000 people.

It was into this Christian environment that I came to share the good news of basic pastoral care teaching. I prepared a curriculum of eight mini-courses to be offered in four two-day workshops to specific populations of care givers, teacher, wardens, missioners, Bible women, counselors, hospital workers, presbyters and catechists.

When I was preparing for the trip, I had a sense of nervous anticipation as I headed to the unknown land of India and the uncharted waters of teaching pastoral care skills to an audience where this was totally new material. Would this White, Anglo-Saxon woman be heard? Would what she have to offer be of meaning and value? Could it connect with the experience of the Indian people?

The answer is yes, indeed. There was a freeing power of connecting and sharing the pastoral care principles in the context of the Judeo-Christian tradition. This connection came through the sharing of Biblical passages, illustrating salient points of pastoral care theology, and skills such as listening, the identification of feeling, the components of a pastoral care visit, and basic grief and bereavement work.

The first class that I taught was a lively group of 55 teachers and wardens from church hostels and schools. I proposed that the group divide into small groups and do a Bible study on the Emmaus story that would illustrate listening techniques. I suggested a 15 minute time period. The groups became so spirited in their discussions that 15 minutes became 30. Their reporting back was more enthusiastic that I had ever witnessed in my 30 years of ministry. The living document of scripture provided the transition that allowed participants to work with their own living documents — their students, patients, parishioners, and counselees.

The process of being well - received, the gift of being honored for the offering of my teaching has been a revitalizing, renewing experience in my ministry. It has taken me out of the forest of the everyday and placed me in the land where I can see each tree as a unique creation of the Almighty and loving G-d.

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