Clicking here will take you to the Book Review

Sarah Masters reviews the film

Requiem for a Faith

Requiem for a Faith is a moving visual portrait of Tibetan society, a society that is “so close to the sky, the natural occupation of its people is to pray.” Fluttering prayer flags, lavish artwork and the hypnotic chanting ceremonies of the Buddhist monks are captured in this film of Tibet as it was almost two decades ago.

World religions scholar Dr. Huston Smith provides a compelling narrative overview of the Tibetan belief system, a compassionate system that incorporates a densely populated spirit world with different methods for achieving enlightenment.

Requiem for a Faith is a window into the mystical culture of Tibetan Buddhism. Over years of isolation in the remote Himalayas, Tibet evolved into one of the most deeply religious societies known to the modern world. Chaplains will be reminded of the spirituality that becomes almost tangible when religious beliefs provide the framework for daily life.

Completed: 1979
Running Time: 30 Minutes
Director: Elda Hartley

If you are interested in purchasing this film, you can do so at www.hartleyfoundation.org. Just click on “Hartley Classics” on the homepage for more information. The cost of the film is $19.95 for a VHS.

Sarah Masters is the Managing Director of the Hartley Film Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to cultivation, support, production and distribution of the best documentaries and audio meditations on world religions, spirituality, ethics and well-being.

Book Review

Rev. Phil Pinckard reviews

Spiritual Caregiving in the Hospital: Windows to Chaplaincy Ministry

A typical day for a chaplain includes accompanying staff, patients and family members who are making life-and-death decisions. It involves exposure to contagious and deadly diseases. It consists of preparing and leading worship services, memorial services, baptisms, and prayers. It involves balancing budgets and allocating resources. It may also entail teaching, mopping a floor, mediating a conflict, crowd control, fund raising, networking, counseling, sending and receiving e-mail, attending a seminar, or raising an ethical question. The day may bring celebration of the wonder of daily life or rejoicing at good news. It calls for remembering, identifying and naming the healing, even when there is no cure. Chaplaincy is listening, managing, leading, supporting, being and doing — and trying to get the balance right. (p. 7-8)

With these words, Chaplain Jan Knaus, one of many contributors to this volume, characterizes her vocational journey. Spiritual Caregiving in the Hospital is the result of a research and writing project done at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. This project reflects their institutional commitment to contribute to the formation of healthcare chaplains through a concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling within the Master of Divinity program. The book is divided as follows: Part I: The place of spiritual care in the hospital; Part II: The chaplain as caregiver in specific settings; Part III: Special concerns in chaplaincy ministry.

Spiritual Caregiving in the Hospital succeeds because the book is written by practitioners of the art. In the introduction the editors differentiate ‘spiritual’ from ‘pastoral.’ “Pastoral care is the dimension of the ministry of the church that has concern for the well-being of individuals, families, institutions, and communities. It may include various functions—guiding, nurturing, sustaining, comforting, reconciling, and healing—in diverse settings, including hospital chaplaincy… We adopt the understanding of faith as a human universal that may or may not find expression in terms of specific religious tradition and content… By spiritual, we mean the fundamental capacity to have faith, to make meaning, to create community and culture, to long for and practice love, peace and justice, and to be oriented toward wholeness.” (p. 3)

Opening ‘windows to chaplaincy ministry’ is an apt metaphor for the editors’ intention to allow a better view of healthcare chaplaincy by getting out of the reader’s way. Through effective use of Biblical imagery, anecdote, personal experience, case study and poetry, the editors and their contributors hold the reader’s interest without becoming pedantic. I commend a thorough reading of this book by chaplains, students and teachers of pastoral care — anyone interested in this vital discipline!

Bueckert, Leah Dawn and Schipani, Daniel S., editors. Spiritual Caregiving in the Hospital: Windows to Chaplaincy Ministry. (Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2006) 263 pp.

Do you have thoughts about these reviews you’d like to share with your colleagues? Send an e-mail to info@PlainViews.org