Once again, continuing the conversation on the use of volunteer chaplains

Volunteer Chaplains – The Last Words, For Now

Editor's note: This topic has clearly touched a lot of our readers. Comments that come in beyond this issue of PlainViews will be located in TalkBack. The original articles were in the August 16 (vol. 3, no. 14) and November 1 (vol. 3, no. 19) issues in case you missed them.

My view is that of a volunteer. It is volunteer in the sense of it doesn't pay my bills, I am a chaplain called by God, and when you are called, ministry is full-time 24/7, even when you may have a full-time job not related to ministry that feeds your family and pays the bills.

I don't think the issue should be whether you are full time or part time, volunteer or not, the issue should be the quality of training that a chaplain gets to do the job efficiently. I can be a volunteer chaplain and can do my chaplaincy just as well as one that would be full time. I enjoy being a volunteer because I can minister to several people in multiple locations and applications.

Even if I was a full-time hospital chaplain, I would still provide volunteer services for my community including the homeless, police-fire-EMS, nursing homes, etc., so volunteering isn't all bad and I believe that it pleases God Himself.

Chaplain S. P. Baker
Written Word Ministries
Perrysburg, OH

I have read the postings on volunteer chaplains with great interest. It is easy to look at pastoral/spiritual visiting in black or white terms. In our hospital (The Moncton Hospital) we have volunteers visit new admissions, clarify denominational/faith connections and inform us if further interventions are necessary. We also have a Lay Eucharistic team that distributes communion on Sundays. Further, we have 4 part- time denominational chaplains that are paid by their denominations to visit their adherents. We also have a team of on-call chaplains who are trained and oriented community clergy as well as an on call priest. The role of these volunteers, on call chaplains and denominational chaplains differ from those of the three staff chaplains who have specific assignments and myself as Chief of Pastoral Care (soon to be Spiritual and Religious Care). This range of different spiritual care providers with differing training allows us to get a wider range of coverage than what we would have if we only used paid chaplains. The art is in using each within their clinical competency.

Rev. Lidvald Haugen-Strand
Chief of Spiritual and Religious Care
South East Regional Health Authority
Moncton, New Brunswick
Atlantic Canada

What on earth do we do with all of these Volunteer Chaplains?!

It seems there is truth in all of our arguments. Don't quit your day job! Volunteers threaten job security and vocational image! Professional Pastoral Care vs. Evangelism! Public awareness of the role of a Professional Chaplain. These conversations are incredibly beneficial for us all. Professionals and Volunteers. But what about Certified Professional Volunteers?

Internationally, volunteerism is on the rise and "Professional" Volunteers are offering their services free of charge, i.e., Chaplains, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Administrators. In Pastoral Care, do we tell the volunteers "no, go home"? From my perspective volunteerism is the expression of love in our world. In favor of different levels of volunteerism. It seems each hospital's Pastoral Care department can interview and asses "Spiritual Care Volunteers" then discern how best to utilize human compassion, education, and competencies within their organizational system by aligning the different competencies and life experiences with the appropriate ministries available within the healthcare system. We all have a lot to learn from one another how to present with grace and authority our vocation with professionalism to the public, healthcare systems, and beyond. Is "employment," however, the true qualifier to call a Chaplain "Professional"? What then should the role of a Certified Professional Chaplain Volunteer be?

After open heart surgery in 2001 to repair an aortic aneurysm at the age of 39, I was inspired by "one" visit from a hospital Chaplain at Taylor Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. When I recovered I pursued the vocation of Hospital Chaplaincy. Five years later I've completed 4 Units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and graduated with my Masters in Pastoral Theology in May 2007 with the intention of becoming certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains in 2008. Currently, I'm certified by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy and I'm a Convener for a Regional Chapter of Chaplains. I began as the first CPE Intern at our regional 350 bed Trauma II faith-based hospital as a "volunteer" with the Spiritual Care Department of three full time and four part time staff Chaplains. Four CPE Interns have followed since my "volunteer" Internship. Five years later I still volunteer with approximately 30 other Spiritual Care Volunteers who function in different ministries depending on their competencies and education. Of course I'd welcome a paycheck and of course we help the hospital's bottom line but we also bring a spiritual presence to the hospital in greater numbers and this brings a greater awareness of the role of Pastoral Care and a genuine spiritually healing environment. I volunteer as part of the hospital's interdisciplinary healthcare team working with Doctors, Nurses, Administrators, other staff members, patients and families. At this point, there are more competent Professional Volunteer Chaplains than there are Chaplain jobs in our valley. We have a choice, however, quit or minister. I prefer to minister. Who knows, maybe I can inspire another volunteer to become a Certified Chaplain. There are too many willing Professional Volunteers to say, "no, go home!"

Cynthia Komlo
St. Mary's Hospital Volunteer Chaplain
Grand Junction, Colorado

At my facility in semi-rural South Arkansas, I have used volunteers from the outset. When hired almost ten years ago, I had no CPE training myself, so I have commuted 250 miles roundtrip, through four extended units. Each Tuesday, I left home at 5 a.m. to travel to Little Rock, arriving just before 8 a.m. for a full day of didactics, Inter-personal Relations sessions, Verbatims and floor work. I had to recruit and train volunteers to cover the routine visits and emergency calls in my absence.

I recruited carefully, as I view each volunteer as an extension of my personal and professional ministry. I focused on pastors or associates who have pastoral care experience. Some had CPE, others didn't. As I was just being trained myself, I felt I couldn't require CPE of the volunteers. Now that I have four units, I've decided to become a Supervisor in training for two more units. Then, I hope to become a Certified CPE Supervisor in my own right so that I can lead a CPE Center.

I've stressed continuing education for these volunteers. We meet monthly for training, communication and collegiality. They are considered Allied Health Professionals and as such, have to complete age competencies, have annual evaluations, HIPAA training, and all the other items for a full Human Resources personnel file.

Thanks for letting me join in the dialogue.

Rev. Phil Pinckard, M.Div.
Director of Chaplaincy Services
Medical Center of South Arkansas

The Need to Clarify Terminology

The volunteer debate has shown how much concern it is to many chaplaincy departments. It is not isolated to the United States. It is unfortunate that the word “volunteer” has become so prominent in the discussion. The nature of the role the chaplain is expected to perform within the institution is the point at issue. It is not a case of being paid or unpaid. An unpaid, fully trained, competent and full time person is able to fill the function of a professional chaplain provided her/she is endorsed by the Chaplaincy Department and accepted by the Hospital. Dare it be said, “The chaplain must possess the personality and people skills that enables a ready development of responsive trust with both patients and staff.”

In my own practice of chaplaincy I saw the professional chaplain to be an integral part of the multidisciplinary team working in particular units or specialty wards of the institution. The diagnostic and treatment protocols of the various units vary. Differing emotional, physical and spiritual responses to diagnosis and treatment by patients and their relatives are to be expected in units such as renal, haematology, oncology, orthopaedic, neurology, whether medical or surgical.

The professional chaplain working closely with the team in the ward is able to anticipate the patient’s possible medical, psychological and spiritual reactions. The chaplain is able to clarify for the bewildered patient possible outcomes and effects providing positive encouragement thus helping calm the mystic and fears generated. A part-time chaplain whether paid or unpaid who visits a number of wards has little opportunity to develop similar expertise required of the professional chaplain and lacks a professional intimacy with the staff of the unit.

Nurses undertake special courses to enable them to be proficient and capable in their particular ward ministrations. So professional chaplains who are attached to the unit are or should be seen in the unit at least five days per week as well as available at other times of emergency. By this they gain deep insight into the functioning of the unit including gaining the trust and confidence of all members of the team. Thus he/she becomes familiar with the way the unit operates, its procedures and their effects on patients and relatives.

Chaplains assigned to a specific unit attend the weekly clinical meetings when each patient’s case is discussed. The chaplain is expected to contribute to discussions, even to the wisdom of continuing a certain procedure for a particular patient. Late one Friday evening, the consulting specialist had sent a 77 year old debilitated leukaemia patient for an emergency catheter test to locate the site of a leaking blood vessel in the colon. He had reservations about the suitability of such a procedure for a patient of his age and condition. The specialist spent more than 20 minutes with the unit chaplain discussing the pros and cons of performing the procedure because he knew the chaplain understood the case and treatment implications.

The integrated unit chaplain frequently becomes the sounding board for doctors and other unit professionals outside the clinical meetings. That is as much the chaplain’s pastoral responsibility as spending time with patients and relatives. The chaplain's contribution to the staff in this way also is of vital benefit to the patient. The chaplaincy task surely is the offering of pastoral care to all patients, relatives and other members of the unit staff. Thus a full time, unpaid, fully trained chaplain who is a full member of the department is equally able to provide a professional chaplaincy service to a specialized unit as an integrated member of the team.

The question is not paid or volunteer but training, competency and the amount of time committed to the hospital’s pastoral ministry. Above all there should be a sense of a divine call to such a specialized ministry. The differing pastoral care roles within a Chaplaincy department should be clearly defined. The expectations and standards of a unit chaplain should be understood by the part time or full time endorsed denominational visitors and parish clergy who visit their own parishioners. These part time or full time denominational visitors should clearly understand the limits of their roles.

Neville A. Kirkwood, D.Min. MACC.
Retired Chaplain
Former Chairperson, "Civil Chaplaincies Advisory Committee of New South Wales"
Former Secretary and President, the "Australian College of Chaplains"

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