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 10/6/2004
Vol. 1, No. 17
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Professional
Practice |
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The
Rev. Stephen Harding
on the authority
to act
Ordination
Is a Pathway
I wrote
earlier about my
deepening sense of
vocation (See Issue
No. 16, Spiritual
Development). Underlying
my vocation is my
authority to act
by listening for
the voice of God
within me, my taking
up my responsibility
to use my own authority,
and the authority
that my community
gives me to take
action. In this section,
I talk about the
authority that comes
from God through
ordination as I continue
to unpack the meaning
of my experiences
of the last ten years.
Before
I was ordained to
the Episcopal priesthood,
I went on retreat.
Br. Curtis Almquist
very kindly met with
me to talk about
ordination, and I
am grateful, as always,
for his generosity
with his time and
his wisdom. After
he met with me, I
wrote down some of
what we talked about
and the pre-ordination
realizations that
I had:
 I
think that I had been
trying to contain the
ordination in me -
to reduce it to my
own limitations, and
that didn't feel right.
I think now that being
a priest is like entering
into a mystery that
is larger than I am
and that I am a part
of. In other words,
I can't reduce it to
my limits or to me,
but have to see being
a priest as me moving
into relationship with
an entity greater than
I. (May 4, 1999)
From
this perspective, the ordination
becomes a pathway, a mystery leading
to a greater mystery and is a manner
of approval, a reaching out from
God, an embrace by God, a blessing
from the people, and an initiation
into the mystery. (May 4, 1999)
There
is also something about gathering
up the people in the space [as
priest] so that we all go down
the same path together. It's
not just me celebrating the Eucharist,
but praying the space so that
all are included. I had a glimpse
of being part of the community
gathered and all of us doing
this together - of understanding
that the community [in church]
supports me - that we are part
of the same interconnected matrix.
(May 5, 1999)
In
some sense, the priest-ness of
it is less important than the deepening
of the relationship - the reconnecting
with God at a very deep level.
Being priest is a reflection of
this relationship, with certain
responsibilities, but I think that
my struggle is to remember the
order and sequence in which my
being priest comes from: my priesthood
comes from my deep connection with
the Divine as its root and foundation.
(May 5, 1999)
Rereading
this five years later,
several things stay
with me: that my
own authority comes
first from my relationship
with God, of whom
I am part; out of
that sense of my
relationship and
deep connection with
the Divine arises
the ability to be
a priest, but the
function and identity
of priest is secondary
to my relationship
with God.
The
Reverend Stephen
Harding, S.T.M.,
BCC, is an Episcopal
Priest serving as
the Chaplain for
the Department of
Pain Medicine and
Palliative Care at
Beth Israel Medical
Center in New York
City, a HealthCare
Chaplaincy partner.
He is also the Priest
Associate for the
Healing Ministries
at the Church of
the Epiphany in Manhattan.
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Advocacy |
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Chaplain David Plummer on the bad
theology of some clergy
Should
We Confront and Challenge Particular
Cultures?
In my last piece for
PlainViews, I wrote an article entitled, “The
Struggles of an Evangelical Chaplain.”I
received an overwhelmingly positive
response from the pastoral care community.
Several chaplains, in fact, contacted
me privately with words of thanks
and appreciation that someone from
the Evangelical camp finally had
addressed the issues of Evangelicals
and proselytism. They stated that
only an Evangelical could adequately
address the issue without creating
objections of bias and discrimination.
And, they are probably right. It
is in this spirit that I would like
to address the “bad theology”that
I often hear from my own spiritual
kinfolk (i.e., Pentecostal and Charismatic
pastors) in my hospital's critical
care units.
The scenario frequently goes like
this: A patient is admitted to the
hospital through the Emergency Department
in critical condition. The patient
generally lacks capacity, does not
have an advance directive, and their
legal next-of-kin is demanding all
possible interventions and life support –until “God
decides what He is going to do.”The
next-of-kin is generally supported
in this decision by their pastor.
The pastor sees his/her role in the
matter as that of a spiritual general
marshalling the “Prayer Warriors”of
the congregation and affiliated Christian
communities into launching a spiritual
war against the enemies of the patient,
namely Satan and Death. The unstated
expectation (sometimes actually stated!)
is that the hospital's role in this
supernatural drama is to keep the
patient alive until enough prayer
has gone up to God or until the Prayer
Warriors have enough faith and get
the prayer formula just right to
motivate God into working a miracle
for the patient. The declining condition
of the patient is immaterial; the
degree of pain and suffering of the
patient is immaterial; and the obscene
waste of scarce and costly healthcare
resources for a futile patient is
also immaterial.
The outcome is sickeningly common:
The patiently ultimately dies an
artificially prolonged death at an
exorbitant cost in terms of suffering
in addition to the emotional and
financial devastation. The pastors
(and often even the patient's family)
say, “Well, God has spoken.”Or,
worse, “You folks just let
__________ die!”I cannot even
begin to guess the number of times
I have heard these two sentences.
Far too many! In the cases of the
former, it is all the staff can do
to refrain from responding, “And
God started speaking to us the day
_________ was admitted! We
have been forced to torture this
person to keep the person alive!!”In
the case of the latter, the staff
is attacked, and feels it.
I have seen pastors urge families
to demand that pronounced brain-dead
patients be kept on life support
indefinitely. I even have seen a
pastor urge her congregant who just
delivered a stillborn child to literally
hold on to the infant for many hours
while the pastor brought in Prayer
Warriors to resurrect the dead baby.
Somehow, someway, this bad theology
needs to be recognized for what it
is, and those who espouse it, challenged.
My guess is that my experiences with
bad theology and those who embrace
it are far from unique. So, I ask
the PlainViews community, how do
we begin to confront and change this
particular culture? Or, should we
even try?
I do confront with a particular
tact and approach. But I wonder
how do you do it (if you do it),
and what degree of success or failure
have you experienced?
I am eager to hear your responses!
Chaplain David Plummer is manager
of chaplaincy services at Sentara CarePlex
Hospital (Hampton, VA), and the endorsing
executive for The Coalition of Spirit-filled
Churches religious endorsing body.
He serves as secretary of the COMISS
Network, and is chair of the COMISS
Commission on Accreditation of Pastoral
Services (CCAPS).
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Education & Research |
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Rabbi Naomi Kalish on
the challenges of a multifaith
CPE group
How
to Meet the Person
in Front of You
Two students of mine,
a Jew and a Christian,
walked on eggshells for
much of the unit along
with the rest of their
group. They were cautious
around addressing difference
and afraid of offending.
Finally, one of them
risked bringing in a
verbatim report about
a conversation that he
had had with a nurse
about the movie The
Passion of the Christ.
First, the theological
differences between the
two students came to
the surface. They realized
that they simply disagreed
and that that was not
going to change. Then
their emotions came to
the surface: this particular
Jewish student felt angry,
hurt and scared. And
this particular Christian
student felt misrepresented,
sad and defensive—as
well as felt a religious
connection to parts of
the movie. Later the
second student told the
first that, in response
to his taking the risk
to be vulnerable and
address a potentially
controversial topic,
she too felt inclined
to risk sharing her own
beliefs and feelings.
In the end, the two students
not only understood each
other’s religions
better, but also had
deepened their relationship.
This prompted healing
between traditions and
also educated the students
in how to have a genuine
engagement through potentially
painful difference.
This kind of engagement
in the difficult and
exhilarating task of
confronting diversity
is, for me, one of the
primary attractions of
pursuing supervisory
education at The HealthCare
Chaplaincy. I remember
my own experience during
my first unit of CPE
when I was praying with
a woman from the Holiness
Church about faith and
healing. Though very
different from my own
theology, I heard her
crisis of faith being
attached to her physical
illness. And at the end
of my prayer, she prayed
for me, for growth and
guidance along my journey!
My seminary education
could not prepare me
for this kind of pastoral
care and learning; only
by being confronted with
the challenge of ministering
through diversity was
I able to have this seminal
experience.
My student groups have
been religiously and
culturally diverse, as
has been my own training
group. Currently, my
fellow supervisors-in-training
include an African American
Muslim imam and a Russian
Presbyterian minister,
in addition to me—a
woman rabbi from the
Conservative Movement
of Judaism. The parallel
process of being a student
in a diverse group while
supervising a diverse
group helps keep the
excitement and struggle
of addressing diversity
alive. The same questions
that students ask, supervisors,
chaplains, and community
clergy also continue
to ask: Can I pray with
someone from a different
religion than me? If
so, what does that prayer
look like? Will it be
offensive if I bring
in my own tradition?
What do I do when the
person starts saying
something that is religiously
contrary to my own beliefs?
If I engage in multifaith
ministry, what does it
mean to my own religious
identity?
The vast majority of
interfaith dialogue programs
seek to build on common
ground. Often we have
seen this through diverse
groups coming together
for common causes, usually
social action and social
justice. One interfaith
dialogue program I was
involved with had its
starting point as difference,
believing that focusing
on similarities dismisses
difference, stunting
progress. In a pastoral
care setting, the question
for me is: how can two
people (a chaplain and
a patient) meet in a
meaningful and healing
way through both their
similarity and the uniqueness
of their difference?
In another CPE group,
my students wrestled
with leading a multifaith
healing service for the
staff and daily meditations
for the group. They initially
found the experience
to be either too watered
down to common ground
that they felt little
spirituality in it, or
they found that it was
too particularistic and
exclusive. This raised
their doubts about how
to pray with patients
from religions different
from their own. At the
end of the unit, the
students planned a memorial
service, to acknowledge
their own sense of loss
for the patients who
had died during the unit.
They worked together
planning the service,
bringing in prayers that
would be meaningful to
them and drawing on some
universal themes and
rituals that felt comfortable
to all of them. At this
service, I heard the
sadness in their voices
and saw tears welling
up in some of their eyes.
What made a difference
in their service was
the relevance of the
service to their lives
(their own sense of loss)
and that they engaged
in the process of planning
the service together.
This gave them an experience
and model for engaging
in extemporaneous prayer
with patients: that if
the prayer addresses
the real concern of the
patient and has been
prepared together with
the patient, it can be
transcendent.
Ultimately the educational
training that students
receive in diversity
assists them in all of
their work. Even within
specific religions and
cultures, there is great
diversity right down
to each individual. CPE
teaches students how
to connect through similarity
and to engage the depths
of the uniqueness of
the other. Ultimately,
it teaches them how to
meet the person in front
of them.
Rabbi Naomi Kalish
is an ACPE Supervisory
Candidate at The HealthCare
Chaplaincy and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt
Hospital. Prior to beginning
supervisory education,
she served as a Staff Chaplain
for three years at Calvary
Hospital, an acute care
hospital in the Bronx specializing
in palliative care for
people in the advanced
stages of cancer. Rabbi
Kalish is ordained through
the Conservative Movement
of Judaism.
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Spiritual
Development |
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The Rev.
Susan Wintz on being
a grieving mother and
a chaplain
Death
Has Come to Dinner
In my twenty-six years
as a professional pastoral
caregiver, I have walked
with many persons on
their life journeys.
I’ve been told
that I am good at what
I do, particularly in
my clinical work with
children and their families
in the most difficult
of times, and that my
presence is responsive
and comforting. I’ve
felt competent and compassionate
in the care I provide.
All that changed on
December 2, 2003 when
death came to dinner
at our family table,
and life has never been
the same. Our beautiful
and gifted 17-year-old
daughter Sarah Elizabeth,
in her senior year of
high school and eager
to go out into the world
to make her mark, was
killed instantly in a
car accident when she
and her boyfriend were
hit by a speeding driver.
When the knock came at
the door, and two police
detectives entered into
our home with that look
on their face, everything
I thought I knew about
being a competent professional
vanished. I realized
that I really didn’t
know a thing.
Of course that wasn’t
completely true. My professional
knowledge did help with
the decision-making that
needed to be made during
those first hours and
days, with knowing that
the shock and numbness
that surrounded me was
a shield and blessing.
Being a former-pastor-turned-chaplain
married to a former-pastor-turned-college-professor
gave my husband and me
the basic tools we needed
to know the importance
of communicating with
each other and our twenty-year-old
son without making demands
or having expectations
of how the other ‘should’be
acting. Possessing professional
colleagues as well as
family and friends to
turn to for care, and
knowing how to activate
that support system (and
at times place boundaries
on it) helped us begin
our walk into the journey
that no parent ever wants
to take.
Still…all that
I thought I knew after
so much clinical training
and years of experience
really didn’t prepare
me. The hole of parental
grief is deeper and darker
than anything I could
ever imagine or attempt
to describe. The energy
required simply to move
through a day and make
the simplest decisions
is so much more than
I’ve ever thought.
The weeks and months
of slow, anguished step
by painful step (often
sliding just as far back
as I thought I’d
come); to find out what
our new normal will be,
to adjust to our family
now of three instead
of four, to search for
and find meaning in Sarah’s
too-short life and traumatic
death, and to decide
who I am now as a person
and a professional has
been more demanding than
any amount of training
or pastoral experience
could ever prepare me
for. The roller coaster
ride of parental grief
is one that defies description
or understanding until
one is in the midst of
it.
Death has come to our
table. And yet, in the
midst of grieving my
daughter and yearning
for her presence I have
gotten glimpses of the
gifts that I have been
handed, the first reminders
of Sarah’s presence
in our lives, her enduring
legacy, and the love
our family shares. I’ve
also been offered the
opportunity to choose
how her life and her
death will impact me
as a person: a wife,
a mother, a friend, a
colleague, and a professional.
Who will I become now,
and what will that look
like? What priorities
will emerge, change,
or end up being set aside?
How will it impact my
professional practice
and the care I offer
to others?
An empty seat is at
our family table now;
one that will remain
there until we are reunited
at the Great Banquet
in the life to come.
And yet another has been
taken, for death has
come to sit with us for
dinner. I am learning
to allow not only Sarah’s
life with its hopes and
dreams, but also her
death to be a constant
and familiar presence
there as the days, weeks,
and months go by. And
I am reminded once again
that for all my clinical
training and experience,
it is the lessons of
the heart –even
the most feared and painful
ones –that truly
teach me compassion.
The Rev. Sue Wintz,
M.Div. BCC is a staff chaplain
at St. Joseph's Hospital
and Medical Center in Phoenix,
Arizona. She serves
on the APC board of directors
as the chair of the Commission
on Quality in Pastoral
Services and is on the PlainViews Advisory
Board. She has created
a website honoring the
memory and legacy of her
daughter, Sarah, at http://www.geocities.com/swintz85044/Sarah_Elizabeth.html. |
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EthicsWalk |
EthicsWalk addresses
spiritual care
as an ethical
enterprise. It
explores why
relationships
between spiritual
care providers
and those they
serve need protection,
and examines
what that protection
entails. PlainViews invites
our readers to
share their responses
to each EthicsWalk column,
which will be
published in
the following
issue.
If you’d like
to respond to EthicsWalk,
please send a
comment of no
more than 100
words. You can
use the e-form
below (click
on "hearing
from you," link)
or submit your
commentary to
the editors in
the body of an
e-mail (or as
a “Word” attachment)
sent to Info@PlainViews.org.
Please put the
phrase “EthicsWalk”
in your subject
line.
We look forward to hearing
from you.
Protecting
Trust:
Policies
Complement
Personal
Integrity
The
last column
explored
the conflicting
values
of religious
freedom,
guaranteed
by the
First Amendment
[1], and
justice
in employment
relationships,
required
through
Federal
and State
legislation.[2]
A respondent
doubted
chaplains
could be
treated
differently
than other
hospital
professionals.
Institutions’employment
and non
discrimination
polices
usually
do not
treat ministers
[3] differently.
However,
if ministers
wish to
contest
their treatment,
they, unlike
other employees,
rarely
find recourse
in civil
court.
The First
Amendment
usually
puts employment
disputes
between
clergy/ministers
and religious
institutions
(including
seminaries,
church-related
universities
and hospitals)[4]
outside
secular
jurisdiction.
The employee-minister’s
treatment
is guaranteed
only by
the institution’s
commitment
to fairness
in its
employment
practices.
Institutional
commitment
to fairness
and good
policies
is frequently
also all
that protects
the people
served
by ministerial
employees.
Anti-discrimination
laws (including
sexual
misconduct
policies)
offer little
protection
against
the conduct
of ministers
if an interaction
can be
interpreted
as occurring
in a religious
context.
For example,
cases alleging
sexual
misconduct
by clergy
in congregant
interactions,
chaplaincy
or counseling
are frequently
dismissed.
Courts
fear examining
the relationship
between
ministers
and persons
receiving
care or
consultation
could constitute
excessive
entanglement
with religion.[5]
Recently,
courts
have entertained
clergy
sexual
misconduct
cases,
on very
narrow
grounds,
in states
that specifically
include
clergy
in statutes
prohibiting
sexual
contact
between
psychotherapists
and counselees.[6]
However,
such statutes
implicate
criminal
liability;
successful
civil actions
for damages
continue
to be rare.[7]
First
Amendment
constraints
reinforce
the moral
imperative
that every
religious
institution
enforce
anti-discrimination
practices
(including
sexual
misconduct
policies).
These should
minimally
meet federal
standards.[8]
Both those
doing and
receiving
ministry
deserve
no less.
Our prophetic
traditions
suggest
they deserve
even more!
Good policies
reflect
the moral
integrity
of conscientious
chaplains
and responsible
institutions.
Enforcing
policies
is not “regulating
the healthy
spontaneity”of
human interaction.
Policies
prohibiting
sexual
conduct
between
ministers
and those
served;
supervisors
and those
supervised,
are not “sex
negative.”Rather,
they recognize
the awesome
potential
of erotic
energy,
and the
ease with
which it
is misused,
particularly
in relationships
of unequal
power.
Respect
for persons
informs
the ethical
and legal
reasons
for holding
ministers
accountable
for how
power is
exercised
in relationship
to those
served.
Fiduciary
duty (holding
trust)
requires “serving”relationships
exist solely
to benefit
the served.
Power
imbalance
in professional
relationships
always
makes monitoring
those relationships
the professional’s
duty. A
chaplain
cannot
be “seduced”by
a patient’s
spouse
nor have “consensual”sex
with his
or her
former
patient.
The chaplain
is responsible
for maintaining
the wholeness
(holiness)
of the
other person’s
best interests,
which never
include
sexual
contact
with the
chaplain
(or receipt
of costly
gifts,
financial,
political
or social
benefits).
When chaplains
violate
their fiduciary
duty and
use their
professional
power inappropriately,
trust is
betrayed.
The damage
is often
alienation
from the
Holy One
and a faith
tradition –not
only for
the person
betrayed,
but for
their family
and close
friends.
And, every
betrayal
potentially
casts aspersion
on colleagues’good
works and
integrity.
The next EthicsWalk discusses
professional
power:
owning
it and
using it
responsibly.
[1] “Congress
shall make
no law
respecting
an establishment
of religion,
or prohibiting
the free
exercise
thereof.”
[2] The federal government prohibits discrimination based on sex, race,
color, religion, or national origin in most work places and education
institutions through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended
and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. All states have
civil rights laws which may include protections additional to those covered
by federal legislation. As discussed in the second EthicsWalk, the Supreme
Court ruled that sexual and racial harassment constitute sexual and racial
discrimination.
[3] Courts apply the term “minister”to all ordained clergy
as well as lay persons who have some pastoral duties.
[4]Cases on point to each situation were cited in footnotes in the last
column.
[5]Excessive entanglement violates the Free Exercise clause of the First
Amendment.
[6] Doe v. F.P., 667 N.W.2d 493 (Minn.App.2003) upheld the constitutionality
of Minnesota’s inclusion of clergy within a statute prohibiting
psychotherapist-client sexual contact. Only twelve states to date have
specifically included clergy in such statutes.
[7]The U.S. Supreme Court is the only court whose rulings apply to all
the nation’s courts. Cases in lower federal or state courts may
set precedents but cannot be relied upon as determinative for decisions
in other jurisdictions.
[8] The second column footnote 3 cites the EEOC statement on sexual harassment.
Harassment or discriminatory treatment based on race, creed, gender,
national origin, age, different ability, and sexual orientation ought
to be included.
Anne
Underwood
has an
undergraduate
degree
in religious
studies,
a master’s
degree
in rural
sociology
and a mid-life
law degree
obtained
after working
over a
decade
as a college
administrator.
She has
mediated
for the
Maine family
courts
since 1983.
Currently
she serves
as an advisor
to the
ethics
commissions
of ACPE,
APC, the
CCAR (Central
Conference
of American
Rabbis),
and NAJC,
and consults
with a
variety
of Protestant
faith communities
on issues
of power,
fair process,
and congregational
conflict
management.
Her articles
on mediation
and restorative
justice
have appeared
in the
ACPE News,
The APC
News and
on the
ACPE web
site. Articles
on clergy
accountability
and judicatory
processes
are published
by the
Alban Institute
and The
Journal
on Religion
and Abuse. A
chapter,
“Clergy
Sexual
Misconduct:
A Justice
Issue,”
appears
in Body
and Soul:
Rethinking
Sexuality
as Justice-Love,
Marvin
Ellison
and Sylvia
Thorson-Smith,
editors,
The Pilgrim
Press,
2003.
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Reviews |
Macky Alston reviews
the film From Jesus
to Christ: The First
Christian
From
Jesus to Christ:
The First Christian
From Jesus to Christ:
The First Christians challenges
with new and controversial
historical evidence
familiar assumptions
about the life of Christ
and the rise of Christianity.
The four-part documentary
series energizes New
Testament stories and
is a “must see”for
those who minister
to individuals of the
Christian faith, because
the film provides to
all viewers many layers
of understanding of
this major religion.
This series starts right
off with the assertion
by New Testament theologians,
archaeologists and historians
that Jesus grew up in
a cosmopolitan rather
than rural setting and
was not of the peasant
class. Experts in early
Christian history serve
as both critics and storytellers
in this film, and they
focus their sights mainly
on Jesus’first
followers, the men and
women whose beliefs,
convictions, and martyrdom
created a major movement
that transformed the
Roman Empire in the space
of only three hundred
years. The camera visits
the sites where early
Christianity took root
and the filmmakers use
findings from archeological
digs and models of ancient
cities to bring a keen
sense of place to the
narrative.
The scholarship of the
numerous biblical experts
who provide commentary
is striking. They weave
together from their different
perspectives a dynamic
vision of cultural, political
and religious life in
the Roman Empire and
reinterpret much of the
story of Christ and his
followers in concrete
and intriguing ways.
From Jesus to Christ:
The First Christians is
not a story of a golden
age of consensus, but
a story of people in
conflict –wrestling
with Judaism, confronting
the authority of the
Empire, and struggling
among themselves to
understand Jesus’message
about the coming of
G-d.
Macky Alston is the
director of Auburn Media,
a division of the Center
for Multifaith Education
at Auburn Theological Seminary
committed to supporting,
cultivating and promoting
powerful, engaging, balanced
and responsible media on
religion, spirituality
and ethics. He is a graduate
of Union Theological Seminary
and an award-winning documentary
filmmaker.
Completed: 1998
Running Time: 240 Minutes
From Jesus to Christ: The First Christian was
produced in association with WHBH/Boston and
aired nationally on PBS Frontline
Producer/Writer: Marilyn Mellowes
Senior Producer/Director: William Cran
Narration: William Cran and Marilyn Mellowes
If you are interested in purchasing this film,
you can do so at the Hartley Film Foundation’s
web site, www.hartleyfoundation.org. Just click
on “Masterworks”on the homepage for
more information. The cost is $59.98 for
a 4-volume VHS set and $24.99 for a DVD copy
of the film.
Do you have thoughts about reviews you’d like
to share with your colleagues? Send an e-mail
to info@PlainViews.org. |
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10/6/2004
Vol. 1, No. 17 |
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Spiritual Development
The Rev. Susan Wintz: being a grieving mother and a chaplain |
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EthicsWalk
Portecting Trust: policies complement personal integrity |
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Reviews
Macky Alston reviews the film
From Jesus to Christ: The First Christian |
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