Welcome to PlainViews, an e-newsletter for chaplains and other spiritual care providers. We hope you will find PlainViews to be exactly that – views on various issues of interest presented in plain language. Because none of us has a lot of time to sit and read, PlainViews will strive to bring you articles as concisely as possible.

Our articles are grouped into four areas: Professional Practice, Advocacy, Education & Research, and Spiritual Development. PlainViews also features a section called "TalkBack." This gives you an opportunity to make your views known on current and sometimes controversial topics. We would like to hear what you think about end-of-life decisions, specialization as opposed to training in general chaplaincy, the increasing de-personalization of healthcare, government regulation and its affect on chaplaincy, etc. TalkBack is also an opportunity for you to comment on articles in previous issues. If you have a topic you’d like us to consider for TalkBack, please e-mail us at info@PlainViews.org.

PlainViews began because, as chaplaincy increasingly becomes a profession with its own set of standards and its own expectations, a need was perceived for chaplains and other spiritual care providers to be able to “talk” with each other about best practices in our profession, and those common bonds we share that make us stronger. This need was perceived by HealthCare Chaplaincy, an organization in New York City that trains and hires chaplains to serve in various healthcare settings, and has established an Education and Research center working on ways to quantify what chaplains do and how we do it. An Editorial Advisory Board, made up of pastoral care providers from all over the world, and from chaplaincy’s major cognate groups, oversee PV. You can read about them in the "About Us" section.

PV offers readers the opportunity to share the depth and breadth of the unique perspectives of chaplains. While owned, published, sponsored and managed by HealthCare Chaplaincy, the views expressed in PlainViews are those of our contributors.

We hope that you will find PlainViews informative, interesting, provocative, and challenging. We look forward to hearing from you, whether in the form of an article you are submitting, an idea or concern you would like to see discussed by our profession, or a commentary for TalkBack. We welcome your views and input as we work together to enrich the profession of chaplaincy.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Martha R. Jacobs
Managing Editor, PlainViews