Reading: 3-1 Immanuel to those who are Sick

The Ministry of Hospital Chaplaincy

In this module, we will be focused on the role of the chaplain in a healthcare setting. As we think in terms of "chatplaincy”, this is a place where the caring, supportive spirit of a Christian can provide a great deal of comfort to the person who is confined to a bed. Many times, they will have access to the internet as their only way to be in contact with people other than caregivers. It is a role for which we as "chatplains” are uniquely ready to offer.

5. MISSION OF HOSPITAL CHAPLAINS Hospital chaplains - both ordained and non-ordained - are employees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Their duty is to serve patients, their families and the health care staff as experts in questions concerning the values and view of life stirred by illness. Hospital chaplains promote holistic care by supporting the whole care community, and serve as a link between the religious communities and the health care system. If necessary, hospital chaplains participate in the deliberation of ethical questions in health care. The duties of hospital chaplains also involve the non-institutional care setting, as well as supervision and training for both parish and health care staff. Voluntary work, as well as pastoral care after crises and disasters, brings additional duties to hospital chaplains. Religious and spiritual support in palliative care, support for grieving families and co-operation with the police and rescue services require the expertise of a hospital chaplain. Discussions between hospital chaplains and patients do not always occur on religious terms, but there is a presence of a deeper dimension, a sense of the sacred. A hospital chaplain is an expert in spiritual issues, and an interpreter of the religious language. A hospital chaplain's duty is to bring the  sacred to the everyday bustle of a hospital.

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In this module we are going to focus on the chaplaincy work in a hospital or healthcare setting. This is a very important aspect of service for a chaplain since many smaller, rural hospitals in the United States and many, many hospitals around the world, do not have a professional chaplain on staff. This is an area for significant work by those who have the love of Christ in their hearts and who desire to love their fellow man because every person is made in the image of God.

The hospital chaplain is one who meets people when an illness has brought them to an institutional setting to care for their bodies. It is in the hospital setting that many people have far too much time on their hands as they lay in their bed awaiting treatment; they are often in pain; and many know they are facing the ultimate fact of human life - they are going to die. This means that there are a great many different aspects to the situation which a chaplain must be aware of.

A human person is, I believe, an integrated whole. By that I mean that I cannot take one aspect of a person and deal with only that aspect to the exclusion of others. A medical doctor focuses on the body and often just a specific part of a person's body. I happen to have a cyst on the head of my pancreas which requires that I see a surgeon every two years to determine if it might be turning cancerous.  The surgeon I see cares for many, many people with cancerous tumors in their bodies. All day long, he and his associates spend reading test results and contemplating what will be the best treatment for this person.

The last time I was there, which was a few months ago, one of the staff said as I was getting ready to leave, "Here is something I very rarely get to say to any of our patients -- we'll see you in two years.” She went on to explain that most people who come to see them, rarely, will live two years without a surgical intervention on their part and so they see people weekly or even more often until they are released to the care of their primary care physician again.

All that office does is look at test results on tumors and plan how to remove the tumor. But the person themselves faces a major life crisis just going to see the surgeon. This office visit affects their minds; it affects their emotions as fear comes into their hearts; it affects their bodies as their blood pressure shoots up as they await the usually bad news. They have family with them because this tumor is affecting their families and how their families will be functioning in the future.  This affects their relationship with friends who suddenly are afraid they might catch the cancer themselves. This visit to the doctor's office may very well mean that they need to do as Isaiah told Hezekiah (This is found in Isaiah 38) "set your house in order for you will surely die.”

This visit could mean that their financial situation will take a turn for the worse as doctor visits, surgeries, and medicines cost so much in today's world. The issue of life after death becomes very real. And on and on go the things that demand our attention and the ill person, in pain, is often not all that able to deal with the manifold issues that are facing him or her.

The reality is that there is no one who really has the time or the courage to be with this ill person and allow them to make their peace with their mortality and to help them with the issues that are confronting them in this hour of deep need. So into this crisis steps the chaplain. A person of faith and of compassion. A person who will not simply say a quick prayer and disappear. A person who is willing to ponder the issues of illness with the one who is sick. A person who is comfortable with his or her own mortality. A person who knows God and desires that knowledge to permeate the life of the ill person as well.

That is the challenge for all of you who wish to be chaplains in the hospital setting. The issues are deep and intimate for each person. The visit with a sick person is not something to record and put on YouTube. It just is not done. And if it is by anyone, it is a violation of the privacy of the ill person with whom the chaplain has been interacting. I guess what I am trying to say is confidentiality on the part of the chaplain is of utmost importance. The conversations are private and discreet.

For example, some years ago, I was making the rounds in the hospital and one of the patients asked if he could speak privately with me. When I assured him that he could and that I would not be telling anyone about what he had to say, he felt he could share something that was on his heart. His story went like this,

"Last night I could not sleep at all. I was nervous. I was in pain. My heart kept beating too hard and the nurses kept coming in to check on me. But around one o'clock in the morning, it was as if the wall of my room disappeared and I saw heaven! I heard the angels singing as clearly as you and I are speaking right now. I saw heaven, chaplain. I saw it. Do you think I am crazy?

Oh, and chaplain, please do not tell anyone about this. My family would worried sick about my mental state. The nurses would laugh at me. I don't even want to think what the doctor would say.”

Do you think I am crazy? Now there is a good question for a man who is firmly committed to the idea that heaven is real and life after death is real. But how about a vision of heaven in a hospital room, by a guy who cannot sleep and whose mind is probably addled with drugs?  Is that real? Does one tell the family about this? If they ask, has he been acting a little weird and seeing things? What do I in good conscience tell them? Here is where confidentiality becomes an important consideration. The ill person asked that no one be told. Do I always honor that request? Or might there be times when it would be better if the doctor and nursing staff were aware of what the patient has told the chaplain in the privacy of his room?

You need to know that in the present case, I would keep the vision confidential. Here is why. The man did not tell me that he was going to harm himself or another person. I think that is the only time that we would break our assurance of confidentiality and then only when we have told the person that we have to let someone know about this.

In the next lecture I will go into various situations and try to give some ideas of what we can do in that situation. So until next time, bye.