I’m done with self-reflection.

August 7, 2007

Over the past week, I’ve answered questions and completed paperwork for my upcoming CPM (Committee on Preparation for Ministry) meeting in Idaho, finished 8 pages of self-reflection for my CPE final evaluation, and now I’m working on the seminary paperwork for my CPE experience (which is incredibly redundant - and just more self-reflecting). And this [...]

Tags: Chaplaincy, Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, Self-Reflection

Posted in Ministry, PC(USA) | 10 Comments »

Reflections on Being On-Call

August 1, 2007

It is 7.20am in the hospital and things are relatively quiet [I just used the "Q-Word" which can tend to jinx you at the hospital, but since I only have 1hr left of my last on-call, I think it's safe]. This morning at 8.30am I’ll hand over the on-call pager for the last time as [...]

Tags: Chaplain, Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, Crisis-Ministry, Hospital-Chaplaincy, Ministry

Posted in Ministry | 2 Comments »

“We make people cry.”

July 30, 2007

When someone once asked my CPE Supervisor, “So, what is it that chaplains do?” she responded by saying, “We make people cry.”
And it’s true. I often joke with Sarah when I’m telling her about my day when I say, “Well, it was a pretty good day today. I was able to make 3 people cry.” [...]

Tags: Chaplains, Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, Pastoral Care

Posted in Ministry | 6 Comments »

The Fourth of July and CPE Thoughts

July 4, 2007

Today is significant for two reasons. The first is that it’s, of course, the 4th of July. Not a favorite holiday, but I still enjoy the day off from work. We celebrated by taking Sadie to the dog park this afternoon (where we saw two people pushing their dogs in strollers. Yes, that’s right. I [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, Fireworks, Fourth-of-July

Posted in Ministry | Comments 1 Comment »

No Words.

July 3, 2007

One thing I’ve noticed after working in the hospital for the past five weeks, especially on my Oncology unit, is that I often have no words for patients.
One particular afternoon I walked into the room of a patient who was severely suffering from Crohn’s Disease. Because she was on Contact Precautions, I had to wear [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, hospital, on-call, Pastoral Care

Posted in Ministry | 8 Comments »

Being On-Call

June 25, 2007

Waiting and Watching: I’m on-call today, and I’m sitting here working on some verbatims, some paperwork and getting caught up on a little email. Yet, I can’t stop looking at the pager. Watching it. Just waiting…waiting for it to beep. I actually like the tone of the alert - it’s not an annoying pager noise. [...]

Tags: Chaplains, CPE, Hospital-Chaplaincy, on-call, Pastoral Care

Posted in Ministry | 5 Comments »

CPE: Week 3

June 18, 2007

We have completed 3 weeks of CPE and we are just now beginning the fourth. I think you can tell how much of my time it consumes by the amount of blog entries I’ve written recently. I’m finding myself more comfortable in my role as “chaplain” and visiting patients has become easier as well. At [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, hospital, on-call, Pastoral Care

Posted in Ministry, Random | 7 Comments »

CPE: 24hr On-Call in a Trauma 1 Hospital

June 7, 2007

Part of our job description for the summer entails being the On-Call Chaplain 7 times throughout the summer. It’s a 24-hr on-call, and after 5pm, the On-Call Chaplain is the only chaplain in the 600-bed hospital. So, it can be a little intimidating - especially your first time. It’s hard to describe what being On-Call [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, hospital, on-call, Pastoral Care

Posted in Ministry | 16 Comments »

CPE: Week 1

June 3, 2007

I have completed my first week of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). So far, I’ve really been enjoying the experience. Granted, getting up at 6am to carpool at 7.15 to get the 7.35 train to New Brunswick and to be at work by 8.30 is not my ideal summer schedule (and shirt/tie/coat is not ideal either); [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE, Pastoral Care

Posted in General, Ministry | 7 Comments »

Clinical Pastoral Education

May 29, 2007

Today I begin a 10 week program called Clinical Pastoral Education, otherwise known as CPE. One year ago, I was very excited about the experience; I had just completed a Pastoral Care course with Deborah Hunsinger, and I was looking forward to seeing how pastoral care actually worked. Last night I googled “clinical pastoral education” [...]

Tags: Clinical-Pastoral-Education, CPE

Posted in Ministry, PC(USA) | 9 Comments »