tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post6082312437849749043..comments2023-11-03T05:09:33.978-04:00Comments on Fragments of Grace: Hopsice Care for Churches?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-59327504464911548952013-01-12T02:12:08.298-05:002013-01-12T02:12:08.298-05:00Thruth. :)Thruth. :)Lisa :-]https://www.blogger.com/profile/02237889098638895390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-54137398123567613732013-01-11T11:51:30.212-05:002013-01-11T11:51:30.212-05:00And honestly, allowing them to come to their own l...And honestly, allowing them to come to their own learning is the only way to honor the human beings involved. Any decisions made by a hierarchal body will only impede progress. God's timing comes into play here. Amy+https://www.blogger.com/profile/01576123442703445620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-23768952382227848752013-01-11T11:47:11.504-05:002013-01-11T11:47:11.504-05:00btw- "Allow Natural Death" convo is much...btw- "Allow Natural Death" convo is much more helpful than "Do Not Resuscitate" language.Amy+https://www.blogger.com/profile/01576123442703445620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-67470646901606489132013-01-11T11:45:38.224-05:002013-01-11T11:45:38.224-05:00Robin - when I did CPE I was amazed at how many &q...Robin - when I did CPE I was amazed at how many "very Christian" people were trying to pray away death even in the most dire of circumstances - it flabbergasted me! It is the same phenomenon - I like to throw into the conversation I have with churches now: How many of Paul's churches are still in existence just as they were in his time? How many of Peter's? How many did Christ himself leave? No church is ever always the same throughout all time, just as no human being has ever survived this life without death. <br />Montessori methods of leading people to a discovery are very effective in this sort of ministry. It has to be done carefully, prayerfully and pastorally but it is honorable and necessary work to do.Amy+https://www.blogger.com/profile/01576123442703445620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-85759780518887143092013-01-11T09:45:35.185-05:002013-01-11T09:45:35.185-05:00My people have been angered by upper echelon sugge...My people have been angered by upper echelon suggestions of merger, just as my stepmother and father were angered by our suggestions of hospice care for a stage 4+ cancer situation.<br /><br />Montessori! Create the environment in which the individual comes to her own learning.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-70746500794578644422013-01-11T09:43:20.891-05:002013-01-11T09:43:20.891-05:00Well, now I feel better about last week's serm...Well, now I feel better about last week's sermon. I was trying to urge my people to get out and see the world around them; maybe they first need to think in terms of escaping the structure itself.<br />Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-55055912697940590872013-01-11T09:42:01.001-05:002013-01-11T09:42:01.001-05:00Yes, and one might imagine the past year of your ...Yes, and one might imagine the past year of your own life as an example. Would you be taking those incredible photos of birds from your restaurant kitchen?Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-9731317911958257852013-01-11T09:40:57.418-05:002013-01-11T09:40:57.418-05:00Many years ago as the spouse of a minister, we exp...Many years ago as the spouse of a minister, we experienced the amalgamation of several country congregations who already knew each other because the churches were very close. There was very little discussion and the decision was made at the Conference office. Forty years later there are still hard feelings but I believe that if this had been handled with consultation with the people, the story would have been different. I like the idea of hospice because there is so much grief associated with moving on in such a situation. God bless you who care so much for your people that you want to help them through the necessary changes that are on the horizon.Lyndahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06336536082191736636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-59969841932926921032013-01-11T09:40:51.266-05:002013-01-11T09:40:51.266-05:00Amy, the friend who brought this metaphor to my at...Amy, the friend who brought this metaphor to my attention (after, like Lisa(see below) I had thought it a stroke of genius on my part) is an Episcopal priest.<br /><br />I am very grateful to have the word resurrection thrown into the mix. One of the intriguing things to me about pastoring is how many Christians resist death without any articulation of the concept of resurrection life. I have found that those who do not claim faith for themselves are sometimes far more able to accept the end, which they tend to see as part of the natural cycle of life and death of which they are a part, rather than as a time of deterioration followed by judgment.<br /><br />Perhaps there is much teaching to be done about resurrection in its many senses, including the ways in which the congregation has experienced it in the past.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-57751034163624232052013-01-11T07:53:00.632-05:002013-01-11T07:53:00.632-05:00The idea of hospice is being comfortable with no h...The idea of hospice is being comfortable with no heroic measures to sustain life, letting life to end while everyone is knowing what is happening and comfortable. The ideas I posted were last things that people(churches) that are dying need to answer for themselves. I thought they fit well with what your wrote. Amy talked about resurrection, I think this may be true for a people confined to structure. Get out of a structure and see what is out there. I'm here! Now what?https://www.blogger.com/profile/15808154616777150947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-39373981789141239862013-01-10T20:30:29.165-05:002013-01-10T20:30:29.165-05:00It was really incredible to come here and read thi...It was really incredible to come here and read this post, because I was just talking over your previous post about how to minister to an aging church with the hubs, and I mentioned the idea of "hospice" for the congregation. (I thought I was coming up with something original...:D) I am not a minister, have not attended seminary. But it seems to me that there must be a way to make the discussion look less like "giving up" and more like "<b>going</b>" up...Lisa :-]https://www.blogger.com/profile/02237889098638895390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-19066929117906484542013-01-10T17:06:37.657-05:002013-01-10T17:06:37.657-05:00I encounter a lot of this language and conversatio...I encounter a lot of this language and conversation at the Episcopal Church Building Fund. They help churches either die gracefully or morph into something else. As Christians we believe (or at least proclaim) resurrection and that is a HUGE part in this. There is never resurrection without death, so sometimes things (churches, ministries) need the chance to die a grace-filled death before anything else can be imagined. Sometimes the imagining alone will revive a congregation. In my diocese we are have been faced with this for the last 4 years and have found it energizing to be doing the honorable work of "diagnosing" and facing reality. Just naming alone can sometimes be relief. I am an RN and a priest, so I mix these metaphors a lot in my diocesan job. Amy+https://www.blogger.com/profile/01576123442703445620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-17518479330498259782013-01-10T11:13:10.976-05:002013-01-10T11:13:10.976-05:00Well, and that's one of the questions -- who g...Well, and that's one of the questions -- who gets to choose? Or influence the decision? (For either the individual or the congregation.)Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-45563456933064543002013-01-10T11:12:08.537-05:002013-01-10T11:12:08.537-05:00HNW, I would love it if you would elaborate. You ...HNW, I would love it if you would elaborate. You raise so many questions in your succinct questions.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898073277524952683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-7538329746872852582013-01-10T10:47:23.652-05:002013-01-10T10:47:23.652-05:00I just to say I wasn't called to be a hospice ...I just to say I wasn't called to be a hospice chaplain. But that's exactly what I am called to be. The question for me is, I believe that hospice is the right choice, but the congregation isn't there yet. How do I know that it is the right choice, after all I'm just there in the short term? If it is the right choice, how to I move them forward to that hard decision? It has to be a mutual coming to the decision, through lots of denial. And from my personal experience, denial is powerful and narcotic. But, also based on personal experience, denial sometimes is the right place to be. I think it takes lots of waiting.Maggie Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-3324768601152634992013-01-10T09:37:13.370-05:002013-01-10T09:37:13.370-05:00Working as a Hospice Chaplain, the main points to ...Working as a Hospice Chaplain, the main points to address to the church are:<br />Are you comfortable where you are?<br />What is next for you?<br />How do you say "I love you" to the church?I'm here! Now what?https://www.blogger.com/profile/15808154616777150947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907440527168314545.post-4782771454892548942013-01-10T09:32:32.638-05:002013-01-10T09:32:32.638-05:00Looking forward to the next. An important topic an...Looking forward to the next. An important topic and a perfect metaphor.Mary Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02970052534402740820noreply@blogger.com