CH500 - Integrated Chaplaincy
Topic outline
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This course provides an integrated overview of chaplaincy. It is intended to help students understand the ministry of chaplaincy, to discern whether they wish to pursue this ministry, and to better equip them to enter a formal program of clinical pastoral education (CPE).
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Rev. Dr. Teri Christine Smith-Jones
Email: companionteri@gmail.com
Please use the instructor’s e-mail address to introduce yourself before beginning this course, to set up a Zoom meeting whenever you feel that one is needed, to ask any questions you may have, and to contact the instructor if you do not receive a grade within 7 days of submitting a paper to the GMU classroom.
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Essential Chaplain Skills Sets: Discovering Effective Ways to Provide Excellent Spiritual Care, Keith Evans, WestBow Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1-9736-011-4
The Art of Theological Reflection; Patricia O’Connell Killen and John DeBeer; Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1994; ISBN: 0-8245-1401-7
Spiritual Care in Practice: Case studies in Healthcare Chaplaincy; George Fitchett and Steve Nolan; Jessica Kingsley Publishers; Philadelphia, PA, 2015; ISBN 978-1-84905-976-3
Nine Clinical Cases: The Soul of Pastoral Care & Counseling; Raymond J. Lawrence; Self-published 2015; ISBN: 978-1517411305
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1) Students will be able to explain what it means to be a chaplain and how chaplaincy is different from other ministries; to identify the various types of chaplaincy and requirements for chaplaincy; to describe the skills and tools that are important in chaplaincy; and to differentiate the concepts of spirituality, world view, and religion as applied to chaplaincy.
2) Students will be able to describe the concepts of spiritual autobiography and rule of life and explain why these are useful in preparing for and practicing chaplaincy; to describe their personal history and practices in terms of their own spiritual autobiography and rule of life; and to display an understanding of their own emotional triggers, residual woundedness, and growth edges in terms of their potential impact on ministry as a chaplain.
3) Students will be able to describe the concepts of narrative pastoral care and theological reflection and explain their relationship to chaplaincy; to apply the theological reflection model by exploring a story from their own life and the life of another; and to apply the narrative pastoral care model and all of the prior learning of this course by critiquing the work of other chaplains as presented in narrative case studies (critique of these case studies is intended to simulate the peer review work that will be required for anyone pursuing formal CPE training).
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This course consists of three writing assignments. A draft of any paper may be submitted to the instructor’s email address before final submission. The instructor will then grade and comment on the paper and allow an opportunity for rewriting before final submission (the maximum grade for a resubmitted paper is 95%). All final papers should be submitted through the GMU classroom page as PDF documents (please notify the instructor when they are submitted). Although students are welcome to cite other sources, for most assignments, a thorough reading of the assigned texts will generally provide sufficient information to produce A-level work, and it is expected that the assigned texts will be cited extensively (the exception to this is in discussing spiritual autobiography and rule of life, when students are expected to conduct independent research).
Students must understand that proficiency in chaplaincy is largely based in experiential learning, so there is only so much that can be learned from the texts assigned for this course or from any other written texts. Indeed, Anton Boisen (1936), “the father of CPE,” maintains that chaplains can really only learn from the “living documents” to whom they provide care. Because the experience of every chaplain is different, any texts will reflect only the experiences of the writers, those they have consulted, and those from whom they have learned. Thus, the texts chosen for this course will not explain everything there is to know about chaplaincy. They are simply sufficient to give you an understanding of chaplaincy as experienced by the authors.
All papers are to be written in APA format, using the most recent APA edition, student paper style. Papers should include a title page and a reference list, and should also be properly formatted with appropriate font, margins, headers and internal citations (texts should generally be cited when relied upon for content even if not quoted directly). This is not an arbitrary formatting requirement. Rather, it is an actual element of this course because most of the bodies who certify chaplains require the submission and defense of an extensive theory paper, and APA is the generally recognized style for this kind of work, so learning to use it is important.
With respect to the assignments set forth below, the number of pages identified applies to the body of the paper. It does not include the title page or reference page. Some assignments require a degree of critical thinking. Please know that, when asked to give an opinion, there is generally no right or wrong answer, provided you can reasonably justify your response.
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The primary text for this assignment will be Essential Chaplain Skill Sets: Discovering Effective Ways to Provide Excellent Spiritual Care by Keith Evans. This paper should be in APA format. Your final paper should be between 10 and 15 pages. Students who have previously taken CH100 (which is no longer offered) may obtain the same grade for this assignment as the grade they received for CH100 by merging the relevant sections of the papers used for that course to fulfill this assignment. Please advise the instructor if you elect to do this, and specify your prior grade.
Part I: Understanding Chaplaincy. Describe the ministry of chaplaincy; set forth some basic distinctions between chaplaincy and other ministries; discuss some basic requirements for effective chaplaincy; describe the healthcare chaplaincy certification process; and identify other types of chaplaincy.
Part II: Chaplaincy Skills and Tools. Describe at least six broad skill sets used in chaplaincy, and the two specific chaplaincy tools known as verbatims and spiritual assessments. As part of this discussion, state which of the spiritual assessment models identified by Evans you prefer and why, and which of Evans’ verbatims you consider to be the strongest and the weakest and why.
Part III: Spirituality, Worldview, and Religion. Explain the concepts of spirituality, worldview, and religion, and briefly critique Evans’ discussion of world religions, stating what was helpful and what might create a stumbling block. As part of this critique, state whether and why you agree or disagree with his description of your own faith tradition (or the tradition with which you are most familiar), and the degree to which you would be likely to rely on Evans’ description in your work as a chaplain, or what you might do instead.
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There is no assigned text for this paper. Rather independent research is encouraged where needed, and your spiritual autobiography and rule of life should be drawn from your personal experience and practice. You will not be graded on the content of your spiritual autobiography or rule of life, but on your analysis of these documents and the degree to which that analysis reflects self-awareness. This paper should be in APA format, although citations should only be needed for Part I, and Parts II and III should be first-person narratives. Your final paper should be no more than 25 pages.
Part I: Spiritual Autobiography, Rules of Life, and Why They Matter. Using any sources available to you (including the internet), briefly describe the concepts of spiritual autobiography and rule of life. Then, in your own words, explain why it is important for a chaplain to understand their own history and support systems.
Part II: Your Spiritual Autobiography. You should write your entire spiritual autobiography for your own benefit, but are required to submit only what you are comfortable sharing (be aware that if you seek training through CPE or formal chaplaincy certification, you will likely be required to explore your entire history in great detail). Reflect, in writing, on the most significant experiences (at least 3) that you have chosen to share in terms of emotional triggers, residual woundedness and growth edges, and explain how they could impact your work as a chaplain. Identify one potential situation that might trigger you because of your past experiences and explain how you would handle it as a chaplain.
Part III: Your Rule of Life. Using a rule of life format consistent with the description you have previously identified, explain your rule of life, identifying your own spiritual support system, including what you to do support yourself and where you obtain external support. Identify any weaknesses in this support system that you believe you should attend to in order to be a more effective chaplain.
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The texts for this assignment are The Art of Theological Reflection by Patricia O’Connell Killen and John DeBeer (2006); Spiritual Care in Practice by George Fitchett and Steve Nolan (2015); and Nine Clinical Case Studies: The Soul of Pastoral Care and Counseling by Raymond Lawrence (2015), which critiques the Fitchett/Nolan text. This paper should be in APA format although citations should only be needed for Parts I and IV, and Parts II and III should be first-person narratives. Your final paper should be between 20 and 30 pages.
Part I: Narrative Pastoral Care and Theological Reflection. Briefly define the concept of narrative pastoral care (discussed in Forward and Introduction to the Fitchett/Nolan text). Then, in more detail define and discuss the concept, process and purpose of theological reflection (discussed in Introduction and first three chapters of Killen/DeBeer text), and reflect on its use in chaplaincy.
Part II: Theological Reflection on a Story from your own Life. Write the story of a past situation in your life that was important to your life journey, and reflect in writing on this story using the theological reflection technique of beginning with a life situation (Killen/DeBeer, pp. 88-89). Where the authors discuss reflecting within the Christian tradition, you should use whatever religious or spiritual tradition is most meaningful to you.
Part III: Theological Reflection on a Story from the Life of Another. Ask a friend to tell you a story from their life that they are willing to allow you to share (you will change all names). Tell them that you do not want them to include any “why” explanations as part of the story. Do not ask questions about their story; accept it as it is. After they tell you their story, ask them to reflect silently on their story by identifying any feelings, themes, and images that arise for them. At the same time, make some notes (not to be shared with the story-teller) of your own reflections on their story. After the story-teller has had time to reflect, ask them to tell you about their reflection, what feelings, themes, and images arose for them. As soon as possible after your conversation ends, write down their story and reflection (as close to verbatim as possible), as well as your own reflection on their story. Then, compare the two sets of reflections. Did your feelings on hearing their story match the story-teller’s feelings? Did you identify the same theme or similar images? Note any false assumptions you may have made, and any areas in which you may not have fully experienced their story as they experienced it. Explore the ways in which you, as a chaplain, might have further explored their story to ensure that you better understood their intent and helped deepen their exploration of their own story.
Part IV: Critique of Case Studies. Read the nine case studies (verbatims are included as part of the case studies) set forth in the Fitchett/Nolan text. After reading each of the case studies, read the editor’s introductory notes and the critical responses to each study contained within the Fitchett/Nolan text after each set of three studies. Then also read the critiques of these case studies as discussed in the Lawrence text. Select two case studies that can be compared and contrasted to each other, summarize these studies and the related introduction and critical reviews, write your own critique of these studies, and compare and contrast them to each other. Please note that the terminology used in the critiques of these studies is sometimes dated. You are encouraged to include a critique of any such terminology.
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Your input is very important to us; therefore we urge you to submit a course evaluation here:
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The Rev. Dr. Teri Christine Smith-Jones is board certified as a clinical chaplain, pastoral counselor, and clinical fellow in hospice and palliative care by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP). She also holds a certificate in spiritual direction from Moravian University, a J.D. from the Catholic University of America, a D.Min. and M.Div. from Global Ministries University, and a B.S. from the University of Maryland. She is a professed member and ordained priest of the Lindisfarne Community, a dispersed religious community in the Anglo-Celtic tradition. She has served as a hospital, hospice, and veteran’s organization chaplain, and is also a spiritual director, associate pastor, attorney, and retired Army officer.