When I was a resident chaplain at Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics in Tyler, Texas, I kept a Blog feature called “CPE Ramblings.” Of course, that was nearly four years ago. Now that I am serving as a chaplain once again, I thought it might be nice to add updates ever so often pertaining to the spiritual life at Concordia Village according to my own unique perspective.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I received a Call to serve as the first full time chaplain at Concordia Village in Springfield, Illinois. The Call came through Lutheran Senior Services based in St. Louis, Missouri, a recognized service organization. I accepted the Call because I was interested in being part of a building process, and minister to the senior community. Plus, it was my sincere belief that my former parish needed a new voice.
Responsibility for the Spiritual Life
As chaplain I am responsible for the spiritual life at Concordia Village, which includes people from a wide variety of faith traditions. I’m not just chaplain to the Lutheran folks at Concordia Village, but to all of the staff and residents regardless of faith tradition. Upon arriving at my installation on October 2, 2011, I was struck by how tremendous the responsibility was that laid before me. However, I have learned to take things day by day and let experience mold me.
Visitation
As I made clear during my telephone interview with the Call committee, my first act of business is to: Listen. I must confess that I have not always done a good job at listening. At times I have done exactly what I was trained NOT to do during my CPE training: hijack the conversation. I intend to change this.
Let me say right off the bat that the staff at Concordia Village is wonderful. The people working here are caring … they care for the residents and for each other. How thankful I am to be serving alongside such individuals.
Most days I try to set up visits with residents in order to get to better know the people who live here. Often I will write down some things about them after the visit in order to jog my memory for future visits. Obviously, repetition is the key towards getting to know someone. With the exception of casual visits with residents, I will sometimes visit with a resident’s family member(s) who lives elsewhere (another senior community, etc.). I will also make hospital visits when the matter is brought to my attention. And of course, I will serve as a go-between, between a resident and his or her respective pastor or caregiver. All of this (involving visitations) apply to staff members just as well.
I must say that one particular thing that I miss from my time as a parish pastor is where my wife and I would invite different parishioners over to our house for a home cooked meal and visit once or twice a month. The matter is a bit more complicated to undertake in our current setting.
Spiritual Activities
Concordia Village is blessed with the presence of various spiritual caregivers who have volunteered their time and energy to attend to the spiritual needs of the community. We have pastors and caregivers coming in to provide Bible studies, counseling, and visitation. We currently have a Catholic deacon come by once a month to provide Catholic communion, a rotation of ELCA pastors who provide Christian worship, and a rotation of LCMS pastors providing Vesper Service. The staff and even the residents have done much in promoting a spiritually active environment.
Since October I have added a Sunday Morning Worship to our activity calendar, as well as a Wednesday afternoon Bible study. These are services that I personally provide. By the way, I usually tell folks that while the Sunday Morning Worship service is theologically Lutheran by nature of me leading it ... all people are welcome to attend.
In the very near future I plan to add more offerings, including devotions in assisted living and the care center.
Clarification
I have found it necessary to clarify … that with the Sunday Morning Worship in which I officiate … that I am not seeking to establish my own church or congregation. No transfer of church membership will be accepted from any congregation. Rather, the morning worship service is provided for those who are physically unable to attend church, who want a different worship setting/venue from time to time, or who currently do not have a church to attend for one reason or another.
The Lord’s Supper is not currently offered during the Sunday Morning Worship service that is held in the chapel, but that may possibly change in the future. However, private communion is offered (in a responsible manner) when and where there is no pastoral representation or spiritual caregiving.
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