Pastoral Care Week Merchandise

Pastoral Care Week Merchandise Order Form

All 2008 PCWeek Web Resources in MS Word

Ways to Celebrate Pastoral Care Week:

Objective 1: To celebrate the education for and practice of
Spiritual care:

· Do an article, insert, poster or bulletin board with the theme:
· What is a Spiritual Care Professional?
· How does one become a Chaplain?
· Why and how I became a Chaplain?
· Who is the Spiritual Care Professional?
· What goes on in your Chaplain Center?
· Organize an educative event explaining what is the education for and
practice of spiritual care through professional chaplaincy and pastoral
counseling.
· Feature a chaplain, a pastoral counselor or the chaplaincy program
in the house communication, church paper or local newspaper.
· Invite CPE personnel to make a presentation to the administration.

• Objective 2: To interpret and promote pastoral care.
  
  · WHEN IS IT TIME TO CALL THE CHAPLAIN? - Do an article,
  brochure or flyer with the picture of the chaplain.
  · Have a luncheon seminar on WHAT IS PASTORAL CARE AND
  WHEN DOES IT MAKE SENSE?
  · Use the opportunity to make a case for pastoral care (reference
  JCAHO standards and the "White Paper", "Professional Chaplaincy,
  It's Role and Importance in Healthcare",
  Ed: Larry VandeCreek D.Min. and Laurel Burton, Th.D.)
  · Have a SPIRITUAL CARE FAIR giving out brochures and PCW
  material.
  · Plan a FUN QUIZ to bring to the different areas of the institution
  offering treats and small prizes for taking the quiz. (example below)

• Objective 4: To express appreciation to institutions and
  their staff who support pastoral care ministries.
  
  · Send a letter of thanks to administration and other staff supportive
  of your work. Have an open house of appreciation for them.
  · Take out an add in your local newspaper expressing appreciation
  to the institution and its employees who support pastoral care.
  Include a picture of the pastoral care staff.
  · Do an article in the institution's newsletter describing support received.
  Illustrate with brief stories.

• Objective 5: To publicize the work of pastoral care
  organizations affiliated with the COMISS network.

• · Do some research on "the pastoral care story". Use the information
  to educate the general public.

• Objective 6: To promote continued education for clergy,
  laity and institutional employees regarding the value of
  pastoral care.
  · Sponsor a clergy appreciation day for area clergy. Provide a well
  known speaker for inspiration and discussion.
  · Award a scholarship for a class of pastoral care interest.
  · Have a "Lunch and Learn" on the value of pastoral care as
  demonstrated by research.
   

Pastoral Care Week 2004

Vickie Putnam from Boise, ID wrote about her experience with the “Imagining Peace” theme.
She was new at St. Alphonsus Medical Center.

“With a short lead time, I purchased items for my colleagues at this website. I developed
a Peace Quiz which was sent to all staff members via email. It was a bit challenging and
the response was wonderful. I held a poetry contest…Midweek in Pastoral Care Week
I held a Peace Service. A chaplain read peace poems from Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism
and Christianity. The winning poem was read. And, of course, we ended by singing,
‘Let there Be Peace On Earth’.

Prizes were given to five people who correctly solved all the questions on the Peace Quiz.
The winner of the poetry contest also received a prize.

A chaplain who has worked at this hospital for fifteen years said: ‘This is the best Pastoral
Care Week we’ve ever had’.

I’m excited about Healing Wisdom week and I’m already thinking of things to do.”
VICKPUTN@sarms.org

PCW 2000

"We're having a University Professor and Bioethicist speak on the Last
Hours of Life: Care and Rituals on Oct. 26. She will dovetail on the Moyers'
series, and provide perspectives on EOL care community-state partnership
(co-sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). We'll do the
"Blessing of the Hands" ritual for nursing during the week, and work with
other departments in the next few months. We're sending out an Advance
Care Planning packet of information (congregation-friendly) to the faith
communities published by the Sacramento Healthcare Decisions. And the
usual, e.g. posters, banners etc."

Health Care Chaplains

"We had the mayor speak at our hospital and officially pronounce
Pastoral Care Week."
"We gave cookies and punch out to employees on all three shifts."
"The employees loved the pens and buttons."
"I placed a table tent on each table in the cafeteria."
"Our local TV station came out for our balloon launch."
"We planned a lunch for the administrators and gave each of them a
sports bottle and T-shirt."
"I invited the community clergy in for a brunch and had our hospital
administrator thank them for their spiritual support to our patients."
"We had a special event each day, like Bibles given by the Gideon
Society, etc."

From Linda Piotrowski at Central Vermont Medical Center, Barre, Vermont
Linda.Piotrowski@hitchcock.org
The following document was sent as an e-mail to everyone in the hospital, nursing
home and physicians’ offices. An introductory note said, “Thank you for being my
partner and caring for our patients, families and each other. Together we build a
better community in Central Vermont. Peace and all good to each of you.”

There was incredible response and many more prizes were given
than planned. Prizes were a free lunch in the hospital cafeteria and
a copy of “The Healer’s Calling” by Daniel P. Sulmasey.

Pastoral Care Week is October 19-25, 2003. It is a nationwide effort to
celebrate those who are on the front lines of bringing hope to a hurting world.
The focus of this year’s event is “Imagining Community” and celebrates the
work of thousands of well-trained and gifted pastoral caregivers of all faiths
who work to stir the imagination of all peoples to build community among the
human family.

Pastoral care givers trust their imagination and daily work to make this
world---the beautiful community. Ancient grudges, bitter hatreds, and
painful memories are heard and valued by chaplains and other pastoral
care givers and thus transformed into material from which community is
raised.

Pastoral caregivers cross-institutional, economic, cultural and ecclesiastical
boundaries in integrating spirituality into the healing of the whole person.
They work around the clock in communities, congregations, hospitals,
long-term care facilities, correctional services, mental health systems and
many other places where hurting souls are found. They seek to help people
of all faiths and those with no formal religious affiliation.

AN IDEA FOR PASTORAL CARE WEEK: MAKE YOUR OWN VIDEO!
From Rev. Robert J. McArtney,
SMTP: RMcArtney@wnyreligion.net

We all try to be original in planning for the celebration of Pastoral
Care Week but it often comes down to putting up the chaplains’
pictures and a few piles of handouts. This year we decided to do
something different - to make our own video, in addition to putting
up the chaplains’ pictures and the required handouts!

The idea of a short video explaining our work integrating with other
disciplines sparked the interest of chaplains throughout our Western
New York Catholic Health System (CHS). The plan was to combine
video clips of areas of specialty from the four acute-care hospitals in
the system and some representation from long-term care and home
care. The budget for the video was zero because we intended
chaplains to use their own camcorders or to borrow them. The
various video tapes would be routed to the chaplain with the software to
pull it together. This chaplain happened to be me.

Last Spring I wanted to try out my new video editing software and
I made a short tape of the retirement party of a colleague. The video
included music, titles and rolling credits of those in attendance! Seeing that short
tape gave our department staff the idea that we could make a video for
Pastoral Care Week.

How we did it.

The idea of a video intrigued a co-worker, Bill Korthals, who did
much of the organizing of a committee and guided the process of
planning, script writing, and so on. I was to be the “techie” putting
the video together with music, titles, the recorded narration, and
I found out, making the many changes to the finished product
necessitated by the video clips dribbling in. We insisted that any
patients or clients identifiable must sign releases.

Back in early July of this year we called together interested
chaplains of the various facilities in CHS to discuss the plan. One
person thought it too big of a project to begin this late and we
should put it off until next year. No one, other than myself owned
a camcorder and no one was sure where they would get one.
But by begging, borrowing and… well, chaplains don’t steal…
the video came together.

The computer program I used came from Sony, the maker of my
camcorder, and allowed for several video and audio tracks to be
combined in the final tape. We were able to do some “fancy stuff”
like overlaying titles on the video or seeming to “cut away” to
another scene while the first was playing. We used this, for example,
to show a chaplain talking to nurses while the speaker was telling
how important spiritual care was.

Having other staff talk about spiritual care was quite effective and
probably impressed on the speaker what she/he was saying. The
Director of Cardiology as well as a couple of head nurses gave
“in their own words” type of comments. We also had a physician
who heads a palliative care unit give an explanation of her work.

The video has the title, “Imagining Community” and opens with
zoom shots of the front of each acute-care hospital and one nursing
home which represented the long-term and home care we do.
Then over a collage of these facilities the introductory titles flash
while appropriate music plays. The music fades behind the
announcer who explains how we are trained and where we work.
The narration was recorded in six segments even before the video
shots were taken. That narration then provided a “container” to
drop the various video takes in. The program allows fading in one
scene from another. For its relatively low “price this software
provides some professional looking features.

An effort was made to avoid connecting individual scenes with a
specific facility. We wanted this to show the work of the system
regardless of where the video was made. It was shown and explained how
chaplains work in the special units such as the ICU, ER, CCU, Open Heart
Unit, and Ambulatory Surgery. Scenes from a prayer service, Mass, the
Anointing of the Sick, and a Memorial Service were all included. Near the
end music fades in behind the narrator and raises to full volume during the
rolling credits.

Video tapes were provided to each facility for showing during
Pastoral Care Week in a well-trafficked area. The nine-minute
presentation was recorded over and over on the tape allowing
unattended use for a couple of hours. I believe that this project
will motivate other departments to move beyond PowerPoint
presentations and make an occasional video especially for training
purposes. All one needs is a camcorder and the software, and a
desire to do something exciting!

In all, many staff participated and we all felt that we were doing
something worthwhile. Besides that, we had fun doing it.

By Rev. Robert J. McArtney, SMTP: RMcArtney@wnyreligion.net

IMAGINING AND BECOMING COMMUNITY
From Rev. Miguel Grave de Peralta, St. Joseph Hospital,
Augusta, GA MIGUELG@stjoshosp.org

On October 23, 2003, professional clinical and volunteer chaplains
from all over Augusta, Georgia, were hosted at St. Joseph Hospital
by the Pastoral Care Department to share prayer, breakfast, and
their stories.

Focusing on the theme of “Imagining Community,” participants
spoke of their sorrows and triumphs as they worked to show God’s
love to the people they served. Directors, staff chaplains, and
volunteers offered a piece of their hearts to their comrades in what
may have been Augusta’s first gathering of clinical chaplains in
the community.

Representing a medical college, a community hospital, the VA
medical center, hospice and home health care, certified and
volunteer chaplains from many religious and spiritual traditions all
agreed that it was a good idea to come together and be community
rather than hear someone just talk about it. Conversation ranged
from performance improvement models, acquiring adequate pastoral
personnel, the effect of life-changing events in one’s own professional
life to the time a chaplain needs to recharge spiritual batteries.

All participants agreed that it is important that we minister to one
another as part of that spiritual health chaplains require in order to
minister to others. It was decided that the groups would remain open
to all chaplains and meet every few months for breakfast and mutual
support.

In Augusta, a door was opened to imagine community, and chaplains
have begun to become exactly that.

By the Rev. Miguel Grave de Peralta, St. Joseph Hospital,
Augusta, GA MIGUELG@stjoshosp.org

Pastoral Counselors

"We invited in area clergy for doughnuts and coffee followed by a
special presentation by a nationally recognized speaker."

"I decided I needed to get together with my peers in the city and so
we planned a half day retreat at a nearby park."

"Our counseling center gave each counselor on the staff a special gift."

"The area ministerial alliance sent each of us a certificate of
appreciation."

"We designed a week of evening seminar topics for the community,
highlighting the emphasis on Pastoral Care Week."

"We picked twelve spiritually focused books at our city library and had
them reserved for the community. We then published an article in the city
newspaper stating that the books were there and hand picked by us."

"I designed an all day retreat for area chaplains, clergy, and pastoral
counselors."

Correctional Chaplains

"I invited the area clergy in to lead a special service for the inmates.
We then had refreshments and special pastries from our prison bakery that
we shared together."

"We brought in a special guest speaker who then took some time to
make rounds with the chaplain."

"We had the inmates that assist the chaplains to send special letters
of affirmation to our area bishops and judicatories."

"We had several inmates join us in writing letters to clergy that we
knew, thanking them for their ministry."