Intern Chaplains--My team, my colleagues, my new friends

There are four interns, all of different faith traditions—me, the Episcopalian. I’ve just turned 61—I know hard to believe. And now my new colleagues:


Katie, a woman in her 50s, is a Presbyterian and after CPE will graduate from Iliff School of Theology with a Masters in Divinity. Iliff, located in Denver, is a seminary related to the United Methodist Church, but its distinctive character is also derived from its commitment as an ecumenical, inter-religious institution. The largest percentage of students comes from the United Methodist Church. However, more than 30 other denominations and faith traditions are represented among the student body. Katie has a husband along with two adult daughters and is planning a retreat ministry currently. Katie lives in Longmont which is 30 miles north of Westminster so she has a commute similar to mind. Katie is an introvert and has a great repertoire of open ended questions, a grand skill to have for CPE.

Elizabeth, also in her 50s, is a Methodist and originally from the South, obvious in her soft drawl. Sometimes Elizabeth sounds like my Mom. She also attends Iliff and is planning on pursuing a doctorate. She lives in Denver. Elizabeth has great attention to detail and always asks great clarifying questions. Elizabeth and I are the extroverts on the team.

Both Katie and Elizabeth are doing second or third careers just like me. Katie is a teacher and a poet. Elizabeth is a music therapist.

Michael is our fourth colleague. Michael, 30, is on the ordination track in the Catholic Church. He lives in a parsonage attached to a parish in Denver and joins Katie as an introvert. He speaks Spanish which is part of current priestly formation in the Catholic Church and is a great asset here at St. Anthony’s. At 6’ 7” he towers over the three of us! But his height is a good match for our resident chaplain, Carol, and our supervisor chaplain, Janet. It’s pretty funny to see the six of us together—three tall and three short.

Carol, our tall resident chaplain, is completing her certification as a chaplain and sees hospital work as her long term ministry. She is a teacher and art therapist and brings her extensive background with working with children to bear when she’s working with our intern team. She created a scavenger hunt to help us learn our way around the 3 floors of the hospital. Her husband teaches at Colorado State University. Her faith tradition is Seventh Day Adventist.

Janet is our supervisor and fearless leader. She is a Disciple of Christ minister and does a great job of relating our learning in the hospital to work in a parish which is the long term goal for Michael and me. While I know Janet is a married person, I am unsure what her husband does.

Also on the chaplain team is Andy, a retired federal employee who continues to work part-time here at St. Anthony North. He is an active Catholic and uses his skills to teach us about the paperwork required of chaplains.

There are also several chaplains that take the on-call week nights. Our team of four chaplain interns takes turns doing the on-call weekends.

Each week we spend Tuesday 8-2 and Wednesday 8-12.30 in class, reflecting on readings, giving our verbatims [I’ll say more about these], and working through the challenges of assessing and giving care to patients, family and staff at St. Anthony’s. The rest of the week is devoted to actually making visits with patients, attending traumas to support families and friends, and accompanying the family through the death process.

All deaths at St. Anthony's are attended by a chaplain. The chaplain’s job first and foremost is to assist the family and friends to begin the grieving process. We offer prayers, support, Kleenex, a listening heart, and our presence. It is a privilege to be with people as they acknowledge the death of a loved one. I was, of course, very nervous the first times it was my turn to attend a death. I fretted about what to say, how should I pray, what would the family want. I’ve learned that it really isn’t very important what I say. The families want someone to be present with them and reflect back to them the loss they’re suffering. They don’t remember what I say. They might remember that I was there with them as their lives changed. They might remember that I was nice.

Another responsibility for the chaplain is to request tissue donations if appropriate. All families are asked if they would like to give the gift of healing to others. Colorado has donor designation on their driver’s licenses as do most states. 70% of all Colorado drivers are registered donors, the highest percentage in the nation. Since you just check a box when renewing your license, most people don’t discuss this with family. So the nurse calls the donor registry and the chaplain finds out if the decedent is a registered donor and if yes, lets the family know and explains the process. If the decedent isn’t a donor but qualifies medically, the chaplain explains the options and asks if the family if they think the decedent would like to give the gift of healing others.

And with all events in life, death comes with paperwork. The chaplains figure out which of the many forms are necessary, fills them out, and gets the appropriate signatures. Walking the family through this process can be a gentle movement toward leaving the hospital and leaving their loved one.

Introduction to CPE

My clinical pastoral education [CPE] is at St Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, Colorado which is part of the metro Denver area. The town of Westminster is 5 miles north of Denver and 22 miles southeast of Boulder with a population of about 100,000. St. Anthony North is the third largest employer in Westminster.
The hospital website is http://www.stanthonynorth.org/.

This is a small hospital, a total of 130 beds, serving a lower income population. The usual hospital population is about 90-100 patients. My work as an intern chaplain has me doing a total of 300 clinical hours—spent in clinical visitation, time actually with patients, families and staff in the hospital, and 100 hours of group and supervised reflection and learning. Clinical time includes a variety of learning opportunities, including regular visitation during the week, with referrals and introductory visits, and one weekend on-call each month responding to emergency pages and needs within the hospital. Opportunities for ministry and relational care include care to patients, their families and loved ones, and staff. The topics that we are learning about are:
+Empathy & Compassionate care
+Family Systems Theory
+End of life or terminal diagnosis care (Palliative)
+Healing and Meaning-making
+Dying and Death
+Advance Directives
+Behavioral Health
+Grief, Loss, and Mourning
+Trauma and Crisis Care
+Medical Ethics
+Spiritual Assessment
+Worship and Ritual

The purpose of CPE is theological and professional education focused on developing one's skills, abilities, and person to care for the spiritual, emotional, and relational needs of others. CPE is learning and formation through professional relationships with patients, staff members, peers, yourself and your supervisor. And it is learning by doing, a dynamic and experiential model of learning, which works well for me. My cohort is 4 interns, one resident, one part-time chaplain and our supervisor/director of our program. I’ll introduce these folks in the next post.

I’m living with my brother, Pat and his terrific wife Deb. They have set me up in their lovely home with a comfortable bedroom and also a workspace. Plus lots of diet Pepsi. Pat and Deb are working long hours in their custom brokerage firm and I have several evenings a week alone. After the fast pace of the school year and the emotional demands of the hospital work, I am glad for the time alone and quiet.

Pat’s home is out by the Denver airport about 15 miles east from the hospital. The commute is real challenge for this small town girl. My work starts at 8.00 am. If I leave at 7.00 the commutes is about 30 minutes. If l leave at 7.15 then it’s 45 minutes, unless there is a jam. If I leave at 7.30, those 15 miles can take an hour. The evening commute is harder. At least twice a week it takes an hour and a half to get home. My little red roller skate of a car, which usually gets great mileage, shimmies in the traffic and sucks up the gas as I try to practice patience.

I listen to Colorado Public Radio on the commute and those initials, CPR, are used to identify the station. With my time at the hospital, CPR means more than public radio and every time I hear it I think of the hospital meaning. Context is everything!