Hospital-based pastoral care is a privileged yet complex area of ministry. It involves spiritual journeying to the heights and depths of human experience, often in brief and transient pastoral encounters. Illness and fear lay bare life's realities and there is often need for reconciliation as well as healing. Chaplains, visiting clergy and the growing number of lay volunteers need to be able to interpret pained silences or body language - and often in a matter of minutes. This warm-hearted and practical handbook explores patient encounters and the challenges of the current health care environment. Through stories and examples it explores the essential skills needed for this kind of work: the importance of ritual, difficult pastoral tasks, deflecting anger, caring for the carers, working in multi-faith contexts and much more.
I was born and brought up in Wigston, Leicestershire and attended Guthlaxton School. I became a Methodist Minister in Dudley in 2003, having trained at the Queens Foundation in Birmingham. Creative Arts played a large role in my work as a minister, creating modern ways to express the gospel stories and engage local communities. My passion for equality and anti-discrimination good practice was invigorated as I lived in a prominent BNP area and was engaged in promoting work with minority and disadvantaged groups.
As a chaplain at University Hospitals Leicester I specialised in end of life care working with the palliative care MDT team and also with the neonatal unit and the delivery suite. Here I encountered end of life when it had hardly begun, from the agony of battling with cancer, to journeying with someone at the natural end of their life. The privilege and intimacy of those moments are captured in this book.
The proceeds from the book will go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
