Tuesday, July 17, 2007

SOME GOOD NEWS

Posted by Reverend Ref + at 9:09 AM

So, after all the reports of parishes leaving TEC, war and rumors of war, priests thinking nothing of embracing other faiths or being accused of denying the Trinity, and reports of porn stars joining TEC and placed on an ordination track, here is some good news (you may have to register).

In short, it's a nifty article about hospital chaplains, this one an Episcopal priest in particular.

It brought back memories of my own stint as a chaplain during CPE and some of the good, hard work that was done there.

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3 comments:

Sophia | 9:19 PM, July 17, 2007  

I know this hospital well...

If only she hadn't made a ridiculous comment about being a "causasian minority" in the first few paragraphs.

I would like to be proud of this article but I find this embarrassing.

Reverend Ref + | 9:19 AM, July 18, 2007  

I wouldn't agree that it was a ridiculous comment. I obviously don't know that hospital, but I can understand where she would be coming from. If she works in a hospital where minorities are in the majority, then she certainly could feel like a Caucasian minority. I know that there were times in Chicago when I certainly felt that way.

I also think it's good that whites feel that way. So often we don't have that experience, and it's easy for us to ignore issues or say, "It's no big deal." But being put in a place where you are in the minority can be an eye-opener.

Sophia | 9:05 PM, July 19, 2007  

As I look back now I realize just how out of context my comment was. I know the situation well and I forgot that others do not.

I'm still pretty uncomfortable with the remark she made (and this may be a woman thing - I'm also uncomfortable that somehow discussion of the brand of her clothing came up - that seems inappropriate too).

Although the patients and a very large percentage of the staff at the hospital tend to be Latino and African American, the majority of the staff at the chaplain's level of training and above (eg. hospital executives, doctors, master's level nurses) are white, so she's not really in the minority. I know of people of color who found the remark offensive considering that all of the power in the hospital is controlled by white people who are very unlike the population being served.

Additionally, this isn't a CPE intern who is not used to the context. This is a professional chaplain who has been there for years. She was also one of the first few women to attend an episcopal seminary and she knows exactly what being in the minority or being treated as a second class citizen is like.

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