Chaplaincy Innovation Lab

Join the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab and Kathy Fogg Berry, author of When Words Fail: Practical Ministry to People with Dementia and Their Caregivers (2018) and chaplain at Westminster Canterbury Richmond, for an introduction to spiritual care in memory care settings. We’ll discuss the unique needs of older adults with dementia diagnoses, how current chaplains can begin thinking about providing this care, and how prospective chaplains might consider training and education to pursue this work.

https://www.chaplaincyinnovation.org How does dorm chaplaincy redefine spiritual care in higher education residential settings? Join the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab and chaplains from the University of the South to learn about a model of providing spiritual care in higher education residential settings. We’ll discuss how chaplaincy training can be incorporated into students’ own progress through academic programs, how residential chaplains impact the experience of residential students, and how this model differs from providing spiritual care through university-wide spiritual life or student services offices. We thank the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education (ACSLHE) for its support of this webinar. ACSLHE seeks to be the leading authority on religious and spiritual life in higher education. ACSLHE supports higher education chaplaincies and nurtures religious and spiritual life professionals through scholarship, education, and collaboration. Learn more at https://acslhe.org/. The Rev. Amanda Gott is the Interfaith Chaplain at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Amanda supervises the Chaplains-in-Residence program, supporting the Seminarians who live in undergraduate residence halls and serve as non-sectarian chaplains to the college students where they live. She continues to be amazed at the extent to which a dormitory laundry room is a liminal place of holy encounter, where sacred conversations often happen. Amanda came to Higher Education Chaplaincy after a long career in parish ministry, during which she moonlighted as a Chaplain in various educational contexts with children, teenagers, and young adults. Kelton Riley is a trans-man from rural Limestone County, Alabama, where he developed a heart for small-parish ministry and volunteered with LGBT+ youth. He currently serves in the Chaplains in Residence program at Sewanee, providing pastoral care to the young adults in the undergraduate program. Riley graduated with his M. Div. from the School of Theology at the University of the South in 2023 and is currently completing a Masters of Sacred Theology. He also has a Masters in Religion from Athens State University and Bachelor’s degrees in English, History, and German. Sam Haisten is from Milledgeville, Georgia and is currently in their final year in seminary at The School of Theology at the University of the South where they serve as a Chaplain in Residence. During their time in seminary, they have grown to love the different faces of chaplaincy and have participated in both hospital chaplaincy and dorm chaplaincy. Before seminary, they earned a BA in Spanish from Georgia College & State University, and they often joke that they work in order to maintain the standard of living to which their cats, Goblin and Mr. Neelix, have become accustomed. In their free time, Sam enjoys watching The West Wing and visiting the nearby state park.

Interfaith America is working to promote our nation’s religious and spiritual diversity as an asset in quality healthcare and lever for building health equity. Join Interfaith America and the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab for conversation about the importance of equipping all providers to work in partnership with spiritual care experts to strengthen care for people of all faiths and none. A chaplain, a health professional, and a patient will share stories of impact as they invite others to build interfaith competency across health settings. Anu Gorukanti is a public health practitioner, pediatric hospitalist, and co-founder of Introspective Spaces, a social venture committed to building reflective space and community for women in healthcare. She is also a member of the Sacred Journeys and Witness fellowships. She cares deeply about the well-being of her colleagues in healthcare and is passionate about healthcare reform to create equitable and compassionate care for patients and communities. In her free time, she loves to photograph landscapes, learn to dance and spend time with her wonderful husband, friends and family. Hadia Mubarak is Assistant Professor of Religion at Queens University of Charlotte. She previously served as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Guilford College and as a Research Fellow at New York University-Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Her forthcoming book, Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands: Controversies in Modern Qurʾanic Commentaries (Oxford University Press, March 2020), explores significant shifts in modern Qurʾanic commentaries on the subject of women against the backdrop of broader historical, intellectual and political developments in twentieth-century North Africa. Mubarak completed her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Georgetown University, where she specialized in modern and classical Qurʾanic exegesis, Islamic feminism, and gender reform in the modern Muslim world. She currently serves as a scholar-in-residence with the Muslim Community Center of Charlotte (MCC). Reverend Mary Martha Thiel is the Director of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL). Drawing on the energy and nimbleness of its CPE program, the Religious and Spiritual Care Department spearheads the LGBTQ+ initiatives on HSL’s six campuses. Mary Martha lives in Brookline with her spouse, and has two daughters. She is active at First Church Cambridge, UCC. She is an avid reader, traveler, and lifelong learner.

https://www.chaplaincyinnovation.org

What is EMS chaplaincy? In this webinar, Katie Tunks Leach of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney will offer an overview of emergency medical services (EMS) chaplaincy. We'll learn what the daily work of EMS chaplaincy looks like, what kind of training EMS chaplains have, what interventions they use, and how those interested in this area of spiritual care can take next steps toward serving in this space.

What is the work of private school chaplains? While we often mean college or university when we discuss spiritual care in educational settings, one field of the profession does serve private institutions at the secondary level. Join us for a discussion on spiritual care for teenage individuals at the ninth through twelfth grade levels, especially in private institutionswhere community considerations are unique and require close attention from chaplains.

https://www.chaplaincyinnovation.org How can chaplains help healthcare institutions respond best in moments of crisis? One chaplain proposes Go Teams for healthcare. Following a series of traumatic incidents and losses, including on-site suicide, colleague deaths, and assaultive patients that deeply shook the staff community, Chaplain Alyssa Adreani created and launched a crisis response program called the Newton-Wellesley Hospital GO Team. Inspired by Critical Incident Stress Management, the GO Team is comprised of professional colleagues from Spiritual Care, EAP, Behavioral Health, Peer Support and other trained and experienced professionals. The team are activated and deployed by executive leadership following crisis events at the hospital. Supportive responders debrief after every incident. This webinar will discuss the history of the GO Team, the path taken to create and launch it, and how other chaplains can create similar resources in their own healthcare institutions. We’re joined by Alyssa Adreani, Director, Spiritual Care Department, Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

We thank Religious Naturalist Association for their support of this webinar.

With the roots of professional spiritual care as we know it today in religious traditions, the credentialing process — from classroom education to CPE and endorsement and board certification — long has been associated with religious organizations. But what does this mean for chaplains who either do not wish to pursue credentialing through those organizations, or who do not identify with a religious or spiritual tradition?

This webinar will offer practical guidance for such chaplains and provide the elements to consider when pursing chaplaincy credentialing as a humanist chaplain.

www.chaplaincyinnovation.org We thank Chaplain Distance Learning for their support of this webinar on psycho-spiritual first aid. Learn more at https://www.chaplaindl.org. Join Chaplain Deb Wacker, M.Div, MBA, BCCC, FHPC for an introduction to psycho-spiritual first aid, a key intervention in disaster and crisis response. Participants will learn the principles of psycho-spiritual first aid, how it differs from other interventions (such as critical incident stress management), where to learn more about psycho-spiritual first aid, and how they might implement it in their own practice of spiritual care.

Join four chaplains of color and panelist-authors who have contributed to a special issue of the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy on the history, experiences, and future of chaplains of color. You can find the full issuehere.

We’re joined by:

Rev. Marilyn Barnesis Rev. Robert B. Lantz Chair of Patient Counseling at VCU College of Health Professions and Director of Pastoral Care at VCU Medical Center.

Calvin Bradley, Jris Assistant Professor of Patient Counseling at VCU College of Health Professions.

Rev. Lex Cade-Whiteis Ethics and Mission and Spiritual Care Health Equity Manager at Advocate Aurora Health.

Dr. Jaclyn Williamsis Assistant Professor of the Practice of Preaching and Chaplaincy at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Join contributors toWorkplace Wellness: From Resiliency to Suicide Prevention and Grief Management: A Practical Guide to Supporting Healthcare Professionals(Springer International, 2023) for a discussion of this recent, vital publication. The Lab community can order at a 20% discountusing the code found in this PDF.

Participants will learn about the particular workplace needs of healthcare professionals as well as current research on how spiritual care providers can support those professionals.

From the publisher:

This book uniquely provides actionable strategies along the wellness continuum in multiple dimensions: personal, institutional and professional; while applicable across disciplines: nursing and allied health, advanced practice providers and physicians. Further, the content is presented in a manner that can be taught to those entering the workforce, or serve as a primer for Wellness Officers. Most mental health texts focus on the needs of patients and ignore the mental health needs of clinicians. This book fills that gap embracing wellness initiatives as a matter of mental health. Wellness strategies for Inclusion Diversity and Equity are presented. The often ignored subject of suicide is approached head-on with evidence-based strategies for prevention. At the far end of the continuum of wellness, grief management after losing a colleague to death and/or suicide will be addressed. Each chapter includes learning objectives, a brief presentation of the science, application of principles into wellness practice, opportunities for future research and discussion questions. Artwork created by healthcare workers are included to augment transfer of knowledge through art as a way of knowing. Videos are offered to demonstrate through simulation lessons taught through the book.

We’re joined by:

Allison Kestenbaumis Supervisor of Spiritual Care and CPE at UC San Diego Health.

Bernadette Mazurek Melnykis Vice President for Health Promotion and Chief Wellness Officer at The Ohio State University.

Maggie Mortaliis Vice President of Programs and Workplace Initiatives at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Amanda Chofletis Interim Dean of the School of Nursing and Associate Clinical Professor at Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences.

Clare DickensMBEis Academic Lead, Mental Health and Well-being, University of Wolverhampton.