Hospital Protocol
FROM THE RECTOR
Pastoral care is not optional. Caring for each other is at the very center of our identity as Christians. We are members of the Body of Christ, and Jesus tells us that we care for him whenever we take care of each other’s needs. The apostle Paul, when describing what the Christian community is like, repeatedly used the image of the human body. Because we are one body, we not only represent the divinely enabled union of diverse gifts and talents that each of us brings, but we also experience one another’s joy and pain, delight and sorrow, as if they were our own. Neglecting the needs of a part of the body is as detrimental to our collective health as ignoring an injury or an abscess.
When you call the church to let us know that you or your family member is in the hospital, you do us a favor. We visit the hospital every day of the week. Each day is assigned to a member of our clergy team, and we shape our days around the time that we will spend visiting you at your bedside. If you have a surgery that day, we will try our best to get there in time to pray before you go back into the operating room, and we may return later in the day to check on you and your recovery. If you give birth, we will come and give thanks for your new baby and pray for you and your family. If you are near the end of your life, we will and sit by your bedside with the members of your family and wait and watch and pray until God takes you from this life into the next.
Those are holy moments, and you give the whole congregation a gift when you enable us to be present and offer the prayers of the church. As I often say to those who express surprise that I would come and see them in the hospital, “I did not go to seminary in order to sit at my desk and stare at a computer screen. This is where I want to be more than anywhere else.” My calling as a priest is to bring the intercession and care of the faith community with me to your bedside. My prayers are no more efficacious than anyone else’s. I have no hotline to God. But, when a member of the clergy comes to pray with you, we are a reminder that the whole church is praying, too. Bringing two thousand parishioners with me into your hospital room is impractical, but my greatest privilege is being allowed to carry their prayers and love with me to your bedside.
More often than not, we will not know that you or your family member is in the hospital unless you call the church to let us know. We are deeply indebted to the chaplaincy staff at Washington Regional who, without breaking HIPAA laws, helps us know what rooms are occupied by someone who has self-identified as an Episcopalian. When you are admitted to the hospital, the staff will ask you what your religious affiliation is. Unless you call us, which is always the best option, the only way we would ever know that you are there is if you say, “Episcopal.” If you tell them, “Christian,” they will not give us your room number. And, to be frank, not every admitting nurse or staff member hears “Episcopal” and knows which box to check. Unfortunately, people sometimes fall through the cracks, which is why we ask you please to call us and tell us that you are in the hospital.
When you tell us that you are there, we do not share that information with other people in the parish. We will only add your name to the prayer list if you ask us, and, if someone sees your name on that list and asks what is wrong with you, we will politely decline to answer, saying something like, “I can’t share any information, but I hope you will pray for her.” When we come to visit, we are not there for a social call but to be a part of your care team—doctors, nurses, nutritionists, physical therapists, and others—and our particular focus is your spiritual health. Typically, our visits are very brief, though we may linger a little longer if what you need most is companionship and conversation. We are trained to look for cues that tell us whether this is a good time for a visit or whether we should come back later. And, if you are in the hospital but do not want us to visit, just say so. Although we prefer to see in you in person, we can always offer our prayers from a distance.
More than anything, we want to be with you when you need the prayers of the church. Likewise, the congregation as a whole wants to know that you are being cared for on their behalf. As members of Christ’s body, we are given the opportunity to live most fully into our identity as Christians when we are able to pray for one another in moments of need. You do not burden us by asking for a visit. By asking for one, you give us a gift—the gift of being the people God has called us to be.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan D. Garner