“What about Pastoral Supervision of the Field of Clinical Pastoral Chaplaincy?”

– Comments Honoring the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Holt Pohly –

delivered in Pittsburgh, PA, on 28 March 2012 at the Plenary of
the College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy

Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD

– on the 110th anniversary of Helen Flanders Dunbar’s birth.

– on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dunbar’s &
the movement’s patroness, Ethel Phelps Stokes Hoyt (1877-1952)
– on the 135th anniversary of the birth of Anton Theophilus Boisen’s &
the movement’s conceptual forebearer, Elwood Worcester (1862-1940).
– on the 70th anniversary of Religion in Illness and Health,
written by Dunbar’s student & Boisen’s understudy, Chaplain Carroll A. Wise.
– on the 65th anniversary of Dunbar’s best-seller,
Mind and Body: Psychosomatic Medicine.
– on the 65th anniversary of The Journal of Pastoral Care &
The Journal of Clinical Pastoral Work
[these into the eventual Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling].
– on the 35th anniversary of Pastoral Supervision: Inquiries into Pastoral Care,”
written by Kenneth Holt Pohly.
– on the 25th anniversary of the infamous “Underground Report” –
that was circulated among all North American clinical pastoral supervisors &
that lead directly to the founding of the CPSP.
– on the 20th anniversary of the 1st CPSP Plenary
(& the 22nd anniversary of the founding of CPSP).
– on the 10th anniversary of organization by Chaplain Foy Richey (1943-2011) of the
1st joint meeting of the CPSP & The American Association of Pastoral Counselors.
– on the 10th anniversary of the reaffirmation by the CPSP Governing Council that,
when war is a consideration, vision must precede action [cf, Proverbs 29:18]

The primary task of pastoral supervision is …
to help its participants be clear
about who they are,
so they can
become more [consciously] competent,
confront crises more constructively, and
do ministry more effectively.

It is exactly the task of a … pastor
inspired by prophetic thinking and acting
to keep the ideal and reality together.

The Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902-1959) Award for
Significant Contributions to Clinical Pastoral Training
came into being in 2002 –
ten years ago –
on the 100th anniversary of
Dunbar’s birth.

This year marks
the 85th anniversary of
her earning her Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological
and of
her not being eligible for religious endorsement within her chosen faith group,
as she was a woman.

Dunbar knew who she was.
She knew for what she stood.
She accepted that she would
never be a pastor –
let alone a chaplain –
yet she faithfully
supported Anton Theophilus Boisen’s notion of
a professional, clinical chaplaincy, and thus
had a tremendous impact on the field.

Eighty years ago there was a crucial split
in the nascent field of clinical pastoral chaplaincy.

One group of well-meaning chaplains chose to focus primarily on
skill development, problem solving, and the enablement of ministry.

Another group of sound chaplains chose to focus primarily on
relationship, empathy, and transformations through mutual engagement.

Yes, other words might better describe the two groups – the two factions –
but the fact remains that they were different and are different.
A certain productive tension enveloped the two groups for thirty-five years.

Then they merged, forty-five years ago,
somewhat submerging the Boisenesque/ Dunbaresque values.

Then they un-merged, going separate ways,
with The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy truly finding its feet
twenty years ago.

The field of clinical pastoral chaplaincy is prospering,
but
it is hurting;
it is struggling.

Perhaps it is time to consider some variety of “pastoral supervision” for
the clinical pastoral field itself.

Can we help the components of the field to become
clearer about who and what they are?

The CPSP Covenant specifies that
“Our calling and commitments are … first and last theological.
We covenant to address one another
and to be addressed by one another
in a profound theological sense.”

Do clinical pastoral chaplains – especially those in CPSP – have a responsibility
to support and protect the institutions of ordination and religious endorsement
from recent efforts to dispense with these –
from recent efforts to remove faith group accountability?

The CPSP Covenant specifies that
“We believe we should make a space for one another and
stand ready to midwife one another
in our respective spiritual journeys” – as
“we believe that life is best lived by grace ….”

Do clinical pastoral chaplains – especially those in CPSP – have a responsibility
to support and protect the efforts of so-called “non-main-stream” faith groups
to enter the fold?

The CPSP Covenant specifies that
“we believe it essential to guard against becoming
invasive, aggressive, or predatory toward each other”.

Do clinical pastoral chaplains – especially those in CPSP – have a responsibility
to re-double their efforts to nourish such hospitality among cognate groups,
to support and protect a standard of tolerance and encouragement within,
for example, the COMISS Network –
the former “Commission on Ministry in Specialized Settings”?

The CPSP Covenant specifies that
“We value personal authority and creativity” – that
“We are invested in offering a living experience …
within a … supportive and challenging community of fellow pilgrims”.

Do clinical pastoral chaplains – especially those in CPSP – have a responsibility
to re-double their efforts to revive the productive –
rather than the destructive –
tensions that once enlivened the field?

Indeed, “What about Pastoral Supervision of the Field of Clinical Pastoral Chaplaincy?” –
an application of “spiritual care and guidance” [Pohly, 2003, p.2] to the current complexities?

Today’s Dunbar Awardee opened the whole constellation of these questions thirty-five years ago –
in a tentative volume titled, Pastoral Supervision: Inquiries into Pastoral Care.

That book went through at least two revisions and expansions, exploring
the “search for a sacred center
out of which …
life as persons and [life] as … organization[s] must flow”. [Pohly, 2003, p.14]

As today’s honoree phrased it,
“Our own identify formation must be in place
if we are to be helpful in helping others find theirs”. [Pohly, 2003, p.14]

CPSP invited today’s honoree to speak in 2003 – but he was unable to make the trip.
We honor him today, and,
in this era of expanded communication,
we need to consider making good use of his provocative wisdom
whether in person or otherwise.

We need to revisit the vision he supported of supervision as
“reflection, empowerment, and transformation”. [Pohly, 1993, p.72]

We need to revisit the appreciation he had of
supervision
as
covenant,
relationship,
incarnation, plus
an optimal amalgam of judgment and grace. [Pohly, 1993, pp.102-8]

Please join me in congratulating CPSP’s eleventh recipient of The Helen Flanders Dunbar Award,
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Holt Pohly,
who greatly broadened and deepened our grasp of

supervision – and what it can be.

Chaplain Pohly is an enjoyable person to talk with on the phone,
but medical issues prevent him from being with us in person today.
The award and your good wishes will be conveyed to him
next Monday evening at his home in Dayton, OH.

Let us be thankful to be alive, sustained, and enabled to celebrate our relationships this day.

Shalom.

Endnotes:

In the opening list of anniversaries, the last item is a reference to http://www.pastoralreport.com/the_archives/2002/10/the_cpsp_govern.html

In the opening quotations, the first is found in [Pohly, 2003, p.3]
Kenneth Holt Pohly. “The Soul of Pastoral Supervision.” keynote address delivered before the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, March 20, 2003. http://www.gbhem.org/atf/cf/%7B0bcef929-bdba-4aa0-968f-d1986a8eef80%7D/DS_SOULOFSUPERVISION.PDF
The second is found in [Powell, Emotionally; citing Dunbar "What Happens at Lourdes?," p.226.]
The third is found in [Annemie Dillen, Anne Vandenhoek. Prophetic Witness in World Christianities: Rethinking Pastoral Care and Counseling. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2011. p.239

The distinction may be academic, but the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy held its 1st plenary March 12-15, 1992]

The main reference for this manuscript, of course, is
Kenneth Holt Pohly. Pastoral Supervision: Inquiries into Pastoral Care (Houston, TX: The Institute of Religion, 1977) [Transforming the Rough Places: The Ministry of Supervision, 1st edition (Dayton, OH: Whaleprints, 1993); 2nd edition (Franklin, TN: Providence House, 2001) [“This paper is a summary of this book”: “The Purpose and Function of Supervision in Ministry.” J Supervision & Training in Ministry. 1998;10 http://www.gbhem.org/atf/cf/%7B0bcef929-bdba-4aa0-968f-d1986a8eef80%7D/DS_SUPERVISIONINMINISTRY.PDF
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Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD is the leading historian of the clinical pastoral movement. Many of his published writings are posted on the Pastoral Report. Readers can use the PR's search engine found on the left side-bar to locate his articles. As a practicing psychiatrist, his writings reflect his daily investment in his clinical practice of providing psychotherapy and care to his patients. Contact Dr. Powell by clicking here.

Having been active in [the clinical pastoral field] …, and feeling the
estrangement of spiritual depth …, I was introduced to the College of
Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, which asserts … that… it is
a theologically based certifying and accrediting community … dedicated to ‘recovery of soul’.

I believe that the condition of the soul is the priority concern of each of us
and every one of the organizations of which we are a part.

Greetings! May Grace and Peace be with you! …

I have been aware of the Dunbar name and tradition since my seminary days. I ran across her name in my readings, but at the time I did not pursue her work. It was years later, after twenty years of pastoring in a local church and on a college campus, that I “discovered” Helen Flanders Dunbar. …

I was only in my first year of teaching when my teaching colleague, Dr. Harry DeWire, invited me to attend an evening social event of the area chaplains and clinical teachers. I was fresh off my doctoral studies, a significant part of which had taken place at Vanderbilt University Hospital. I had also recently completed the writing of my doctoral dissertation on “The Clinical Method in Theological Education”. The contents of the dissertation were designed to become the basis for the newly conceived curriculum at United Theological Seminary [“UTS”, in Dayton, Ohio]. … In the same period of time, the early ‘70’s, I attended my first biennial meeting of what is now known at the Association of Theological Field Education (ATFE). …

UTS seeks the renewal of the Church. … That comes when individuals in the Church are renewed. Our desire … is to … engage people in renewal that transforms the lives and souls of persons. When this happens, the Church as an institution will become the body of transformed individuals who, together, bring transformation of life to the world. The experience I have just described I think of as “recovery of soul”. …

Recovery of soul is something about which I was deeply impressed when I became introduced to the CPSP. … Having been active in [clinical supervision] …, and feeling the estrangement of spiritual depth …, I was introduced to the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy which asserts, as part of its mission statement, that the organization is a unique form of ministry … where
the respect of the students as persons and their healing, …
change, growth, development, and unique integration of the
personal and professional … is central to CPSP’s mission.
And it is stated further that it is a
theologically based certifying and accrediting community …
dedicated to ‘recovery of soul’.

That statement made me look at the recovery of soul in the groups in which I was involved – in particular, our Center for Supervision and Leadership Formation. It caused me to look at my own life. I asked the age-old question: “How is it with your soul?” That has become for me an essential question. … I believe that the condition of the soul is the priority concern of each of us and every one of the organizations of which we are a part. … I think that … we need to be committed to authenticity in our personal lives and in our organizations. …

So, the question I want to leave with CPSP tonight is: “Is it prepared to ‘Claim the Promise’ with which it began – to respect persons and their healing?” I think this might be Dunbar’s question. At least it is mine as I accept this award.
____________
If the reader wishes to respond to Dr. Pohly, please forward your comments to Dr. Powell.

April 17, 2012

The dream of a CPSP community where each person’s voice and dreams are heard and valued is becoming a reality. The dream is becoming realized of a moment when we would embrace each other with a spirit of unity in the primary things, such as serving others with justice, compassion and humility. The dream is coming to fruition of a day when we would value and celebrate liberty in the secondary things, such as diverse ways of providing competent care of the soul. The dream is among us of a time when we would deliver pastoral care and counseling moved solely by love and with an unwavering commitment to excellence. We are indeed seeing and sensing the waves of that dream as our diverse and beloved community, making use of its creativity, ingenuity and spontaneity to open new doors and routes to serve humankind. Through our accredited centers we are offering clinical pastoral training; and through our certified pastoral caregivers we are providing chaplaincies and counseling services in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, assisted living, clinics, industries, schools, prisons and churches. Moreover, our clinically trained caregivers and pastoral educators are also providing services under bridges, on farms and even in many unimaginable places around the world. We celebrate who we are as a community of both dreamers and doers.

Jürgen Moltmann (2000) suggests that a life lived in community is a reflection of the divine social existence. This kind of communion reaches beyond merely recognizing each other as living image of God. It also entails the promotion of wellbeing for each member of the community. This way of being together is possible as we embrace values such as respect, solidarity, mutuality, freedom, harmony and benevolence. As we continue this level of social connection we can survive and thrive as persons and as a community.

In our CPSP community we have faced external and internal stressors that have challenged our very existence, but we have learned that it is by relying on each other that we are able to overcome these obstacles. This community continues to be the source of strength and the depository of resources that assists our pastoral educators and pastoral caregivers to fulfill the mission of healing, sustaining, reconciling, guiding, nourishing and advocating with competence and excellence for those at the center and for those on the margins.

The CPSP community came together in March 2012 to celebrate a diversity of voices and to recover the sense of a communal living soul. A spirit of inclusion and sacred empowering characterized the business meetings of March 25-26 as meaningful discussions were had and significant decisions were made. There were some very tense moments as members of the Governing Council engaged in heated conversations regarding a more democratic and participative style of government. As concurring and dissenting voices were heard, issues clarified, ideas validated and emotions acknowledged, the community moved toward praising the spirit of the collective over individual preferences and needs. The actions by the CPSP Governing Council, the highest authority of our community, conveyed the message of the old proverb which attests that “there is wisdom and safety in the multitude of counselors.” As the meeting came to an end what permeated the atmosphere was the conviction that following the original philosophy of government—in which each chapter remains as the heart and life of CPSP—will secure its future in the pastoral care and counseling network. There is a very promising tomorrow for this vibrant theological community. However, maintaining a shared, transparent and rotating leadership within the spirit of our covenant will require much perseverance and commitment to continue building a better humanity where justice, love and peace reign.

Peace,

The. Rev. Esteban Montilla, Ph.D.
CPSP President

Reference:
Moltmann, J., (2000). Experiences in Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
__________________
The. Rev. Esteban Montilla, Ph.D.
CPSP President

 
The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy (CPSP) will now offer a clinical fellow in hospice and palliative care. This will be a subspecialty credential for those already credentialed as Board Certified Clinical Chaplains / Board Certified Pastoral Counselors.

Procedure:
Chapters will receive requests from candidates for this certification, and will review the request within the purview of the Chapter’s expertise. Some Chapters will have no specific expertise in this field. The Chapter will of course attest to the clinical expertise generally of the candidate. No approved consultant need be present for this review.
 
The candidate’s application for certification will then go to the Hospice and Palliative Care Certification Committee (HPCC) for review. The HPCC Committee will establish a review for the candidate. The HPCC may also refer the request back to the Chapter for revision. Or it may deny certification for stated reasons.
 
The certifications decided by the HPCC will be forwarded to the Certification Committee, reviewed, and then be forwarded to the Governing Council for ratification.
 
A one time fee for this certification is: $100.

For further information please contact:
Barbara A. McGuire at: cpspregistrar@gmail.com

The Spring NCTS 2012 is right around the corner. (MAY 21-22) Many of us experienced growth and self-understanding during the small groups at the Plenary! At the NCTS we can continue that process and hopefully impact the growth of others in our small groups. The theme for this NCTS is: “CHAPTER BASED GOVERNANCE”. Dr. David Roth will introduce this concept on Monday and Dr. Steven Voytovich will make comments on Tuesday from a former convener‘s role and his international work.

Please read the article: THE FUTURE OF GOVERNANCE IN THE COLLEGE OF PASTORAL SUPERVISION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY by David Roth, PhD on the Pastoral Report.

As we forge into the future, this is a new paradigm of governance for our ever growing CPSP community! Plan to attend! Come prepared to present in the small groups and come with an openness of heart and mind to grasp this new the vision for CPSP! -Francine Hernandez

Once again, the NCTS through Francine Hernandez's leadership, continues to provide cutting edge opportunities for all members of the CPSP community. Do keep in mind that the focus remains clinical and all participants are expected to come prepared to present clinical material in their small groups. Equally true, all should enter into the discussion of CHAPTER BASED GOVERNANCE with an acute clinical eye.

DOWNLOAD NCTS REGISTRATION FORM

DOWNLOAD 2012 NCTS SCHEDULE

-Perry Miller, Editor

The meeting began on Sunday with considerable tension, but by Wednesday the sense of connection and general good feeling within the community was palpable. The closing Tavistock event was quite different from any previous one. Since Tavistock is a time set aside for attention to the unconscious, and usually means a time for all random negativity and devilishness to be expressed, this Tavistock was virtually a love feast. No one interrupted anyone else. Respect was shown all around. Talk was thoughtful and rational. Clearly this was not a typical Tavistock session, leaving the consultant a bit puzzled. My belated interpretation of that radical departure from the expected is that so much venom was spilled in the Sunday and Monday meetings of the Governing Council that the community frightened itself and decided to reunite in collegiality. It was if we had sailed into blue water and high sky after passing through a terrible storm. And a terrible storm it was.

The Sunday night meeting of the Governing Council was the most troubling event of the week, possibly the most troubling event in CPSP history. An attempt was made to reverse our 22-year tradition of making decisions by consensus, and to assert the use of Robert’s Rules of Order, or a variant of it. The meeting itself was populated by more than a hundred persons, most of whom were not bona fide Chapter representatives, and many of whom were not even members of CPSP. Some of the non-members seemed to do most of the talking. Furthermore, voice votes were taken on critical issues, with the loudest voices apparently from persons who did not belong to the Governing Council, or in some cases did not even belong to CPSP. This resulted in a kind of mob rule, or as Kelly Fogarty put it, “a mob mentality.” The meeting extended to almost four hours, leaving everyone drained and in shock.

If I had had my wits about me in the moment I would have called a halt to the proceedings on the grounds that they constituted a violation of our Covenant, our primary governing document. This is not to suggest that a good brawl is unambiguously hurtful. Sometimes a screaming match can indeed be good for the soul, or therapeutic, and even lead to a new consensus at a deeper level. We never want to become the kind of community where an expression of negative thoughts or feelings is unwelcome. But a brawl is hardly a good context for critical decision-making. We can say about the Pittsburgh Plenary that we came through a tumultuous and disorderly process, and mirabili dictu, achieved a new unity of purpose and direction.

In spite of this bump in the road, so to speak, we seem to be on track as a community. From my perspective here some days later I can even affirm that the Pittsburgh Plenary was in the final analysis a monumental and clarifying meeting.  In an open appeal Steve Voytovich contributed much to bringing us back together, reminding us of where we came from originally. In the end we came together, even if it was a tough process, and even though we have more work to do. We all know clearly what’s important to us. The small group work and the building of trusting relationships is the core of what this clinical pastoral community is about. At Pittsburgh we strengthened the CPSP community to a degree that surpassed all other previous meetings.

What else did we accomplish in Pittsburgh? We are continuing our commitment to the Mediation Process with ACPE. The ACPE assault on the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital program was clearly understood as a serious violation of the Mediation Agreement and must be addressed. However, ACPE appears willing to go back to the negotiating table, and we are certainly ready to join them there. One of the matters about which the Governing Council had no objection was the continuing representation of CPSP in the mediation process by our attorney, Charles Hicks. We will take his lead in attempting to see that the public hostility and denigration of CPSP by ACPE cease.

We have inaugurated a new credential in Hospice-Palliative Care specialization, and we have a committee at work delineating the specific standards and procedures, which will be announced shortly.

And of course we selected a new President, Brian Childs, who will take office March, 2013. We are fortunate to have a person of such depth and character to be willing to represent us to the public.

Barbara McGuire, our Registrar, reported the number of new certifications for the past year as 89, bringing our total membership to 1040, in 114 Chapters. These numbers highlight to escalating problems because of our size. This subject was discussed at length at the Plenary. Clearly we have outgrown our structure. We are too big a community to govern ourselves in the old way, and yet we dare not fall into the typical corporate model, with its power struggles and bullying that characterizes so much of American life and politics. We need to devise ways in which all members of CPSP can have a stake in our direction and our future. And at the same time we must respect and protect the values and vision that brought CPSP into being more than twenty-two years ago. David Roth was appointed chair of a committee to propose a restructuring of CPSP governance. It will not tamper with the Chapter structure, but will attempt to devise a way for Chapters to be accountable to and heard by the larger community.

Bill Scar was appointed as our new representative to the board of the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling, and we hope to renegotiate our agreement and to strengthen our relationship with that enterprise.

John Jeffery was appointed to chair a Committee on Institutional Relations. The task of this committee will be to communicate with various hiring institutions the viability of CPSP programs.

Robert Powell on behalf of CPSP presented the 2012 Helen Flanders Dunbar Award to Kenneth Pohly, now retired and unable to travel. After the Plenary Robert drove to Pohly’s home to hand-deliver the award in a small ceremony. He was very appreciative. Pohly’s book, Transforming the Rough Places: The Ministry of Supervision (2001), is an excellent resource for pastoral clinicians, and contains a deft analysis of CPSP.

The tentative location of the 2013 Plenary is either Phoenix or Las Vegas.

The Plenary adjourned with lunch on Wednesday, and with a sense that CPSP is prospering and that our future is bright.
__________
Raymond J. Lawrence, D. Min.
CPSP General Secretary

At the time I had had but one summer unit of Clinical Pastoral Education and from that experience decided that I wasn’t about to switch from preparing for a teaching ministry in one of my denomination’s colleges to that of a health care ministry in a general or mental hospital. That decision was enforced when one of the first patients Jim asked me to visit was a truck driver from Tennessee who, while driving through the city of Boston, developed severe back pains, serious enough to lead to his being hospitalized.

In those days a hospital chaplain wore a grey jacket quite similar to what physicians and orderlies wore except that on the chaplain’s lapels were two silver crosses. So as I entered the truck driver’s room, he stared at me—probably hoping I was a doctor—then quickly shifted his gaze to the silver crosses, and barked, “Now what the hell do you want?”

I was reminded of that ancient memory when William E. Alberts invited me to read Hospital Chaplain at the Crossroads of Humanity, and as I read Bill’s extraordinary accounts of some of his interactions with the thousands of patients he has served in his health care ministry, I could not help but wonder what my career decision might have been had I known, and truly internalized, Chaplain Alberts’ rich notions of what hospital chapaincy is all about.

“Chaplaincy is enabling patients and their loved ones to tell their stories, the telling of which is good for the soul—and the mind and body.”

“Chaplaincy is about discovering the little things that mean a lot to patients and their loved ones.”

“Chaplaincy is about both feet planted responsively amidst the realities and strengths and needs of patients and their loved ones.”

“Chaplaincy, like any meaningful relationship, is about taking the time to respond to human need...”

“Chaplaincy is about helping patients get better not be better.”

“...the bottom line of chaplaincy is not about belief but about caring for patients and their loved ones.”

Each of these challenging snips is a generalization of a particular encounter Chaplain Alberts has had with a patient or with his or her family. And each one—it seems to me—could serve as a topic for theological, religious, and spiritual discussion, as well as a portrait of a contemporary hospital chaplain’s work.

But even if one were not a chaplain or considering hospital chaplaincy as an expression of ministry, how the author visualizes pastoral care would be applicable to any priest, minister, rabbi, imam, or religious layperson desiring to authentically offer care to those in need.

Samples:

“Pastoral care is about being a witness to the pain and courage of human love.”

“Pastoral care is about being fully present and staying with grieving loved ones—however long their need.”

“Pastoral care is about remembering and saying people’s names—not just about praying for them in another’s name.”

“Pastoral care is about enabling patients to tell their stories, the sharing of which affirms and empowers the teller and often provides wisdom for the listener.”

“Pastoral care involves getting close to people. And getting close to people involves getting close to people.”

“Pastoral care is about giving grief the hearing it needs rather than remaining bottled up and beside itself.”

“Pastoral care is about embodying and facilitating and revering kindness.”

In these times of technological innovations and electronic communications human touch frequently takes a thorough thrashing. It may be that an authentic spiritual ministry—whether from a hospital chaplain or a parish pastor—is becoming one of a very few last opportunities to salvage and embrace a particular human encounter where empowerment, not the promotion of a particular world view or a narrow set of religious or political beliefs, permeates the human relationship. If that be so, then Chaplain Alberts’ willingness to share his myriad patient encounters with those in pain, turmoil, and crisis can serve well as a guide for all of us who truly want to explore better ways to care.
—Orlo C. Strunk, Jr., Ph.D., D.D.
Managing Editor Emeritus
The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling

___________________
Bill Alberts was a hospital chaplain at Boston Medical Center from December 7, 1992 to July 15, 2011, when he retired. Dr. Alberts is a nationally known writer and an occasional contributor to Counterpunch. A diplomate and member of the recently named Dover, New Hampshire Chapter of CPSP (formerly the New England Chapter), his e-mail address is wm.alberts@gmail.com

Purchase Hospital Chaplain at the Crossroads of Humanity

I am happy to report that we have a President-Elect. This community is blessed to have such a distinguished scholar and religious leader to accept this office.

Brian Childs is currently Director of Ethics at Shore Health System, University of Maryland Medical System, and a member of the Chesapeake Chapter, certified as a Diplomate in Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. He is a minister in the United Presbyterian Church, Presbytery of Baltimore. Earlier he held a chair as Professor of Pastoral Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is a Princeton Ph.D., a protege of Seward Hiltner, and an AAMFT Supervisor. His writings and his leadership positions are too numerous to list here. Suffice it say that Brian is a person of substance and erudition, and we are fortunate to have him willing to assume a significant leadership role in our community.

The Standards of CPSP define the role of the President as follows:

Let us all welcome Brian (bchilds@shorehealth.org) to his new leadership position.

Raymond J. Lawrence, D.Min.
CPSP General Secretary
lawrence@cpsp.org

About ten days ago I was working at my desk. I needed to access a file still on a “floppy disc,” and began to think about how long it would be before this media can no longer be accessed. Having a number of floppy discs with files that represented earlier projects and programs, I began, in the midst of all the other pressing matters surrounding me, converting them one by one onto a master file to be loaded onto a compact disc “CD.” While doing this I was divided between completing this task that I had begun, or moving on to other critical issues, not unlike other times when I have felt like I am being guided in taking steps or undertaking tasks for reasons unknown to me in the moment. Now I understand that it was God’s hand that was guiding me that day.

What occurred during these two Governing Council sessions was very important in terms opening greater transparency and engaging the whole community in dealing with difficult matters and concerns. Like many of you, however, I was out quite out of sorts after the Monday evening Governing Council time. These had been very difficult sessions on many levels, especially relationally. As several of us sat together to debrief, I was aware that in the morning the endorsers would be meeting with CPSP leadership. I went ahead and invited Esteban Montilla, our President, to join us at the breakfast table.

At this moment I was returned to the files that I had converted. Among them was a file I thought would be helpful. As I connect remotely to my workplace desktop, I was able to access it late Monday night. As it turned out, Raymond was not able to join us in the morning. Not wanting the opportunity to be lost, I shared what I had found with him as he expressed his regrets, and he in turn invited me to share this during the present question time.

The file I found was an Accreditation Site Visit Report for Esteban Montilla’s CPE Program, dated November 10-11, 2001, six weeks after the 9/11 Terrorist Attack. Raymond as General Secretary, and I as NY/NJ Chapter Convener, together visited Esteban and his training program. John DeVelder was CPSP President at that time. Esteban was credited with continuing with the work and review in the midst of a national crisis, and we did our best to review his program in the midst of it. We had a wonderful review including sitting in with Esteban’s trainees as they presented case materials. I was asked to write up this report. The review aided in further grounding the CPE program in this institutional setting.

Esteban, I want to affirm your courageous willingness to offer your servant leadership in guiding us through a very difficult series of meetings. Like eleven years ago, you were willing to persevere by continuing to work through difficult circumstances. Despite the tensions present, thank you for your vision and leadership that has aided in opening a new day for our CPSP Community.

Raymond, you are to be credited with the vision and inspiration to create this community. You have spent countless hours in isolation, struggle, and anguish standing in the space of creativity, and we thank you for this. You have continued now many years to guide this growing community through your leadership, and will always be remembered for this groundbreaking work.

I believe that all of you, Raymond, Esteban, Jim, and others, have sought to undertake your work with the best of the CPSP Covenant at heart. This covenant remains our most precious gift. Relating with one another in the profound theological sense, and our readiness to midwife one another is the best and most uniquely powerful witness we can manifest to the greater pastoral care and counseling community. No credential or search for it can overtake the importance of our relating with one another, and those we are called to serve in such a profound manner.

Let us work together to protect and even deepen this precious covenantal relatedness – especially through such times like this of significant change – for no amount of credentials can replace this covenantal community. In closing, I would like to share this piece written by David L. Griffith that differentiates strength and courage.

The Difference Between Strength and Courage

It takes strength to be firm
It takes courage to be gentle
It takes strength to stand guard
It takes courage to let your guard down
It takes strength to conquer
It takes courage to surrender
It takes strength to be certain
It takes courage to have doubt
It takes strength to fit in
It takes courage to stand out
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain
It takes courage to feel your own pain
It takes strength to hide feelings
It takes courage to show them
It takes strength to endure abuse
It takes courage to stop it
It takes strength to stand-alone
It takes courage to lean on another
It takes strength to love
It takes courage to be loved
It takes strength to survive
It takes courage to live
____________________________________________________________
The Rev. Dr. Steven Voytovich, Chair
Association of Religious Endorsing Bodies (AREB)
Director of Institutional Chaplaincy, Orthodox Church in America
Director of Clinical Pastoral Education, Episcopal Health Services

I do not offer "good" news, I offer something "better"; better news. There is no need to apologize for the statement that the CPSP is really committed to being and becoming a BETTER certifying body than any other cognate group. And, we believe that our way of organizing and certifying is a better way to achieve competence, accountability and support for professional pastoral care givers. Period!

Meanwhile, over the past 22 years, it seems that some of our members have forgotten that we are committed evangelists and not just a club that some consider easier to join.

Golda Meir once said, "Don't be so humble; you're not that great."

Humility was expressed as a virtue because of the sin or tendency of human nature to elevate itself above its proper place. The need to "lower" yourself was to counter the degree to which you falsely elevated yourself. Jesus encouraged the arriving guest to avoid sitting in the place of honor, not because it was good to be "humble" or because you might not deserve it, but because someone else of greater merit might show up and you would have to move your sorry self. To be "humble" is to be in touch with the very earth [humus] or substance of who we are, neither elevated and inflated nor demeaned and unworthy.

False humility and self-deception are failings of character that betray our ability to trust ourselves. In both failings we inevitably lose our sense of who we really are. In the case of false humility, we trick ourselves into believing that we will be respected and respect ourselves for denying what we really believe about ourselves and our values. In the case of self-deception, we destroy the very pathways upon which we journey in pursuit of our values.

Trying to figure out what clothes to pack for the 2012 CPSP Plenary, check Pittsburgh's weather.

http://www.wunderground.com/US/PA/Pittsburgh.html

Author's Note: Last November I sustained a broken right forearm. It was a simple fall but I landed in such a way that I fractured the bone. For the next three months I was in a full arm cast which brought to an abrupt halt my work at the hospital not to mention daily activities such as driving, writing, typing, cooking and almost every other thing that one does with their dominant arm.

Shortly before having the cast off, feeling like I was on “house arrest” and frustrated on almost every front, I woke up one morning and slowly used the hunt and peck method with my left hand to put into words my frustration in hopes of seeing a “reason” for this suspended time in my life. The following poem came out. It says a lot about the grand plans that we make for ourselves and how they can be derailed out of control in a split second.

As a chaplain, I ended up “ministering” to myself through poetry. The lesson is universal, applicable to those in the hospital and those whose lives are put on hold. The Lesson within is also universal, namely, that while we think we know where we are going, our life work may be elsewhere.

Waiting to “Recalculate”

Speeding along the road I’ve finally chosen.
GPS taking me the fastest route.
By passing places and people I think I don’t need.
And then, along this back road “short cut”, I am stalled yet again by a herd of meandering cows.

I stop.
My car and I simply idle in neutral, burning gas and going nowhere fast.

Frustration.
Impatience.
Anger mounting.

Where are they going anyway?
There’s no road or path or barn anywhere in sight?
What do they know that I don’t?

Right arm broken so have to do everything with my left hand.
Have to do everything with the wrong hand.

Frustration.
Impatience.
Anger mounting.

Damn these cows.
Don’t they know they’re supposed to be somewhere important?
Don’t they know that someone needs them or that they have some vital work to do?
Do they even know where they are going?

Use my wrong hand, AGAIN, to shift into Park and turn off the engine.
Left hand is getting better at doing stuff.
Maybe it’s not the WRONG hand after all, just a different hand.
A different way of doing things for now.
A different way of functioning?
Of looking at things?
A different perspective?
Definitely not what I am used to but I do get stuff done, right?
Takes a little longer.
Makes me do things a little differently.
Make that a LOT differently.

Cows still going nowhere fast.
In fact, they’ve stopped to think.
About what, for god’s sake?
They’re COWS for crying out loud.
What could possibly be of any importance in the world order that they need to stop moving and jaw about?
Great.
How much longer is this going to take?

Actually, they’re kind of interesting if you think about it.
The one with the one deformed horn (I guess she broke it somehow) seems to be saying something to that big brown and white one.
Wonder what’s so important, if anything?

Time check.
Shit!!!

I’m late and won’t make it where I thought I would be by now.
That’s not what I wanted.
Or thought I wanted.
Either way, I need a new game plan.

Resignation.
Patience.
Time to think.

Time to recalculate and adjust my destination or at least do a course correction.

Good.
They’re finally moving again.
A little different direction but they seem to know where they’re heading and will get there when they get there.
No sooner.
No later.
Right on time.
What other option is there, really?
“You can never be late”.

My left hand, now used to doing the work, reaches over and turns the ignition.
Reaches for the gearshift to put us back in Drive again.
GPS blurts out “Recalculating” as if it knows where I’m going.
At this point I sure don’t.
If only it was that easy.
I’m late.
I missed my appointment.
I watched a bunch of cows trudging along on no path in no particular direction, stopping to consult with each other only to resume their aimless trek heading to where they are ultimately “supposed” to be.
Am I missing something here?

Still haven’t shifted into gear.
Huh?
What am I waiting for?
I’ve got places to go, people to see, things to do?
Well, don’t I?

Okay.
Turn the GPS off because the destination and arrival time are no longer relevant factors.
Will reenter time and place later when I know.
Where am I in such a hurry to get now anyway?
Interesting.

Think I’ll sit here awhile longer.
Maybe a wise cow with a broken right horn will come by and we can have a chat about “stuff” and talk about getting where we’re going by a path that’s not on the map?
Maybe a shortcut?
Or maybe just a route that has some interesting things to see and a few cars and people to stop so they can think over something that they’ve been wondering about. You know: “Chew on it for awhile”.
Then they can use the correct hand to get in the correct gear (reverse can be interesting sometimes) and maybe do some off road driving just for the fun of it.

Cows aren’t so dumb. You just have to stop what you’re doing and “Chew on it” for a bit

----------------
Franklin Courson, Ed.D.
Associate Board Certified Clinical Chaplain
Pardee, Hospital
Hendersonville, NC

Narciso (or Nars as many liked to call him) and I were good friends for half a century. We trained together in 1967, in Houston, under the supervision of the legendary Armen Jorjorian, and stayed in contact ever since. I visited several times recently with Narciso and his wife Mining before she died in 2007.

Coincidentally, I arrived in Manila on March 1, for meetings, and heard immediately that Narciso had been hospitalized. I was taken to see him the next day. He was clearly dying, though he recognized me and spoke my name. His son Armenito and others were caring for him. Narciso has two children, each named after beloved mentors, Armenito after Jorjorian, and Lorraine, who now lives in Toronto.

When the history of clinical pastoral training is written, Narciso will be a major figure in the Southeast Asia. He succeeded the late Al Dalton as Director of Chaplains at St Luke’s Hospital, Manila, in 1968. St Luke’s is said to be the preeminent hospital in southeast Asia. In later years he retired and started his own consulting business. Finally he opened a school and church for disadvantaged children which called the Garden of Life. There, in his last days, as he weakened, he was patriarch.

Narciso was a great spirit and a dear friend. He has many proteges throughout Asia. His impact on the clinical work of the minister was far reaching. Like each of us eventually, he now belongs to history.
____________________
Raymond J. Lawrence, D.Min.
CPSP General Secretary

The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy has experienced remarkable growth in its short, nearly 22-year history. This has especially been true in the last five years when both our membership and the number of our chapters have doubled. We are now more than 1,000 in all, gathered in over 100 chapters and chapters-in-formation. This growth has taken place in a time when some of the other major pastoral care organizations have witnessed their memberships shrinking and some have struggled financially.

Critics of CPSP have expressed theories on why we are growing so rapidly. One prominent leader in another certifying body insisted to me at lunch one day that it was because CPSP “has no standards and would certify anyone who showed up ready to pay their dues.” This certainly isn’t my experience. However, with enormous, rapid growth, it is possible for cases to arise where our high professional Standards (which are published online for everyone to read) are not uniformly applied. Bill Scar addressed this issue last Fall1. Fair but uncompromising solutions to remedy such cases are not far away. Even allowing for certain instances where Standards may have been compromised, this cannot begin to explain the College’s appeal.

HOW CPSP IS UNIQUE

It is important to make a distinction: while we do certify members and accredit training programs, CPSP is not a pastoral care professional organization of the same sort as the others. Our expressed vision, organization and principal aims are fundamentally different from those of organizations such as APC, ACPE, AAPC, NAJC, NACC and others. While we too are about the business of accreditation and certification, our identity is expressed in a unique Covenant that lays out our ideals and is fostered by and perpetuated in the small Chapters upon which CPSP is based. Ours is the only integrated community of pastoral caregivers of every sort at all levels of professional development. Certifying and accrediting in CPSP flows from and gives expression to this vibrant, organic community life that is ongoing and demanding in a way that enriches us all. I believe it is our unique Covenant and Chapter life that have fostered our remarkable growth. I happen to believe that our model is superior to the others inasmuch as it is more congruent with the work we do as pastoral caregivers rather than modeled after so many other disparate professional organizations.

CHAPTER, COVENANT & COMMUNITY

A common criticism made of CPSP by outsiders is that there is no “national headquarters” and no paid executive director. There is no home office and no centralized locus of governance. This is not an oversight. Ours is an intentionally decentralized global community made up of small, local ones that we call Chapters. Each member’s commitment to a chapter, where we are known to and by a small group of members, is absolutely fundamental to CPSP life. In fact, without being an actively participating member of a chapter one is not a member in good standing of CPSP and reason for having one’s credentials revoked and being dropped from the membership directory. While many of our members are strong individuals, CPSP is not for “lone rangers.” We are a covenant community for those committed to interconnectedness.

When CPSP began everyone knew everyone. The few chapters, nearly all on the East Coast, were in touch with one another both informally by and in a formal way through chapter conveners. With growth over time this evolved and changed. In the early days, the founders assumed the governing roles with the visionary Raymond Lawrence serving as General Secretary. This led to the existing structure where the General Secretary is surrounded by trusted colleagues in the Executive Committee, with chapter conveners serving as a Governing Council that is to meet a couple of times a year. Decisions that pertain to the whole of CPSP -- not just in the individual chapters – are made, at least in theory, by the Governing Council, a body that, at least in theory, includes representation from every CPSP Chapter.

Given our growth in numbers, we no longer are able effectively to govern this way – and the truth is that we no longer do. The demands of “traveling light” as set out in the Covenant along with the rapid growth of the community have made it at least impractical and probably impossible. As a result, the General Secretary along with the members of the Executive Committee and the President guide, direct and in effect legislate for the community. Once or twice a year the Governing Council, made up of a relatively small ad hoc group of representatives from Chapters who choose to participate, meets with the Executive Committee, the President and the General Secretary. Those meetings, which may last two hours, serve as an opportunity for those in attendance to hear directly from the Executive Committee about its work and to voice concerns. Initially well-conceived as a governing body in the CPSP Constitution, these days the Governing Council is not only utterly ineffectual but essentially powerless.

THE CENTRALITY OF THE COVENANT AND THE CHAPTER

Because of the central importance of the Covenant in the life of the College, last Fall I offered a way for individual members and chapters to meditate upon it.2 My contention is that failing to make the time to deeply reflect upon and to share the inspiration and wisdom of the Covenant, both individually and communally, is a serious shortcoming. Equal in importance to the Covenant is the Chapter, the locus of life as we live it in CPSP. It is not possible to overstate the fundamental significance of these two hinges on which everything about CPSP turns.

While it is an innovation in the world of clinical pastoral care, the notion of truly chapter-based governance is far from new. In fact it is actually a very old, established, and successfully proven model of community. The Dominican Order, founded in 1215, has used it for nearly eight centuries very effectively. The Dominicans have never had a schism, never divided, and have managed their life and ministry quite effectively through the changes of time, in diverse cultures, all across the globe. As newcomers to chapter-based governance, we might benefit from the wisdom of their example and be encouraged by the longevity of its success.

Chapters, while each one is a unique, close-knit, small community, do not exist in isolation. The College is a community of inter-related small communities. From day to day and season to season CPSP’s life is lived out in a Chapter “locally” (though not all members of the Chapter may necessarily live and work near one another). If the local chapter were the extent of CPSP life we would be an association of independent professional common interest groups rather than one community of chapters. With our prolific growth this is precisely the challenge we presently face: to create a truly chapter-based structure that suits an already large and still quickly growing CPSP that serves the common interests of and maintains common Standards for all of us while encouraging, fostering and respecting the unique character of the local chapter.

A VISION FOR GOVERNANCE AMIDST OUR RAPID GROWTH

A model for the present and future governance of CPSP that remains faithful to our ideals and unique tradition in the pastoral care movement need not compromise our Covenant or the centrality of the Chapter. Chapters should continue to be self-governing, as they are presently, in accordance with CPSP Standards. They should continue to meet as often as members thought worthwhile and practicable. Each Chapter should be the intimate community where CPSP members experience, share and grow in accord with the Covenant. In other words, the Chapter should remain the locus of CPSP life.

However, additional new structures that are congruent with the chapter need to be put into place. A design for governance, generally along the lines of the Dominican example, would include aggregate groupings of chapters into “provinces” that could but need not necessarily be geographical. Mandatory participation by each province in the Governing Council (or Governing Chapter) would assure full representative involvement in CPSP as well as better communication and greater accountability. I have put together a more detailed proposal along these lines and shared it among CPSP’s leadership. It has received thoughtful feedback. It will be on the agenda at the Executive Committee meeting before our Plenary in Pittsburgh.

A WORTHWHILE (AND NECESSARY) CAUSE

It is clear that we cannot much longer continue growing without changing how we govern ourselves. Would it be simpler to abandon our present Covenant and Chapter-based community life and adopt a more centralized form more like that of the other organizations whose focus is strictly on certification and accreditation? Probably. The result, however, would be to cease being who we are as the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. It would be to walk away from the vital community of which we are a part and in which we have come to believe. It would be to abandon the life that is so attractive and sustaining to so many. It would be to deny those for whom we care the richness of the wellspring that is our Covenant and Chapter life. It would be to surrender the ideals that at once challenge and undergird everything CPSP stands for. In the process, the whole pastoral care movement would suffer the loss of our distinctive voice and role. There is no reason to believe that doing so would assure higher standards of care by members or greater confidence that the Standards for certification and accreditation would be consistently applied.

Last November, Robert Charles Powell’s article challenged us who make up the College to become “a supportive and challenging community,” “willing to speak the truth” with “a compassionate heart.” He wrote,

[T]he central problem facing the College is learning how to deal constructively with the understandable difficulties in living up to its ideals. Acknowledgement – and correction – of shortcomings makes ideals all that more real. Denial – and evasion – of shortcomings – as if they simply were not supposed to happen – undermines the whole notion of commitment to ideals. The College formulated a revolution in the field of clinical pastoral chaplaincy. The challenge is how to re-vitalize – re-empower – atmospheres of self-criticism and self-correction.3

I believe that building upon the ideals of our Covenant and the experience of Chapter life while responsibly embracing our growth is both entirely possible and urgently necessary. Now is the time to take the required next steps. Acknowledging our own shortcomings and expeditiously putting into place an expanded form of Chapter-based governance will help to revitalize and re-empower us to faithfully respond to the call we have received as the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy.

--------
Endnotes

1 Scar, W. “The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy: Membership, Certification, and the Responsibilities of Growth.” CPSP Pastoral Report. 10 November 2011.http://www.pastoralreport.com/the_archives/2011/11/the_college_of_2.html

2 Roth, D. “On the Centrality of the Covenant.” CPSP Pastoral Report. 13 October 2011. http://www.pastoralreport.com/the_archives/2011/10/on_the_centrali.html

3 Powell, RC. “Tolerance and Encouragement: Within a Covenant of Mutual Accountability.” CPSP Pastoral Report. 01 November 2011. http://www.pastoralreport.com/the_archives/2011/11/tolerance_and_e_2.html

______________________
David Roth, PhD
Convener, Nautilus Pacific Chapter
______________________