Why would a church need a nurse?

Seneca Presbyterian Church will commission our Parish Nurse Ernie Lombard at both worship services on November 9. It will be a day to celebrate the long tradition of Christian congregations being involved in the ministry of healing. I first heard of the concept of a Parish Nurse – they are also called Faith Community Nurses – in the late 80s while serving St. John’s Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. Presbyterian Hospital had received a grant from the Duke Endowment to place Parish Nurses in six Charlotte congregations. Since St. John’s sits right beside Presbyterian Hospital, it was logical for that congregation to be approached with the possibility. Tom was pastor at the time and he was intrigued by the idea. I was a bit of a skeptic.

                I reasoned that just about all the thousand plus members of St. John’s had access to good doctors and medical care. Why did we need a Parish Nurse? It did not take long for me to turn from skeptic to supporter.

                I watched as Dianne took blood pressures during office hours while listening to the challenges of aging. I saw her step into a medical crisis where a wife was all alone in making life and death decisions for her suddenly critically ill husband. She interpreted medical data for me, and help many stay just as healthy as possible. She organized a congregation as it responded to the hospice needs of a member dying with cancer. And she helped us understand the AIDS epidemic. Remember: this was the late 80s and churches did not know how to respond to the fears of a new and frightening health care challenge.

                Our SPC Parish Nurse has been on the job since the first of August. The world of health care is a bit different now than in was in the 80s. People check their own blood pressures at home. But they are also called upon to perform nursing duties at home that in the not so distant past would have been done by nurses in hospitals. Remember when we actually stayed in the hospital a couple of days after surgery? Now it’s often in and out on the same day.

                Retirees make up the bulk of membership at Seneca Presbyterian Church. Many are “young” and vital, traveling freely to see the wonders of the world and the wonders of their grandchildren. But many have slowed down from that pace. They stay close to home. They live with the pain of aging joints. They know what it’s like to see numerous doctors on a regular basis. Often their extended families are not nearby. Many don’t have children or grandchildren around to help out when a medical crisis hits. So we have Ernie to help us assess how we can be church for each other, deal with medical devices that come home with post-op patients, and see to it that folk get to physical therapy sessions when needed. And so very much more. 

                Parish Nursing began in Chicago in 1985. It has been a recognized nursing specialty since  1997. It is estimated that there are over 10,000 Parish Nurses in the United States and around the world. (You can learn more at www.parishnurses.org.) By bringing this aspect of health care into churches, we acknowledge the divine gift that is our bodies. We can support each other in keeping them just as strong as they possibly can be. But the relationship also works the other way. We can bring faith in the spiritual aspects of healing to the medical world. Because when you place your faith in the God who creates bodies, the Son who healed them, and the Spirit who brings peace when they are challenged, you realize there is vast difference between curing disease and healing lives.

                If you want to see more of what that means, I recommend checking out Ed’s Story. It is a video series produced by Flannel (www.flannel.org). Ed is a retired pastor with ALS. As his journey is highlighted in these videos, we see honesty, despair, grief, challenge, hope, purpose, and gratitude. We at SPC have our own Ed who is also living with ALS. With the Spirit’s care, Ernie’s guidance, and our love for our Ed, we plan to walk that journey with him and his family.

                In our world, disease is inevitable, and cures may or may not be possible. Healing always is. It comes in the power to claim and live the grace, mercy, peace, and hope of God that surpasses all earthly reality. 

Guess that's why a church needs a Parish Nurse 

- and so does the world. 

Wedding Wonderings

My family has just returned from the wedding of my nephew. It was a grand affair marked by great joy and generous hospitality - and lots of good food since it took place on a beautiful dock adjacent to her father's seafood restaurant. 

          Many friends and family members gathered to celebrate a committed relationship between two talented and bright twenty-somethings. Like many of their age, they had already established their lives and their careers – in a city a long way from our home. Because of that distance and those years building a career, I had not seen my nephew in quite a while. I’ve gladly officiated at many family weddings, but because of that lack of connection I was pleased to know that a close friend of the couple would be performing the ceremony.

            Despite the fact that the officiant began his remarks with “I really am an ordained minister,” this was the first time I’d ever attended a wedding officiated by someone who was not a “real” minister. Yes – he had applied on-line to some service that would “ordain” him instantly with no supporting credentials. One such service declares that everyone has a right to be married by whomever they wish and it is their mission to see that right fulfilled.

Despite that noble goal, I admit honestly that it is a bit disconcerting to have one’s profession so maligned. Google “become a minister on-line” and you will find countless free options. Google “become a lawyer on-line” and you will be directed to sites that offer on-line degrees – after three or more years of study. The irony is both obvious and rather telling: it takes the same three years of seminary training to become a bonafide minister. And in many denominations, the ordination process is just as rigorous as any bar exam. Yet anyone can legally become an “ordained minister” with a few easy clicks of a mouse.

As I watched this on-line minister perform a legal wedding ceremony for my nephew and his bride, his affection for his friends was obvious. Because of that friendship, they were at ease in the moment. The vows they spoke – in their own words – were sincere and heart-felt. Yet I could not help but ponder the broader significance of what I was witnessing.

Legally, weddings can be solemnized by an officer of the court or a minister whose authority to execute a legal contract has been extended by the courts of each state. Traditionally, most couples have preferred the minister and church option, whether they have a church affiliation or not.

Every minister I’ve ever known struggles with the dilemma of performing a wedding for someone who has no intention of becoming part of a church family. Why would someone without a church want a church wedding? Perhaps it’s to maintain tradition or to please parents. Sanctuaries are beautiful places, especially when they have long center aisles where a bride can make a dramatic entrance.

Yet ministers also have a sacred obligation to do more than just execute a legal contract. They are called to center the creation of a new family in the grace and love of God. They are called to emphasize the solemnity as well as joy of the moment. And they are called to pronounce God’s blessing on the bride and groom.

I suppose it is indicative of the age that more and more couples are seeking to circumvent that tradition. On the one hand, it may be healthy. If the couple has no desire for – or even an aversion to – a priestly blessing on their union, why go through the motions without meaning. Yet I wonder what power the trend will have on the families of the future.

The primary reason most ministers will perform a wedding ceremony for couples without a church family is their hope and their faith that the presence of holy words and sacred space will have an impact on the couple, whether they realize it in the moment or not. That someday, when the conflicts come as they surely will, the couple might remember something of grace and the power of forgiveness. They might be aware of a higher power who longs to help them keep the promises they made to each other.

So despite the fact that my nephew and his bride had a religion-less wedding, I still pray God’s blessings upon them. Because bidden or not, acknowledged or not, there is a God who created them and loves them and longs for them to know that love eternally.