NorthShore University HealthSystem

Sometimes, Chaplain Ida Oliver can tell right away if one of her clinical pastoral education (CPE) students is likely to become a hospital chaplain.

“Some students, right out of the gate, show they are cut out for chaplaincy,” said Oliver, who is the coordinator for CPE at NorthShore University HealthSystem, which includes Evanston, Glenbrook, Skokie, and Highland Park Hospitals.

According to Oliver, Jordan Aspiras is one of these students. A few weeks after Aspiras started her CPE in October 2020, it became clear to her that Aspiras would be a talented and compassionate chaplain — even in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. “Her attitude, her interest, and her dedication to learning stood out immediately,” Oliver said.

Part of the Department of Spiritual Care Services, chaplains at NorthShore University HealthSystems provide spiritual services to anyone associated with the hospitals. “We see patients who are referred to us by doctors, physical therapists, nurses, and social workers,” Oliver said. “We also support loved ones of patients, as well as doctors, nurses, and staff members who have a crisis or need to talk. This has been especially true during COVID-19.”

Originally, Aspiras considered being a pastor when she enrolled at 91PORN in the fall of 2019, but she changed her mind when Lisl Heymans Paul, associate director of field education, suggested she consider a placement as a chaplain.

Aspiras was intrigued and ultimately agreed. “I’m really glad that I said yes,” said Aspiras, who grew up in San Jose, California and received her bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

One of the things Aspiras said she likes about hospital chaplaincy is that it has an interfaith aspect to it. “At one point, I was paged to provide prayer for a Muslim COVID-19 patient,” she said.

“I love chaplaincy because you really put your own beliefs aside and provide what the patient and their loved ones need.”

“Her compassion and her commitment to care for everyone is what has made her so successful,” Oliver said.

Completing her clinical pastoral education during a pandemic has been difficult, Aspiras said. When COVID-19 first hit, students were not allowed in the hospitals, but by the time Aspiras started her field education, that restriction had lifted.

Like everyone else in the hospital, she has to wear personal protective equipment all the time. Often, she cannot enter a patient’s room and has to talk and pray with them over the telephone, which can be really hard. “Praying over the telephone was not something that I saw myself being able to do well, but now, because of COVID-19, it is something I do consistently,” she said.

Yet, even with the many challenges brought on by the pandemic, Aspiras said that her CPE experience has allowed her to seriously consider chaplaincy. “It made me realize that this is what I’m here to do,” she said.

The post Field Education During a Pandemic: Providing Spiritual Services to All appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Rev. Jenny Hallenbeck Orr

Master of Divinity, 2003
Associate Pastor, McCabe United Methodist Church, Bismarck, North Dakota

Since the summer of 2014, I have served McCabe United Methodist Church in Bismarck, North Dakota, in varying pastoral capacities. Bismarck is North Dakota’s capital city, and we’re part of a larger community whose population is approximately 130,000. We are a rural “metro” area near the entry point to the American west — and each part of who we are features prominently in the story of our life together this past year.

In the Dakotas, our bishop asked us to shut down in-person gatherings from mid-March through mid-May 2020. At the state level, mandated business shutdowns only applied through May 1, 2020, so many local churches “reopened” at that time. Along with our Board of Directors, we opted to wait until the first weekend in June to reopen for in-person gatherings. For context awareness, most businesses and restaurants have been functioning nearly “like normal” since last May, and our local public schools reopened in the fall for in-person learning.

When I think back on this past year of ministry within the COVID-19 pandemic, I am most grateful for our reopening process at McCabe. Last spring, we created a Health & Safety Task Force that now makes recommendations to our Board regarding on-site COVID-19 mitigation. Our Task Force is comprised of staff members, Board members, and other church folks with professional knowledge to help inform our decision-making.

As our Task Force made plans last spring to reopen for in-person gatherings, we placed high value on creating an environment wherein ministry would happen in-person, but in ways that would be unlikely to spread the COVID-19 virus. For in-person worship, we designated seating to allow for physical distancing and limited capacity. For all in-person gatherings, what was first a “strong encouragement” to wear masks became a requirement when our community’s fall COVID-19 surge began.

In many instances, Jesus’s commandment to “love our neighbors as ourselves” has crashed head-first into the rugged individualism that permeates so much of our region. Given that, as well as the highly politicized nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at McCabe have encountered our fair share of anti-mask sentiment. However, both science and our own anecdotal evidence have proven the importance of our Health & Safety Guidelines. Many folks in our congregation — the members of my household included — have gotten and survived the COVID-19 virus. Yet, because of our on-site mitigation practices at McCabe, we have no reason to believe the virus was ever transmitted during any of our in-person gatherings.

Our decisions regarding on-site health and safety guidelines have been communal and that has been incredibly helpful in creating a culture where no one person is blamed — or gets credit — for our mitigation efforts. Community was what I valued most about my time at Garrett-Evangelical, and community has been a constant thread of hope and good news this past year. When our wider community has broken my heart with its anger and division over mitigation efforts, I come to church and see the ways our folks are willing to care for one another by donning a mask and respecting the other guidelines we’ve put in place. Whether our folks do these things joyfully or begrudgingly, they continue to do them. For that, I give thanks to God.

The post Ministry in a Time of Pandemics: Rev. Jenny Hallebeck Orr appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Rev. Gregory D. Gross

Master of Divinity, 2003
Executive Director, Care for Real,
Chicago, Illinois

In the middle of the multitude of pandemics, I assumed the position of executive director of Care for Real, one of the largest food pantries in Chicago. In my new ministry setting, I have witnessed how the pandemics are so intertwined if not in one single knot. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a 23 percent increase in food insecurity in the Chicago region as folks, many of whom were already one paycheck away from crisis, lost their jobs. And unsurprisingly, people of color are disproportionately impacted.

At Care for Real, we saw a 143 percent increase in first-time visitors to our food pantry in 2020 over the previous year, while distributing nearly two million pounds of food to our neighbors in need. What is most incredible to me is that on any single morning the line of neighbors waiting to receive free groceries looks like the United Nations, with myriad backgrounds represented and at least 12-15 different languages spoken. This is absolutely the most diverse collection of individuals and families I’ve been blessed to serve. Each is the face of the divine and each in need of that most basic of needs: food.

Every morning, I speak with someone making their first visit ever to a food pantry, folks who never thought they would be in a position of needing to ask for food. Nearly every person will share with me that they held out as long as possible to make ends meet before working up the courage or overcoming their shame in needing help. The stigma associated with visiting a food pantry is strong in our nation. Oh, how our misplaced focus on rugged individualism has caused damage. That so many people would choose to go hungry rather than ask for help illustrates the systemic challenges we must overcome.

At the same time, I’m regularly surprised when I share that we seek to tailor the groceries to individual dietary restrictions and preferences and am met by surprise. For example, many of our clients do not eat pork for religious reasons, while others are vegetarian or diabetic. Many do not want canned foods and only want fresh fruits and vegetables. When I have shared this with folks wanting to organize canned food drives, I am often met with a variation on “beggars can’t be choosers.” When did serving the least, the last, and the lost, mean serving only the least palatable, last food I’d eat myself or the lost can of peas in the back of the cupboard, which I just found and is now expired? The implications of “beggars can’t be choosers” become even more convicting when we remember that households of color are disproportionately food insecure. How quickly we forget the many parables of welcoming folks to the banquet feast. No wonder folks are reluctant to go to a pantry. They are afraid the only groceries they’ll receive are the rejected groceries from our own kitchens.

My ministry as an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church calls me to work for justice and compassion. This means serving each visitor to the community food pantry — literally our neighbor — with dignity and compassion. Whether this takes the form of culturally appropriate food, a volunteer who can serve them in their native language, or funding to expand our service to other communities in need, this is my ministry.

The post Ministry in a Time of Pandemics: Rev. Gregory D. Gross appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Claudia Lee Dorsch

Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling, 2018
Hospital Chaplain, UnityPoint Health
Dubuque, Iowa

When Public Health of Dubuque County announced the first case of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020, the visitor restrictions took effect in my hospital shortly after. Patients could not have any visitors, including family members, friends, Eucharistic ministers, and local clergy people. While many healthcare facilities even suspended in-person spiritual care to patients in quarantine or in isolation rooms, I started visiting patients with COVID-19 after I received appropriate personal protective equipment.

The fear of dying alone was overwhelming to everyone. People experienced helplessness and hopelessness. I recalled telling a dying patient repeatedly that I would be there for her during the final moment with hand holding. I realized the perceived abandonment and loneliness were the lies from my ego. My patient was not alone, and I was never alone. The fear closed us off to recognize that we were in this together.

It appeared to many that all doors were closed due to the pandemic; God opened many doors for me to enter, including allowing me to meet patients who have no religious affiliation and who struggled to make sense of their illness and suffering. Due to HIPPA concerns, medical staff could not be a part of the virtual visits using social media or video conference tools for medical discussion or updates. I was able to utilize telehealth programs to initiate family meetings with medical staff, even for the bereavement rituals at the time of transition.

During the Ethics Committee meetings, our members discussed the moral distress and ethical dilemma on rationing scarce resources, such as who might get the last ICU bed or the ventilator. Dubuque is a small city with about 60,000 residents, yet the hospital serves the Tri-state area with a population over 200,000. Communication was critical for the patient care. The priority of my ministry became bridging the communication gap. I spent more time providing emotional and spiritual support to the medical staff and established a staff support program known as “Code Lavender.”

My seminary years prepared me to be resourceful and to advocate for my hospital staff, patients, families, and clergy people. The diversity-inclusive nature of Garrett-Evangelical made me acutely aware of the vulnerable minorities in my community as Dubuque has less than five percent of non-White population, and Roman Catholic is the dominant denomination. Some of my older patients, family members, and their faith leaders learned to cope with the temporary separation; for others, the separation felt eternal. The pandemic has closed the usual ways of human connection, but the love of God invited us to be creative and bold in reaching people beyond the normal boundaries.

On the anniversary date of our first COVID-19 admission, I shared this statement:

“…We also mourn the loss of those patients. They are family members and friends. Each one had made contribution to our community in their own ways. We join those families and friends in their grief as each loss struck our core for who we are and why we do what we do…May the peace of God be with us all.”

The post Ministry in a Time of Pandemics: Claudia Lee Dorsch appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Yorkville United Methodist Church in Union Grove, Wisconsin

Yorkville United Methodist Church has been in existence since 1842, even before Wisconsin was a state. Located in a rural, farming community, the primarily white congregation is made up of about 200 members of all ages.

According to Rev. Sue Leih, who has served the church for 11 years, the congregation is mission oriented, hospitality oriented, and music oriented. “The congregation would say it is mostly music oriented with its five choirs,” Leih said, “but I would say that hospitality is the congregation’s number one gift as they make it their mission to ‘Share God’s Love.’”

That hospitality was clearly seen in the fall of 2019 when Rev. Han Lee started his field education placement there. Lee, who was first ordained in Seoul, South Korea, wanted a field education placement where he could immerse himself in American culture. Eager to learn about his culture as well, the congregation embraced him. “This placement was a gift for both the congregation and Han,” said Leih.

Lee first came to the United States from South Korea in 2003 as an undergraduate at Arizona State University. He returned to South Korea after graduation in 2008 to attend seminary at Methodist Theological University in Seoul. He graduated in 2015 and was ordained in 2018. During his three-year ordination process, Lee served a mega-church in Seoul, got married, and decided to attend seminary in the United States.

He and his wife, Myungsu Kim, chose 91PORN. Lee enrolled in Garrett-Evangelical’s master of divinity program as well as its master of theological studies program, and Kim enrolled in its master of arts in pastoral care and counseling program. They both started in the fall of 2018.

The following fall, Lee started his field education at Yorkville United Methodist Church, about an hour-and-half drive from Evanston. As was typical for student pastors, he led worship, gave sermons and children’s sermons, and supported the youth group. Lee and Kim attended church events and even went on a hayride with the youth in October. The experience was exactly what Lee had hoped for.

“The congregation really welcomed my wife and me,” Lee said. “I loved how we could talk about everything and how the church events really brought the community together.”

A few months later, COVID-19 hit, and in-person services stopped abruptly. Initially, Lee teamed up with Leih’s husband, Tom, an IT professional, and the two created recorded virtual church services and used their computer skills to edit the videos. They then turned their attention to live streaming the worship services via Facebook. “Han’s technical knowledge helped us immensely,” Leih said.

“As a young person who understands technology and media, I really wanted to help the church in the midst of COVID-19,” Lee said.

At first, Lee said, it was difficult to maintain relationships without the face-to-face contact. “While I was familiar with the different media, most of the church members were not,” he said. But as the months passed, more and more people began watching the services online, thanks to Lee.

In October 2020, about a third of the congregation went back to worshipping in person in accordance with Wisconsin COVID-19 guidelines. Leih said she expects to continue live streaming the weekly services because of their popularity. Before COVID-19, an average of 110 people attended church each week. Now, more than 200 people tune in online, Leih said. “That is in addition to the people who are currently worshiping in person,” she continued.

“Thanks to Han, we have reached more people than we imagined,” Leih said. “When all is said and done, I’ve probably learned more from Han than he has from me.”

The post Field Education During a Pandemic: Using Technology to Reach the Parishioners appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Lisa Lackey

Master of Arts in Christian Education, 1992
Chief Engagement Officer and Co-Owner, Insideout Living, Inc, Evanston, Illinois

Even though 2020 is in the rearview mirror, we are all sorting through the collateral damage of three pandemics. This was not anything that any of us could have ever planned for. Suddenly, the entire world was in a state of trauma, with no letup and only tiny pockets to temporarily regulate.

As a psychotherapist, business owner, Black woman, wife, mother, grandmother, and the only child of an elderly mother who lives out of town, the challenges have been more overwhelming than I fully know.

On March 17, 2020, we shut down our offices and grabbed what was needed to set up a home office and transition to an online therapy platform. Our clients and staff needed to be supported in different ways, ways that I had not planned for. Lives were falling apart, finances were impacted, depression and anxiety increased, homes were filled with children who needed to be taught, college students were forced into online learning, and social contact was no longer an option. Our business was busier, and there were few opportunities for personal self-care.

And then, George Floyd.

It was a level of racism that the country had not known, ever. Not that racism had ever changed, we just never witnessed it from a front-row seat, with no details spared. The majority of our clients are White men and women. This created an unusual opportunity for the clients and me. The pandemic of racism hit me harder in many ways than the other two. I am a Black woman.

A large portion of what I do and who I am is to be an usher, providing a presence of safety, making room for people to speak the unspeakable, walk THROUGH the valleys, shadows, and graveyards that have been avoided. As a clinician, speaker, consultant, corporate trainer, and facilitator of messy conversations, my audience is often people who have become weary from the shortcuts and workarounds taken to sidestep THROUGH.

The pandemic of racism is certainly an issue that many of my clients would have preferred to find a shortcut to avoid the awkwardness of having to talk about it with this Black woman, who is an integral part of their lives.

During this time, I am called to highlight what would so easily be left in the shadows. I speak about the cost of continuing to make racism unspeakable. I acknowledge the traumatic impact of racism as a Black person, the daily triggers of matriculating through my life, the fears, anger, hope, and challenges of holding onto myself in a world that is more comfortable seeing me as less.

As a graduate of Garrett-Evangelical, with a master of Christian education, I learned that the great connector is love. Love is not passive, love speaks about what is hidden, and love challenges what is not love, especially in one’s self. This learning has given life-shifting opportunities for myself and those I serve.

The post Ministry in a Time of Pandemics: Lisa Lackey appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Jon Gilbert Martinez

Master of Divinity, 2019
Designated-Term Pastor for Christ Church UCC-Des Plaines, Communications Consultant for The Colectivo de UCC Latinx Ministries, and Vice-Chair of the UCC Mental Health Network,
Chicago, Illinois

When I set out to answer my call to ministry, I never imagined that I would be serving during a global pandemic. I have seen many challenges during this pandemic: people’s need to come together for worship services, the limitations for those who live with mental illness to easily connect with resources, and rising food insecurity.

Garrett-Evangelical helped me acquire theological and pastoral care skills that have come in handy not only in my call but also on the board I serve. For example, at San Lucas UCC, where I served as a digital outreach minister, I was able to see why the congregation desired a way to connect. In response, I was able to work with our senior minister to establish an online donation platform to receive funds to feed those who live with food insecurity. I also began editing and creating worship services to engage our congregation.

In the middle of it all, I have found God in the silence I share with someone. I have found God in supporting families who had to say their final farewell to loved ones. I have seen God in the stranger who found my bumper sticker on being kind speaking to him amidst so much tragedy. Christ’s resurrection is happening daily in the connections that I am blessed to make as pastoral care has ushered itself into the digital age.

The post Ministry in a Time of Pandemics: Jon Gilbert Martinez appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.