Growing Need for Hospice Chaplains
By Vicki Brown*

Hospice chaplains handle many things for patients. Chaplain Donald Hohne performed a wedding for a patient of Gilchrist Hospice Care, an affiliate of Greater Baltimore Medical Center, in Baltimore, Md. The patient was a homecare hospice patient and the wedding took place in the couple’s home.

The need for hospice chaplains is growing, say endorsement officials and chaplains. They attribute the growth to a number of factors – aging baby boomers, the growth in for-profit hospices, and changes in federal regulations.

“The greatest need for chaplains is still the military, particularly the Army, because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but we are seeing an increase in endorsements for hospice chaplains, too,” said the Rev. Tom Carter, director of Endorsement and Pastoral Care, United Methodist Endorsing Agency, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

In 2008, UMEA endorsed 16 hospice chaplains, out of a total of 100 endorsements in all settings. In 2007, 21 hospice chaplains were endorsed out of total of 105 endorsements. Carter attributes that to the number of aging Baby boomers, “Hospice adds dignity to death. Chaplains can connect the person’s life story to the end of life, helping family say goodbye and helping resolve conflicts if there are any,” he said.

The only setting with more endorsements was hospital chaplains. UMEA endorsed 32 hospital chaplains in 2007 and 33 in 2008. The need for hospital chaplains is always present since when chaplains retire, replacements are being hired, Carter said.

The Rev. Beth McGuire, director of Bereavement Services Hospice of Medina County and Barberton Hospice and Palliative Care, also says changes in federal regulations have amended the spiritual component. Bereavement care is also required, but McGuire said there is little direction for how that is to be done and no funding available.

The Rev. McGuire, director of Bereavement Services, Hospice of Medina County, Ohio, talks with a young girl at a Kids Grief Camp, Plum Creek Park, Brunswick, Ohio.

The Rev. Carolyn Burrus, a United Methodist elder endorsed as a hospice chaplain, also believes the field is growing because more for-profit hospices are being opened.

“Hospices used to all be volunteer, then evolved to non-profit,” said Burrus, a chaplain at the Hospice of Alamance-Coswell in Burlington, N.C.

“I feel my call to ministry has been to chaplaincy, out of my healthcare background and my personal losses,” said Burrus. Among those losses were her grandmother’s death in the early 1990s and the death of a brother from AIDS in 1995, which spurred her interest in ministry at the end of life. “I saw him fail to ask for help because he was afraid people might retaliate.”

Who do hospice chaplains see?

“I tend to see two groups people, those with and without an affiliation with a faith community. Both tend to want to be at peace with their lives as they die,” Burrus said.

She adds that death is the ultimate faith journey and views her role as a midwife to the dying process.

Medical knowledge is important, since a chaplain can ask, “Did you understand that?” and serve as an extra set of eyes and ears checking on things, knowing when to call the nurse, just being an advocate in the medical setting, Burrus said.

“I listen to where folks are in their faith. I’m not trying to get them in church, or get them to make a donation, just trying to support them where they are spiritually. Often I find that if they have a past church connection, they are trying to reconnect to that tradition and reconcile it with their current relationship with God,” Burrus said.

If a hospice patient is connected to a church already, she tried to work with that connection. “For instance, if they are connected to a church and they want to be baptized, I wouldn’t necessarily do it, I would work with that church pastor,” she said.

McGuire believes those who have an active faith community have more support for the process of dying and of grieving. She says how the hospice organization offers bereavement counseling varies. That may include letters, phone calls, support groups, or actual counseling by qualified professionals.

She sees a great need for the service, though, and said when she was involved in organizing a workshop for clergy and Stephen ministers – lay ministers trained to work with the sick and dying – 50 people signed up.

*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Four Endorsed as Life Coaches

One new area of endorsement in the United Methodist Church is life coaching, approved in March 2008. UMEA endorsed four chaplains or pastoral counselors for that service from January 2008 to January 2009.

Life coaching is a partnership between a coach and an individual who wants to make positive life changes. The Rev. Jim Robey, a United Methodist elder endorsed as a life coach, views the process as a way to help a person move into the “fullness of life” which Jesus offers.

Coaching sessions are usually done by phone, and provide a method of accountability and support for making life changes. A session might focus on reporting of actions that had been agreed upon, Robey said.

People who seek help from a life coach may feel “stuck,” Robey said. “The focus of coaching is moving forward in your life. Overly simplified, counseling focuses on the present-past and coaching focuses on the present-future.

Robey, who does pastoral counseling and life coaching at the Gulf Shores United Methodist Church in Gulf Shores, Ala., said most of his time is spent coaching ministers, district superintendents, and lay folks. He believes his coaching empowers the ministry of others.


To learn more about United Methodist chaplains, visit www.gbhem.org/chaplains.