In church

Today I attended a church (not the one I normally attend), and I sat behind this woman who was editing the bulletin for grammar as the service went along. Now we all know that church bulletins sometimes have mistakes in them. The people who write the bulletins are often pulling in information from multiple places, and mistakes are made. It's not a big deal. It was disconcerting to be listening to a sermon about freedom from the world and being bonded to each other in Christ and love (bonus points if you figure out what book was being preached from) and to watch this woman edit the bulletin.

The church was very welcoming, and I liked the service. It's nice to go to church after a long week.

12 Hour Shifts

Four times over the summer as part of the CPE process we have to do 12 hour shifts on site.

12 hours is a long time.

Week One Done

I was planning on updating before now, but it's been a long week at the hospital. We've gone through hospital orientation (one full day) and then four days or so of pastoral office orientation. Some training in all sorts of things like what HIPPA is and how it applies to us and how to use certain kinds of software along with here's what you can and cannot do as pastoral care givers. For example, we cannot give anyone water just in case they're fasting before a test or surgery. Didn't know that a week ago. What I didn't know a week ago and what I do today could fill a book. Maybe several books.

This weekend I've been working some events on campus. All music stuff. Rehearsals, concerts, and piano recitals. I've also been playing quite a lot of video games and letting my mind go blank. This pastoral care stuff is not as easy as it looks sometimes.

CPE

Tomorrow I begin CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), a 12-week hands-on internship at a local hospital.

Preparing for this experience has been difficult. I can count the number of times I have entered a hospital on one hand, but I have some great friends and mentors around here and back home who have been helping me. Of course the full year of seminary under my belt helps. Mayhaps that's easy to say now before I begin. I'll keep you informed.