tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3303691337701412930.post3489085539377874408..comments2023-10-29T12:35:06.856-04:00Comments on Free Falling and Defying Gravity: My Pet Peeve: Inadequate (or Non-existent) Pastoral CareWounded and Healinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17442707317362036427noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3303691337701412930.post-34114981765512917832009-07-07T12:30:27.720-04:002009-07-07T12:30:27.720-04:00As a hospice chaplain, I ask if the family if thei...As a hospice chaplain, I ask if the family if their pastor knows they are there and offer to call the pastor. I agree with you that pastors aren't out there enough but sometimes the pastor didn't get the call.I'm here! Now what?https://www.blogger.com/profile/15808154616777150947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3303691337701412930.post-56989649227049114732009-07-07T08:12:04.787-04:002009-07-07T08:12:04.787-04:00Once a month isn't always realistic for shut i...Once a month isn't always realistic for shut in visits. I try to get there every six weeks. It shouldn't all be the pastor - there needs to be other people in the congregation who visit shut ins regularly.<br /><br />There was a time when people stayed in the hospital long enough that you could designate one day a week to make hospital visits. Now I drop everything and go to the hospital when I hear someone is there because they are likely to have been discharged once I get there. "When I hear" being the operative word. The other side of this story is that the family won't call you. I've NEVER had a chaplain call me. Sometimes the hospital calls me (only if the patient requests it) but more often than not by the time I get that call the patient is home. <br /><br />That's really surprising that a pastor did not come when he was called by the chaplain. Every pastor I know would do that. <br /><br />Nobody ever thinks a pastor visits enough. Lots of church members think that's all you should do is go around visiting people. I do the best I can. Sometimes people slip under the radar and that is regrettable. I'm sure there are pastors that neglect this duty but the other side is that I have had people accuse me of not visiting, when in fact I did, they either didn't know, didn't think it was enough or flat out lied. <br /><br />And while I'm ranting, would it kill the family or the person to let me know they have been RELEASED so I don't waste my time going to the hospital to see them only to find out they've gone home?Pastor Joellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14212838423929588352noreply@blogger.com