FROM THE PASTOR
Exciting Things are Going to Happen in 2023
Have you ever made an altar flower delivery or a communion visit for St. Luke’s? Have you ever stopped for a “friendly visit” with someone living in a nursing home? Have you ever dropped in to spend time with a friend or neighbor who is dealing with an on-going health issue or new diagnosis? Have you ever wanted to reach out but felt hesitant and unsure about what to do or say?
I am excited to invite you to the Spiritual Care Visitor Training program sponsored by the Park Ridge Ministerial Association, hosted by St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, and presented by Bishop Anderson House. Bishop Anderson House is a seventy-five-year-old ministry, rooted in the Episcopal tradition, and housed on the campus of Rush University Medical Center. It seeks to serve at the intersection of health care and spirituality and offers a variety of ministries within the West Side Medical District and beyond the District to the wider metropolitan Chicago community.
For the past thirty years one of Bishop Anderson House’s core offerings has been the Spiritual Care Visitor Training program. The program is designed to enable lay leaders to accompany fellow parishioners through times of loneliness, transition, or illness with skill and confidence. Participants in the Training will:
- Attend a day-long introductory retreat
- Complete seven Online Learning Modules at their own pace. Module content includes Active Listening, Spiritual Screening, Ministry to Cognitively Impaired, Addiction, Faith, Sacrament, Prayer and Theodicy, Cultural Humility, Serious Illness, End of Life, and Hospice Care.
- Make weekly visits to fellow parishioners chosen in consultation with St. Luke’s pastoral staff and with its support and coaching.
- Utilize the opportunity to consult with a BAH chaplain about content questions or visit experiences through a monthly call-in to Bishop Anderson House.
- Complete course requirements within three months.
The Spiritual Care Visitor Training program will begin with the introductory retreat on Saturday, March 25, 9:00 AM at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 205 N. Prospect.
The cost of the program is $375 per person. However, because of a generous foundation support in 2023, the cost of participation in 2023 is only the $50 non-refundable registration fee. This is only possible in 2023. In 2024, the program will go back to $375. Participants will register individually by going to this Bishop Anderson House link (https://www.bishopandersonhouse.org/spiritual-care-visitor-training-application/) no later than March 13. We will cap enrollment at 20 to preserve a small group learning environment so register early!
You are invited whether or not you have ever been involved in a visitation ministry. The training is designed to sharpened skills, deepen knowledge, and perhaps even test out a new opportunity for ministry.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at jesjms@att.net or contact the Bishop Anderson House registrar, Kim Lessner. kim_lessner@rush.edu.
Pastor John E. Schumacher, BCC
