The 50 Page Syllabus and More!

Two weeks and a day until I get started with chaplain training. I received all of the forms and the syllabus by email last night. The syllabus was a mere 50 pages long. This is serious business!! One wonderful thing included there was the reading list. There are 3 or 4 books each term that are required and then there's a whole slew of books that we can choose from. This term the required books are:

Kitchen Table Wisdom, by Rachel Naomi Remen
The Art of Listening in a Healing Way, by James Miller
Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul, by John Eldredge 

And these for the whole year-long program:
The Art of Being A Healing Presence, by James Miller
Holy Scriptures (per your faith tradition) - cool!!
Plus this textbook (with a textbook price!) - Transforming the Rough Places: The Ministry of Supervision, by Kenneth Pohly

I am REALLY excited to get started. I do love to read, and many of the books listed for the four terms are things that I think I will love. I checked out Kitchen Table Wisdom from the library today while I'm waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail. I read My Grandfather's Blessing by the same author many years ago and loved it. I expect this one to be just as good.

And then there are the forms and agreements! The goal setting form is a bit intimidating and I won't be filling that in until I understand a lot more about it. Several forms deal with keeping your mouth shut about the details of people's lives, and that's not a problem, so I'm good there. But I'm still trying to deal with the intimidation factor of my lack of formal education. I can do this. I think I can, I think I can.

And then there was the awesome news that I heard today about the hospice center for the homeless (The INN Between) actually opening their doors today. This has been in process for a long time and they weren't able to open as planned due to zoning requirements, etc. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get to spend some time there with these folks who are dealing with two really hard things simultaneously - being homeless and very, very ill.

Here's a little news clip. Good stuff!!
Utah's first homeless hospice, The Inn Between, is open for business - Good4Utah.com

My Acceptance Into Chaplain School

Today I met with Chaplain Mark Allison, who interviewed me to see if I was a good fit for his World Spiritual Health Organization CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program, and to see if I felt it was a good fit and good timing for me. I have had a very strong feeling that this was all going to come together, but I wasn't certain how. The minimum requirement for the program is a bachelor's degree, which I do not have, but I'd been told that occasional exceptions were sometimes made. I was hoping to be one of them.

We discussed many things in my application, which mostly consisted of a LONG list of questions with long answers required (I submitted 10 pages of single-spaced text with size 11 font!) As I learned in this meeting, one thing he wanted to see was how vulnerable I was willing to be. I guess spilling my guts in those pages about some of the hard things in my life was the appropriate response. Ha ha.

After meeting for nearly one and a half hours, he explained that they were already past capacity for this term, but he said, "If the timing is good for you, would you like to join us?" Of course I would!!! I'm excited and a little nervous, especially since I'll be right there in a group of people that possibly have advanced degrees in seminary, theology, psychology, etc. Little ol' me with about 80 college credits to my name, most of which are at least 37 years old! But life has a way of educating us in the things that matter most, and I've received a good "education" in many areas.

The requirements for each of the four terms are 4 hours of class each week, 700 pages of reading and 400 clinical hours of volunteer time. So, to graduate in a year, I'll have read a minimum of 2800 pages and put in 1600 clinical hours. I'm going to be one busy girl, but I am really looking forward to it. Some of my time in serving in the homeless branch will count when I'm visiting one on one with someone in need of a listening ear, and that happens frequently!

I feel excited. I feel blessed. I am grateful.

Chaplain Mark Allison speaking at the graduation of the 

most recent group of chaplains. (Photo: Deseret News)