Among the Notes, Notes of Interest

As I spend the morning in my annual Holy Week meditation, I have the computer up and running. I even move my fingers on the keyboard, and accomplish a few, relatively mindless tasks, while the music I know so well is replayed, reinforced. But the bright monitor, the moving fingers allow me to at least appear to be “at work,” here in the hospital, even while my head moves to the rhythm and my mind rehearses the lyrics and my heart feels – my heart feels....

So let me take a few moments to highlight two new blogs of interest, and especially of interest for those who come here looking for information on healthcare and other chaplaincies in the Episcopal Church.

The first is Diocesan Chaplains “News You Can Use.” This blog is the work of Dr. Maggie Izutsu, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest at Austin, and Consultant for Chaplaincy to the Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies of the Episcopal Church; and of Shelly Fayette, a seminarian at Union Theological Seminary interning in that Office. They’re writing about matters related to “diocesan chaplains” – which is, basically, most of us. Military and federal chaplains have a special relationship to the Office and to the Bishop Suffragan. The rest of us, while remembered and served by the Office, are still responsible primarily to our own diocesan bishops – and so, “diocesan chaplains.” Maggie and Shelly are addressing issues in various arenas of chaplaincy and pastoral care, including health care, and how the Office serves us all.

The second is The Bishop’s Notebook, the blog of the Bishop Suffragan himself. The Rt. Rev. George Packard is Suffragan to the Presiding Bishop for Chaplaincies, including direct responsibility for military and other federal chaplains, and advocacy for healthcare, corrections, and first-response chaplains (police, fire, etc.). He is also responsible for the Episcopal churches in Guam and Micronesia, and has led the Episcopal Church’s responses to disaster, beginning with his personal ministry at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, and continuing through the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005. His blog includes news and personal reflections on his experiences in his many and varied responsibilities.

If you’ve found your way here looking for information on chaplaincy in the Episcopal Church, check out these blogs as well. They will have much you will find useful, and even more you will find interesting.