Hospice Care & Churches
We all know that our mainline denominations are struggling, including my beloved United Methodist Church. We have been trying to figure out how to save churches, change churches, grow churches, build new churches, try new ministries, the list goes on and on.
After serving for the last year in a cooperative ministry setting that included 3 dying, struggling congregations, with about 30 people in worship, mostly over the age of 70, I have begun to think about how and why we do ministry. These three congregations have a rich history, who have built buildings, relationships and memories, and are starting to see those memories, those relationships slowly fade away and yes, die.
It occurred to me about 2-3 months into this appointment that there was an avenue of ministry that we had probably never thought we would need or use, something we had never realized would come into play in our churches, and yet is really a part of our story and life cycle as humans and as Christians.
I think we are entering a time where we need not just new church start training, or revitalization, but, if we are being truly honest with ourselves, we need to train and find those who are gifted in hospice ministry to serve our local churches, as we will have to say goodbye and let go in order to grow and change in the future.
Hospice is a wonderful gift for those who are facing end of life or serious illnesses. Hospice care is a philosophy of care that focuses on relieving the suffering of patients and on their emotional and spiritual needs. Hospice care focuses on bringing comfort, self-respect, and tranquility to people in their final days, months and years of life. Hospice believes that the end of life is not a medical experience, but a human experience. Re-read that paragraph, think about it in terms of the church, in terms of mainline denominations, in terms of death, resurrection and new life.
We must first admit to ourselves, and to the church as a whole, that some of our churches are indeed nearing the end of their lives. Then we can admit that they need some kind of hospice care that will help ease them into the end, that will address their spiritual and emotional needs as they say goodbye to what once was. In that process, new life can perhaps begin to emerge, life that is vibrant, exciting and reaching new people in new ways. Of course, with that new life, inevitably comes death and hospice care once again. Our lives and the church are not so different, may we begin to see ways in which we can care for one another, care for our churches and then allow them to move on from their current life into one that is lived in the light of the resurrection.
