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This website is the result of my doctoral demonstration project for The New York Theological Seminary located in New York City.
The Challange Statement from my demonstration project reads as follows:
In my nine years of doing chaplaincy, I have become aware of the connection between uninformed patients and family members and prolonged dying. Among the consequences of this lack of information are: unnecessary pain, financial burdens, and spiritual and emotional stress on the patient and family. I believe that clergy are in a prominent and supportive position to provide a pastoral response to end-of-life issues. My own denomination, the United Church of Christ, has done some education, but only tangentially. New York has different laws than the other 49 states around end-of-life care, so special attention needs to be paid to these laws. I believe that God has called me out of this witnessing of pain, suffering and lack of knowledge to work with clergy from my own denomination, educating them about end-of-life issues and how they are impacted by NY State laws. My hope is that the clergy can then empower and educate their congregations to make more informed health care decisions around end-of-life issues, especially as both New York State law and UCC faith-based perspectives impact them. Through education, training and readily available Internet resources, UCC clergy and congregations can work from a place of empowerment and strength when end-of-life health issues arise.
This website establishes the "internet resources" portion of my project.
You can contact me with any comments or questions at: mjacobs@healthcarechaplaincy.org.
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