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Chaplain Craig Rennebohm. SOULS IN THE HANDS OF A TENDER GOD. Part I – The Movement of the Spirit. At the Doorway – the stories of Sterling and Terri. We are all vulnerable. All of us suffer. Healing honors the essential worth and dignity of us each. Part I – The Movement of the Spirit.
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Chaplain Craig Rennebohm SOULS IN THE HANDS OF A TENDER GOD
Part I – The Movement of the Spirit • At the Doorway – the stories of Sterling and Terri. We are all vulnerable. • All of us suffer. • Healing honors the essential worth and dignity of us each.
Part I – The Movement of the Spirit • CHAPTER TWO – Jerry’s song. • NOWHERE TO GO – • Jerry’s behavior got him barred from every shelter, drop-in center, and meal program in the city. There were days when he had literally nowhere to go.
Part I – The Movement of the Spirit • CHAPTER TWO – Jerry’s song. (continued) • PREPAREDNESS – • How prepared are our congregations to deal with the multitude of brothers and sisters in our midst who suffer from mental illness? P. 22 • The FAMILIAR SELF, • as distinct from the ILLNESS SELF – P. 25 • JERRY SINGS ! – P. 27
Part I – The Movement of the Spirit • Chapter 3 – The Potter’s Field – Craig’s journey in Recovery • The Spirit invites a partnership in the healing process, a partnership that on the human side, involves medicine, counseling, and companionship. P. 42
Part II – The life of the Soul • Chapter 4 – Approaching Mary. • P. 63 – the four tasks • 1) To understand • 2) To engage, & support appropriate treatment • 3) To find and use spiritual resources and practics • 4) To help expand the soul’s capacity to include the reality of illness in the immensity of our spirit-ual life, in the wholeness of who we are…
Part II – The life of the Soul • Chapter 5 – Companioning Breezy • Practices of Companionship • 1) Offering Hospitality • 2) Walking side by side • 3) Listening • 4) Accompaniment – “The life of the sould is thoroughly relational.
Part II – The life of the Soul • Chapter 6 – Karl’s Circle of Care • P. 101 – Faith and medicine • “The process of healing is aided by both medicine and ministry; each contributes its particular gifts of care”.
Part II – The life of the Soul • Chapter 7 – Grace • P. 107 – We are each a whole life story – more than the illness. • We are each a whole life story that is greater than any given moment, and much more than our illnesses, wounds, troubles, or sorrows. • It is in terms of our whole life story that we can make sense of our responsibility and destiny as persons.
PART III. – A Community of Tenderness • Chapter 8 – The legend of Geel • The citizens of Geel, a town in Belgium where everyday families take mental patients into their homes – they trace their effort back more than seven hundred years.
PART III. – A Community of Tenderness • Chapter 9 – Home, Healing, and Wholeness • P. 144 – Plymouth Church and ministry • The House of Healing and “Companions”. • It is a primary covenant of the community that the residents and companions nurture each other and support healing and growth…
PART III. – A Community of Tenderness • Chapter 10 – Caring for the Soul of the World • P. 165 – Bosnia • P. 175 – We begin caring for the world of the world by caring for the souls of our neighbors, for each life that touches ours.
PART III. – A Community of Tenderness • Chapter 11 – Words are medicine too – they can harm, but they can also heal.
A Call to Healing Ministry • When our minds and brains are malfunctioning, we need community and the love and care of others in order to be well • A tithe of humanity, a quarter of our families, wait for ministry. • Let us prepare ourselves to offer companionship, provide hospitality, come alongside, listen to, and accompany our fellow human beings who face the journey with mental illness.