In the beginning...

So begins my blog and my first entry. What to say today? Well, the intent of my blog is to provide a space for running commentary from my daily adventures as the director of pastoral care at a major hospital in Montgomery County, Maryland. To this I will add my thoughts about the issues of the day, as well as describe my routine with my pup Sysco, a pound rescue I've had 4.5 years now. He is all about living in the moment, doesn't remember yesterday except the treats he had and wants again today, and doe snot worry about the future. As Jesus said, consider the lillies....Sysco is a good role model for all of us!

You ask, "Chaplain Chuck, how did you get here?" Presumably you mean my ministry at the hospital and this blog! I am an ordained elder in full connection in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, appointed to serve in ministry by Bishop John Schol of this Conference. I am endorsed for this work by the United Methodist Church, having completed ordination requirements (6 years minimum, including seminary, testing, reviews, lots of written work, background checks, etc.--you get the picture), and 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Level 1 and 2. I served the local church 7 years as a pastor before accepting my current position and appointment. I am a member of the Association of Professional Chaplains. I work full time weekly, and I am on call 24/7 except when on vacation and some weekends monthly.

"On call 24/7?!? How do you do it, Chaplain Chuck?" Well, it's not as hard as it sounds. Every pastor serving a church is also on call 24/7. It's a fact of life in ministry. Whether a pastor serving a congregation or a chaplain in the hospital, on call is on call--emergencies happen, people need pastoral support, and we are blessed to have the opportunity to serve them as we follow God's call on our lives. What makes a difference is balance, balance plus having systems in place to help us do our work. I may carry a pager for weeks and never have even one call, but then, as happens occasionally, there may be several nights when I am called into the hospital. These are sacred moments, a labor love, when we walk into the sacred places of peoples' lives--and sometimes their dying. We offer care and compassion, and we are the face of God to many we meet and greet. This is part of our call as ministers, our own commissioning from God, to serve the world where the world's greatest need meets our greatest gifts. Many say to serve Christ is like carrying an ox's yoke, but please remember, Christ carries it with us! With God and Christ, and the power of the ever present Holy Spirit, anything and everything is possible.

Ask yourself, has God ever given you a task and not also given you the tools and resources to carry it out? Well of course God has always provided exactly what you needed to accomplish God's ends. I liken this to the volunteer work I like to do with Habitat for Humanity or the mission trips with the United Methodist Church's Volunteers in Mission. I may help to build a house in Katrina ravaged Mississippi , or a barn in Bosnia, or perhaps a green house for the victims of civil war in some formerly East European country. But I don't do these things alone or in a vacuum. By myself I could accomplish little, but with others I can and do accomplish a lot! God is good all the time; all the time, God is good.

My goals in ministry are to serve those where God sends me, with a joyful heart, and as John Wesley pointed out 'back in the day,' the world is my parish, so I may be serving God anywhere!

Enough for now. You see what kind of blog this will be. More to come. I hope to share with you how I see God working in my life, and the life of those I serve. Ministry is a healing profession, and the minister is a healer first. So begins my blog.