Thesis:
A Project to Develop and Conduct Courses to Prepare Individuals to Work with People Experiencing Loss
Nancy J. Kelly, 1995

Abstract

Ministers and health care professionals inevitably will be faced with individuals in spiritual crisis. They are challenged to assist those people to find answers to the difficult questions of “Why?”, “Why me,” and the classic one, “If God is good, how could this happen?” Frequently ministers are not adequately prepared to act in the role of chaplains to such individuals. Nurses and social workers often feel uncomfortable with these questions themselves.

I believe many people experiencing tragedy in their lives struggle to understand and integrate that experience into their spiritual or religious belief systems. The purpose of this project was to develop and teach two courses to provide training for seminary students and health care professionals in responding to the needs of those experiencing serious illness or loss. The course for seminary students prepares them to meet the needs of their congregations in the future. Health care professionals can benefit from this training to better assist their patients and to handle the losses themselves.

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