"So what are you doing here?" The role of the minister of the gospel in hospital visitation, or a theological cure for the crisis in evangelical pastoral care

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Sep 2003 by Milton, Michael A

I pulled up a stool next to the gurney and sat down. "Mrs. Martinez, the CT scan is abnormal." I said. "It shows that the cancer has spread to the brain." Mrs. Martinez looked down. Her face became pale and stricken. I was keenly aware that this was not the kind of test result one simply tells a patient and walks out. Gently, and after a long pause, I asked, "What is your reaction?" "This is a death sentence," she said, looking away.

What could the doctor do? He noticed a crucifix around the patient's neck. He asked if she would like to pray. "Yes, I would." She said. So, the doctor of the body knew that right then what she needed more than anyone was a doctor of the soul. He began to pray: "Oh, God, You who are the Great Healer." He paused to think of what to pray next. As he paused, she repeated his words, "Oh God, You who are the Great Healer." I quote again from the JAMA article: "She was repeating after me! Now I had to find the right words that she could repeat. 'Who guides us through life,' I said. 'Who guides us through life,' she repeated."

And so it went. At length, the physician wrote these words as he reflected on the power of that moment and his own awakening to the importance of spiritual care of the sick and dying: "I am more aware than ever how human beings are spiritual beings . . . concerned with meaning, hope, relationship and love, suffering, and life's mystery. Spirituality is linked to health and spiritual care is a core-element of health care."38

It is of interest that the doctor who wrote the article is now a chaplain. Also, it must be stated that the physician is a Jew and his understanding of spirituality is altogether insufficient for those who know that God is reconciling the world to himself through his Son Jesus Christ. Yet, the JAMA article shores up the fact that professional health caregivers recognize that there is a place in the hospital room for spirituality. They may, still, of course, sarcastically pose the question, "So, what are you doing here?" to the faithful minister of the gospel. But, having his own soul strengthened by the Word of God and prayer, having been taught by the older traditions of the cure of souls like Taylor and Baxter, having shed every vestige of Freud and Rogers, and having come to terms with practicing a biblically faithful identity, the Minister may always reply: "Actually, I am here because God sent me to see you."

1 From personal notes taken from a lecture by Dr. G. Wade Rowatt at The Suicide Prevention Clinic for United States Military Chaplains, The Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas, July 19, 2000.

2 All Scriptural quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

3 This article is revised from a paper by the same name delivered by the author to the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Colorado Springs, CO.

4 The Book of the Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, "Directory For Worship" 60-61 (Atlanta: Christian Education and Publications, 2000). This statement, word for word, formulated by the fathers of the PCA, came from The Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1946.