'In Life and In Death We Belong To God' Formations of the church as a caring community By Cheryl Phibbs The Layman Online Thursday, March 15, 2007 DURHAM, N.C. – It is critical that the church not become captive to medicine's therapeutic techniques instead of Jesus' practice of caring, a speaker told more than 250 church members, pastors and health-care professionals during "In Life and In Death We Belong To God: The Congregational Continuum of Care in the Presbyterian Church." "Our captivity to therapeutic techniques is turning the church into another arm of the medical industry," said Dr. Keith G Meador, a professor of the Practice of Pastoral Theology and Medicine at Duke Divinity School. The conference, held March 12-14 in Durham in partnership with the Presbyterian Church and the Duke University Institute on Care at the End of Life, explored the theological, medical and practical dimensions of end-of-life care and discussed how congregations could put that knowledge into practice in their own parishes. Meador emphasized that the history of the church is centered on a people who care. "We cannot lose the vision of sharing the tears of the early church," he said. Meador, who is co-director for the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University Medical Center and established Duke's Theology and Medicine Program, addressed the correlation of the two scholarships of therapeutic techniques versus the practice of caring. He examined the theory that how we care for one another in living is how we will care for one another in dying. "The virtues of caring are developed in our daily lives," he said. Meador shared that it is in the ordinary activities, not the high-drama moments, where our faith is truly transformed and community is created. "Our human activity should be God activity," he said. When we practice caring on a daily basis, the outcome is the virtues of gratitude, hope, trust, faithfulness, steadfastness, hospitality, compassion, and mercy. He cited four gifts – hospitality, worship, baptism and the Eucharist – that Christians practice in their congregations to create caring communities. In hospitality, we should share our life stories. "Storytelling offers truth and vulnerability. It can be work, but it is a sacred space and a high privilege to hear the voices of those who suffer," he said. Meador elaborated that as we narrate our lives together through attentive listening, even in the difficulty of silence, we honor others just by our presence. According to Meador, those in pain or death often want us to abandon them. They feel they are dependent and a burden on their loved ones. As caring Christians, Meador said it is "our challenge to be faithful to say, 'I will not abandon you.' It is important to make the dying believe they are worth your time, you want to be with them, you want to hear them. There is honesty in death. They'll know if you really want to be with them," he said. "We must practice attention. Narrating a life together is a practice." Worship is another practiced Christian activity that is vital in forming a caring community. "In the practice of worship," he said, "we are formed into a community for God and the world. Worship itself is a source of care and healing." Baptism, Meador said, is an experience of gratitude for God's sustaining presence. It loudly proclaims our identity and acknowledges our corporate status of being God's child. "Baptism is a challenge to rely in dependence on God and his church," he said. "It is a sign for the Christian community when we make this offering of ourselves." Lastly, he said, we "invite everyone to the feast to share in life abundantly." Meador described the holy Eucharist as an event that creates possibilities in people's lives because of God's goodness. "The transforming potential of the communion table forms us into a people capable of giving thanks," he said. Meador reminded the Christian community that "God is social and he calls us to be social." It is in living together and sharing together in the Christian community or congregation, that binds us together and changes our testimony, he said, because "caring is easier when you share a history." Cheryl Phibbs is a freelance writer living in Winston-Salem, N.C. Cheryl Phibbs is a freelance writer living in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Respond to this article

Home · Archives · The Layman · PLC Publications Presbyterian Lay Committee · Feedback · Links