wellness screenings; led retreats; called on—and advocated for—sick parishioners in homes or hospitals; and much more. Knapp wishes parish nursing would evolve more
quickly because the need is great. Hospitals can’t provide as much spiritual help anymore. She has seen the need not just from her experiences with Westberg and her congregations but also as a board member of the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Nurse Association (ELPNA).
A healthy perspective That nonprofit, founded in 2004 by parish nurses in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., is open to regis- tered nurses (RNs) who have completed a 40-hour parish nurse preparation class and work with an ELCA or other Lutheran congregation, or belong to a Lutheran congregation and work in a different denomination’s church. (The vocation is also called faith community nursing because of the many denominations where this care happens in about 30 countries.) Members—there are 120, but hundreds more serve as ELCA parish nurses—are present at all major churchwide gatherings. “Parish nurses can help clergy and parishioners
understand the connectedness with how being well or unwell affects our whole being,” said Carol DeSchepper, ELPNA’s national board chair. “They can help people navigate the health system and support them during life transitions in ways that a pastor might not have time to follow over a long period. In addition, a parish nurse can encourage pastors and youth leaders to incorporate health information into their parts of the ministry.” Tammy Devine, a RN, parish nurse coordinator,
founding ELPNA member, ELCA deacon and the wellness manager for Portico Benefit Services (previously ELCA Board of Pensions), has seen all sides and said parish nurses remind congregants and church staff of “the importance of caring for self so we’re in the best place to be able to be equipped to go back out to serve.” At Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., pastors
learn firsthand about the gifts of parish nurses. It’s the only ELCA seminary with a parish nurse on staff and the only one to offer a graduate certificate program for parish nurses, who take courses such as Thinking Theologically-Confessing Publicly alongside future pastors. Lois Malcolm teaches that class and has led
continuing education for parish nurses. She agrees that having nurses and seminarians in the same class deepens their understanding of one another “but also complicates it,” she said. “Nurses are very practical and force their classmates to be more
Michelle Knapp, a nurse at Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago, takes church administrator Madeline Lund’s blood pressure, which is one of many services parish nurses provide.
attentive to nitty-gritty questions related to health and death. Especially for people studying for the ministry, this brings a very healthy perspective.”
Congregational care At St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran in Southport, N.C., parish nurse Vicki Carlson added four nurses—two retired and two working full time elsewhere—to the pastoral care roster as the congregation doubled to about 450 people. The congregation’s shepherding groups
are divided into four regions, and each nurse is responsible for one, with about 60 families. They are trained to do everything she does (visit, administer communion and more), but they work in the field and she is based at the church. Carlson also sits on the local Interchurch Fellowship Committee to be a bridge to the community. She is the only paid nurse. In fact, not only is she
listed on St. Peter’s website, but her phone number is also on its answering machine for those who might need her help. Jim Simon never thought he’d want it, but the
retired nuclear power plant operator/instructor and his wife, Wendy, appreciated Carlson’s visits when ill and another nurse’s input when Jim needed to make decisions about a medical diagnosis. “The combination of looking at what’s going on from a medical standpoint as well as a spiritual standpoint works out pretty well,” he said. Cindy Harris, a part-time, unpaid parish nurse at Mount Zion Lutheran Church in Tucson, Ariz., 37
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Photo: William Nunnally
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