Advent Conspiracy Week 2: Spend Less

On By Stacy N. SergentIn Holidays, Love for Neighbor and SelfLeave a comment

icn-spend-less

Oh, I’ve been dreading this one. Ever since I saw the posters for Advent Conspiracy going up at church a few weeks ago, and I saw that the second week’s theme was about money, I knew that would be the hardest one for me. I’ve never been good with money. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t go on crazy shopping sprees for Jimmy Choo shoes or plasma screen TVs bigger than me or beluga caviar or anything like that. But I do find myself often paraphrasing Captain Jack Sparrow and wondering, “Why is the money always gone?” Continue reading “Advent Conspiracy Week 2: Spend Less” →

I is for Invisible

On By Stacy N. SergentIn ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy, Chaplaincy4 Comments

shipinfog

(This post is part of my ongoing series ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy.)

I took my dog, Hurley, for a walk along the Mount Pleasant waterfront, as I often do, but things didn’t look the same at all. Where I can usually look across the water to see the port of Charleston and the many church steeples of the Holy City, today there was a wall of gray nothing. A few times every minute, we would hear the low call of a foghorn, but couldn’t see the source of the sound. Then suddenly, the top of a massive cargo ship became visible, just a few phantom smoke stacks and containers that seemed to be floating on a cloud. It sounded a nearly constant alert to its presence as it made its way through the fog. If there were other ships in its path, I sure couldn’t see them.  Continue reading “I is for Invisible” →

Advent Conspiracy Week 1: Worship Fully

On By Stacy N. SergentIn Holidays, Love for Neighbor and SelfLeave a comment

icn-worship-fully Last year was my first Advent on this blog, and I wrote about the four weekly themes of Advent (well, three of them anyway – I got too busy one week). This year, since I already wrote about hope very recently in my ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy series, I decided to do something different. Our church is one of many this year participating in Advent Conspiracy, a countercultural movement to focus on the real meaning of this season and not get so caught up in all the “stuff” that goes along with the holidays. I don’t mean writing out Christmas instead of Xmas (which doesn’t bother me since the Greek letter X was an early abbreviation for Christ), or wishing people Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays (which also doesn’t bother me since people of other faiths have holidays at this time of year and I want them to be just as happy). It’s about much more than what we write or what we say.  Continue reading “Advent Conspiracy Week 1: Worship Fully” →

Beam me up, Chaplain.

On By Stacy N. SergentIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

“But Roddenberry fundamentally misunderstood the role of a chaplain, and indeed the role of religion in our lives.” As a Star Trek fan and a chaplain, I love this thoughtful post by Mindy Quigley.

Mindy Quigley's avatarMindy Quigley

This piece was originally published in the November 2014 issue of the Association of Professional Chaplains Newsletter. Reprinted here with permission.

“For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain…  It wasn’t until I was beginning to do Star Trek that the subject of religion arose. What brought it up was that people were saying that I would have a chaplain on board the Enterprise. I replied, “No, we don’t.” –Gene Roddenberry

“Roddenberry made it known to the writers of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation that religion and mystical thinking were not to be included, and that in Roddenberry’s vision of Earth’s future, everyone was an atheist and better for it.[39] He stubbornly resisted the effort of network execs to put a Christian chaplain on the crew of the Enterprise. It would be ludicrous, he argued, to pretend that all other…

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H is for Hope

On By Stacy N. SergentIn ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy1 Comment

(This is part of my ongoing series, ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy.)

It is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, according to Emily Dickinson. Nietzsche said it is the worst of all evils. And on my dark days, I think it’s stupid (though not really). In a hospital, hope can make the difference, if not between life and death, then certainly between life and mere survival. Dum spiro, spero. “While I breathe, I hope.” Even when the people I meet in the hospital are fighting for each breath, or when they are hoping that the next breath will be their last, I watch them wrestle with what it means to hope.  Continue reading “H is for Hope” →

G is for God

On By Stacy N. SergentIn ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy, Chaplaincy8 Comments

(This post is part of the continuing series ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy.)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the following exchange with a patient or family member in the hospital:

“Hi, my name is Stacy. I’m the hospital chaplain.”

“Oh, thank you for coming, but I don’t believe in God.”

My response varies. In my early days as a chaplain intern, I would have allowed this to be the end of the visit. But now, with a few years’ experience under my belt, I don’t walk away so quickly. Sometimes I’ll ask them what it means to them not to believe in God. Sometimes I’ll be honest enough to say, “That’s okay; sometimes I don’t really believe either.” But usually, I just breathe a silent prayer to the God I (usually) believe in and offer whatever support I can to the person across from me. We may never mention God again, but God is there.  Continue reading “G is for God” →

Celebrating Pastoral Care Week — The miracle of chaplaincy

On By Stacy N. SergentIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I wrote this post for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship blog in celebration of Pastoral Care Week. This year’s theme is Spiritual Well-Being.

Aaron Weaver's avatarCBFblog

Below is Part 4 in the 2014 Pastoral Care Week (Oct. 19-25) series here at CBFblog. 

By Stacy Sergent

People come to the hospital where I serve as a chaplain because they want to be made well. They have become sick or gotten hurt, maybe quite suddenly, or maybe so gradually that they barely noticed for a long time. But now things have gotten serious enough to bring them here for healing. They want the help of doctors, nurses, radiologists, physical therapists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and others. What many of them come to realize as well is that they have a need for healing that is not only physical. And that’s where my ministry begins.

I am thankful that many healthcare systems today are coming to understand the need to care for the whole person, not just address a physical diagnosis. Chaplains like myself help patients and their families address…

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Stacy Crochetcy (It Rhymes!)

On By Stacy N. SergentIn Love for Neighbor and Self, Perfectionism, Prayer2 Comments

crochet

This week, I began a new business venture. I’ve been crocheting for a few years now, mostly making fun things for myself or gifts for friends and family. Over and over, I heard some of them say, “You should open an Etsy shop!” And so I finally have. I’m starting with just a few items, but I’ll be adding more in the days ahead, and I’m excited! If you’re looking for some lovely and slightly quirky handmade gifts, I invite you to check it out at this link: StacyCrochetcy on Etsy

Crocheting is more than just a hobby for me; it’s a spiritual discipline. Sometimes, through the gift of holy imagination, I have conversations with God while we crochet together.  Continue reading “Stacy Crochetcy (It Rhymes!)” →

#BlessedAreTheCrazy: No Longer Protecting Secrets

On By Stacy N. SergentIn Depression, Love for Neighbor and Self19 Comments

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This is Mental Illness Awareness Week, and I’m proud to be participating in this synchroblog to celebrate the launch of Sarah Lund’s new book, Blessed Are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family, and Church. I come from a family in which mental illness — especially depression and anxiety disorders — and addiction have had a huge impact. As a little girl, I remember the great lengths my family went to in order to protect the secret that my mother had been hospitalized for depression. I felt the shame of it, even before I understood what it meant. I was afraid other kids at school would laugh at us if they knew, and any time a group on the playground was whispering, I was sure it was about me and my family.  Continue reading “#BlessedAreTheCrazy: No Longer Protecting Secrets” →

F is for Forgiveness

On By Stacy N. SergentIn ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy, Chaplaincy, Love for Neighbor and Self8 Comments

forgive

(This is the sixth in the series ABCs of Hospital Chaplaincy.)

Plenty of times in movies and on TV, I had seen someone go into a dark confession booth and say to the priest on the other side of the screen, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been [length of time] since my last confession . . .” followed by a litany of sins. The priest would then assign a number of Hail Marys or Our Fathers, maybe some act of penance. That was pretty much all I knew about asking forgiveness. I’m a Baptist, after all; we don’t do confession — at least not to another person. We confess our sins directly to God (if at all). So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself, as a hospital chaplain, on the receiving end of a whole lot of confessions.  Continue reading “F is for Forgiveness” →