Spiritual Care in Common Terms

As a pastor of 42 years, now a hospice chaplain, I chose this book to help me learn to chart for the inter disciplinary team. Hospice chaplaincy is not like the church. The book is aimed at hospital chaplaincy with some reference to hospice work. But truth is truth, and this author knows wherein he speaks. It is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. But it is worth while to spend the time to go slowly through it.

Gordy Hilsman is a profoundly caring and seriously thoughtful person. I know this from knowing him personally. Anyone can learn this from reading this book. It asks, and greatly contributes to answering, how might one best learn, and then communicate, an understanding of someone else's spiritual state? And, how might one dp this while understanding that religious language today often confuses rather than clarifies? What stories, concepts, words, symbolic language will better inform a scientifically minded person about the human spirit of a patient? With the hope that this will increase the total human care of the patient by the whole medical team. Strikingly, he lists, defines and anecdotally describes what it means to be human, and of spirit. Reading this book will benefit every clergy-person and seriously minded lay person.Every health care professional and clergy person should read it. A brilliant creation in written form. Though profound it is an easy read. And is most humanly understandable. Gordy has a beautiful soul/spirit, to be enjoyed in reading these pages. Most informative, refreshing and hopeful!Rev. Bob Jais, APCE, Inc., Supervisor Emeritus

This book is not for everyone. However, it is an excellent resource for people who work in hospital ministry. Skip the first three chapters and jump in at chapter four to help improve your charting. If you are a hospital chaplain, you need this in your library.

Documenting the chaplain's encounter with patients for the clinical team must be accomplished in clear language which anyone on the team can understand, absent of jargon, and absent of any agenda other than to serve the spiritual needs of the patient. This is foundational to pastoral care. No one presents this more clearly than Gordon Hilsman. I am honored to have known Gordon as a mentor and colleague. I highly recommend this book to all board certified chaplains or those on the way to becoming a chaplain.

A must read for those in hospital ministry.

I am so impressed that you were able to gather 80 copies of this book so quickly. It is a bit of an obscure book, designed specificallly for Chaplains. But I grateful for the effort that was made. I have all my copies here in time for the event! Thank you so much.

Very helpful! Visited a patient yesterday and at the end of the visit, in response to my sitting and listening, "you make me human again." Tough 78 year old man needing to wear pull up to combat incontinence. Dignity and respect. Read and learn!

More or less met my expectations.