Clergy Guide to End-of-life Issues

by Jacobs, Martha R.

• ISBN13: 9780829818598
• ISBN10: 0829818596
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-30
• Publisher: Pilgrim Pr

Summary

Will provide even experienced clergy with more tools to help families navigate end-of-life issues and a graceful death. It will give guidance to ministers who are still struggling with personal, professional, and spiritual growth around end-of-life issues. And, for those in pastoral training, it offers the foundational understanding about end-of-life issues so they can put their own issues around death and dying aside to assist others in charting their own course through life's end.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Why Are We Afraid to Die?	p. 1
The Importance of End-of-Life Issues for Clergy and Seminarians	p. 3
Why We Are Afraid to Die	p. 5
The Denial of Death	p. 6
A Graceful Death	p. 10
Why This Book Is Different	p. 13
Website Resources	p. 14
End-of-Life Issues
Legal Issues	p. 17
Advance Directives and How They Came About	p. 19
The Law	p. 20
How Different States Handle Advance Directives	p. 23
So What Exactly Are Advance Directives?	p. 25
Naming a Health Care Proxy	p. 25
Living Wills	p. 27
Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Orders/Do-Not-Intubate (DNI) Orders	p. 28
Honoring Advance Directives	p. 29
Denominational Stances on Advance Directives and End-of-Life Issues	p. 30
Other Legal Terms	p. 30
Medical Issues	p. 33
Navigating Your Way through the Hospital	p. 33
The Ethos of Intensive Care Units	p. 35
"Actively Dying,"	p. 37
Removal of Life Support	p. 39
Pain Control	p. 41
Artificial Nutrition and Hydration - Yes or No?	p. 43
Brain Death	p. 44
Terminal Sedation	p. 45
Theological Issues
Miracles and Cures	p. 49
Miracles with or without Respirators: Healing and Curing	p. 49
Biblical Strength	p. 52
Racial, Cultural, Social, and Economic Issues	p. 55
Sexual Orientation	p. 60
Our Own Demons	p. 62
Prayerful Discernment Process	p. 63
Self-Care	p. 68
Pastoral Issues
Preparing for the End of Life	p. 73
End of Life - What to Expect, What to Do	p. 73
A "Good" Death	p. 73
Family Disagreements	p. 75
Forgiveness	p. 77
Life Review	p. 79
Being Present - Doing Nothing	p. 83
Anticipatory Grieving	p. 85
Letting Go	p. 86
What You Can Do: Cues to Help the Family	p. 86
Rituals	p. 88
Working with Congregations	p. 91
Sermons and Bible Study	p. 91
Having "Those" Conversations	p. 97
The Clear and Convincing Evidence Conversation	p. 99
The Nuts and Bolts of Advance Directives	p. 100
Knowing the Options	p. 104
Hospice	p. 106
Palliative Care	p. 108
Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities	p. 109
Focusing on Transformation	p. 112
Transformation for Those Who Are Dying	p. 118
Transformation for Family Members	p. 119
Transformation for Congregations	p. 120
Transformation for You, the Clergyperson	p. 122
State-Specific Websites for Information about Advance Directives	p. 125
Denominational Links to End-of-Life Issues and Other Denominational Resources	p. 129
Advance Directives and End-of-Life Web Resources	p. 132
Prayerful Discernment Process for Congregational Use	p. 135
Materials and Resources for Use with Congregations	p. 140
Book Suggestions on Grieving and Rituals	p. 144
Sample Sermon: "A Chaplain's Prayer"	p. 145
Notes	p. 153
Bibliography	p. 161
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