SOULS IN THE HANDS OF A TENDER GOD

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SOULS IN THE HANDS OF A TENDER GOD

• Chaplain Craig Rennebohm

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Part I The Movement of the Spirit

• At the Doorway the stories of Sterling and
  Terri. We are all vulnerable.
• All of us suffer.
• Healing honors the essential worth and dignity of
  us each.

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Part I The Movement of the Spirit

• CHAPTER TWO Jerrys song.
• NOWHERE TO GO
• Jerrys behavior got him barred from every
  shelter, drop-in center, and meal program in the
  city. There were days when he had literally
  nowhere to go.

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Part I The Movement of the Spirit

• CHAPTER TWO Jerrys song. (continued)
• PREPAREDNESS
• How prepared are our congregations to deal with
  the multitude of brothers and sisters in our
  midst who suffer from mental illness? P. 22
• The FAMILIAR SELF,
• as distinct from the ILLNESS SELF P. 25
• JERRY SINGS ! P. 27

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Part I The Movement of the Spirit

• Chapter 3 The Potters Field Craigs journey
  in Recovery
• The Spirit invites a partnership in the healing
  process, a partnership that on the human side,
  involves medicine, counseling, and companionship.
  P. 42

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Part II The life of the Soul

• Chapter 4 Approaching Mary.
• P. 63 the four tasks
• 1) To understand
• 2) To engage, support appropriate treatment
• 3) To find and use spiritual resources and
  practics
• 4) To help expand the souls capacity to include
  the reality of illness in the immensity of our
  spirit-ual life, in the wholeness of who we are

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Part II The life of the Soul

• Chapter 5 Companioning Breezy
• Practices of Companionship
• 1) Offering Hospitality
• 2) Walking side by side
• 3) Listening
• 4) Accompaniment The life of the sould is
  thoroughly relational.

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Part II The life of the Soul

• Chapter 6 Karls Circle of Care
• P. 101 Faith and medicine
• The process of healing is aided by both medicine
  and ministry each contributes its particular
  gifts of care.

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Part II The life of the Soul

• Chapter 7 Grace
• P. 107 We are each a whole life story more
  than the illness.
• We are each a whole life story that is greater
  than any given moment, and much more than our
  illnesses, wounds, troubles, or sorrows.
• It is in terms of our whole life story that we
  can make sense of our responsibility and destiny
  as persons.

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PART III. A Community of Tenderness

• Chapter 8 The legend of Geel
• The citizens of Geel, a town in Belgium where
  everyday families take mental patients into their
  homes they trace their effort back more than
  seven hundred years.

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PART III. A Community of Tenderness

• Chapter 9 Home, Healing, and Wholeness
• P. 144 Plymouth Church and ministry
• The House of Healing and Companions.
• It is a primary covenant of the community that
  the residents and companions nurture each other
  and support healing and growth

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PART III. A Community of Tenderness

• Chapter 10 Caring for the Soul of the World
• P. 165 Bosnia
• P. 175 We begin caring for the world of the
  world by caring for the souls of our neighbors,
  for each life that touches ours.

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PART III. A Community of Tenderness

• Chapter 11 Words are medicine too they can
  harm, but they can also heal.

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A Call to Healing Ministry

• When our minds and brains are malfunctioning, we
  need community and the love and care of others in
  order to be well
• A tithe of humanity, a quarter of our families,
  wait for ministry.
• Let us prepare ourselves to offer companionship,
  provide hospitality, come alongside, listen to,
  and accompany our fellow human beings who face
  the journey with mental illness.