The Community of Hope is made up of individuals who serve as loving and willing vessels to carry God's care to a broken world. The program began in Houston as a result of one individual's desire to pass on to others the care and compassion he had received at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Because Houston Chronicle editor Dan Cobb was so appreciative of the emotional and spiritual support he received during his own illness and the illness and death of his wife, he wanted to offer support to others in similar circumstances. But, as he began to visit hospital patients, he realized that good intentions alone were not sufficient for the task he had set for himself.
In spring 1994 he went to the Pastoral Care office at St. Luke's and asked if he could be trained as a volunteer lay chaplain. His was a timely call to begin a new ministry. The Revs. Dr. Helen Appelberg and Scott Blick, both chaplains at St. Luke's, began to consider how such a program could be set up. That fall Dr. Appelberg set up the first Community of Hope training class with the goal of teaching volunteers to minister effectively to hospital patients. But the program soon grew beyond those parameters, as volunteers asked to take the program to their own churches in order to prepare volunteers for other avenues of ministry. Today there are training centers in churches and institutions across Texas, as well as in other parts of the country. The volunteers serve through a variety of outlets, such as hospice care and Lay Eucharistic Ministry, as well as hospital lay chaplains. Each church that offers the program is encouraged to have a well-defined mission of its own.
Rev. Appelberg addressed the CTK Congregational Care Team last winter. She was met with such enthusiasm that the team is now exploring the possibility of establishing our own Community of Hope training in 2003.
The keystone of the Community of Hope is Benedictine spirituality, a devotion to the care of the whole person: mind, body and spirit. Such spirituality inspires individuals to seek balance, simplicity,and harmony between the inner work of Christian meditation, sacred reading, and prayer and the outer work of corporate worship, pastoral ministry, and serving others. The goal of the CTK Care Team is that the Community of Hope model will provide additional depth to CTK's existing congregational care efforts and to our Lay Eucharistic Ministry.
For more information, contact Peggy Sale or Diane Persson, both graduates of St. Luke's Community of Hope. Also watch for more information in the December issue of The King's Banner.