Angel on Chartres Cathedral
(Photo by Joan Murray)

A Ministry of Presence: At the heart of spiritual care with poor and homeless adults, particularly with those who are both homeless and living with mental illness, is a ministry of presence. This ministry of presence may be offered on the street, in shelters, in hospitals, in jails, in prisons, and at programs such as day shelters — wherever poor and homeless people are found.

A ministry of presence includes non-judgmental listening and companionship offered out of the conviction that every human being is worthy of dignity and respect simply because God loves us all. Often those who are living on the margins of society due to poverty, homelessness, mental illness, addiction or a combination of these have experienced the loss of relationships and have often become invisible, even as they stand in full view on our streets. A ministry of presence thus has great potential for healing through relationship by ending the isolation, affirming each person's intrinsic worth, and supporting each person's need for hope and quest for meaning in life.

Advocacy and Referrals for Individuals: As a relationship forms and trust is built through a ministry of presence, needs for particular services may be identified. Thus spiritual care includes practical assistance in the form of accompaniment, referrals, and individual advocacy. Making referrals to health care and mental health care providers, case workers, housing advocates, social security administrators, meal programs, shelters, and other such services is important. Initially, it may be important to accompany people to these services. Accompanying people to services may simply mean being present with them, but often may include advocating for them. Connecting people with houses of worship or accompanying them to worship services is also a service of the chaplaincy for those who are interested.

Making the Labyrinth Available to All: The labyrinth is an archetypal symbol and spiritual tool, which helps people of all faiths and of no particular faith to center themselves and access the creativity available in our right brains in addition to the logic and reasoning of our left brains. The uni-cursal path of labyrinths, which helps us to find our way to the center and back out again, serves as a metaphor for life’s journey with all of its twists and turns in reaching our goals outside the labyrinth. Chaplains on the Way is committed to making the labyrinth available as a spiritual tool to poor and homeless people and to people living with mental illness.

Acting as a Bridge: Acting as a bridge includes preaching and offering educational forums, as well as offering training programs for those who would like to offer spiritual care to poor and homeless people and/or people suffering from mental illness within and beyond their own congregations or who would like to join Chaplains on the Way as volunteer pastoral care providers.

Field Education Site: Chaplains on the Way serves as a field education site for seminarians or other students training for ministry. Joan was trained as a supervisor at Episcopal Divinity School and she supervised many students from Boston area seminaries and pastoral care programs during her five and a half years at Ecclesia Ministries in Boston. (click here to find out more about interning at Chaplains on the Way)

Working for Systemic Change: Chaplains on the Way is committed to participating in work to eliminate the systemic causes of homelessness, especially individual, chronic homelessness and homelessness among those living with mental illness.