Let’s Hear it for Cohort #2!

Graduations are times of transition. This group had finished all the clinical time, classwork and final self-evaluations several weeks prior to the graduation. On Tuesday they were excited and greeted one another with hugs and shouts as they came together in a small Presbyterian Church in rural Hector, NY. Every group is different. Every group is unique. This group was no different.

It was an eclectic group of six, including an experienced Buddhist practitioner exploring chaplaincy possibilities, a Native American shaman recently retired from a career in higher eduction wondering what was coming next, an ordained Pesbyterian minister and recently retired seminary professor responding to a call to do something during COVID, a hospital Spiritual Care Department director exploring ordination and hoping to enhance spiritual care in his hospital, a former teacher turned hospital chaplain pursuing a new passion, and a relatively new seminary graduate armed with job coaching skills fulfilling an ordination requirement. Who could have imagined all these folks finding themselves together in one group?

That’s what happens in CPE. We find ourselves plunked down with folks we might never have encountered otherwise. We’re asked to help create a circle of sacred trust that allows for both challenge and support. That is the only way to learn about ourselves as the caregivers we are, so that we can become the caregivers we are meant to be. This was only the second time they met in person as a group, but the bond between them was evident in their smiles, hugs, words of encouragement and sharing about their experience. The one thing they all said made a difference in the group was that each one of them “showed up” every week and everyone was “all in”. Their willingness to be vulnerable paid off. If you’d like to see some pictures from the graduation check out our Facebook page. Maybe one day, you’ll be in the picture too.