Chaplaincy and Care Director's Note August 2021

Not Normal: Playing to an Empty Stadium

What an interesting Olympics this year with empty stands that normally would hold thousands of spectators cheering on the athletes. Many athletes train for years and find the encouragement from the crowds to give their best effort. Now soccer is my favorite sport and I want to recognize the Canadian Women's soccer team that beat the US and eventually took the gold medal. Yet, they won in almost complete silence and did not have the opportunity to hear their fans go crazy. They stood on the medal stand and looked at empty seats. That is not normal.

But as we all know, these are not normal times. 

However, these times illustrate how all of us, not just athletes, need encouragement so that we can continue to give our best efforts in our calling as chaplains.

Though we cannot meet in person this year, we can support and find support at our annual Chaplains Training event happening virtually on September 23-25. We can support our fellow chaplain presenters as they share insights about their settings in the seminar, “Tools For Care.” And our keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author Kerry Egan, will lead us in how writing can be a spiritual discipline and practice.

So please fellow chaplains, join us! If you have not already signed-up for our training weekend, register here. We look forward to continuing to support each other in these far-from-normal times.

Grace and Peace,

Tim Rietkerk
Director of Chaplaincy and Care