Pacific Union Recorder—September 2020

Page 27

Adventist Health

Adventist Health Welcomes First Mission Leadership Intern to Expand Ministry of Hospitality, Hope by Alex Bryan

I

n this autumn season, we find ourselves surrounded: a virulent virus, a weakened economy, racial strife, a cruel political incivility, widespread anxiety, depression, loneliness, and malaise. What’s a Christian to do? Adventist Health is a humanitarian ministry of 37,000 associates serving more than 9 million people in over 80 communities on the West Coast and in Hawaii. Our answer to a chronically inhospitable and often acutely hostile world? Hospitality. Hospitality in the deepest sense of the word. The healing, wholistic, hopeful hospitality of Jesus. This work includes physicians, nurses, therapists, counselors, and an expansive support team. It also includes the unique labor of chaplains—clergy expertly trained to minister to caregivers, patients, families, and communities. These dedicated, highly skilled professionals work to turn mere clinics into houses of hope. They are tasked to lead hospitals to live up to their highest, original purpose: Christian hospitality. In a world “harassed and helpless” … “like sheep without a shepherd,” chaplains “see the crowds and have compassion on them.” They “proclaim the good news of the kingdom and heal every disease and sickness” (Matthew 9:3536). They do the work of Jesus. Adventist Health’s Office of Mission has launched a new program to recruit and train young Adventist leaders in the sacred calling of pastoral work in

a healthcare setting. This August, the Mission Leadership Internship program welcomed our first candidate, Katie Wagner, a 2020 graduate of Walla Walla University. The curriculum includes full employment as an Adventist Health associate, four units of Clinical Pastoral Education, and sponsorship of a M.Div. degree. “There’s beautiful hope in this care,

a hope that our world so desperately needs right now,” says Wagner. “We have the incredible opportunity to lead, care for, and share God’s love with every person we encounter and serve: our associates, patients, community members, and beyond. That mission to live God’s love is something I deeply resonate with and am passionate about. I’m looking forward to experiencing the positive impact our Adventist Health community will continue to have in this world.” Wagner joins a systemwide team of approximately 100 clergy—spiritual care directors, clinical chaplains, and on-call pastors—dedicated to tangibly supplying the hope of Jesus in a world hungering for something to believe in. The healing ministry of Jesus, pervasive and prioritized in the Gospel record, is the blueprint of our work. His commitment to universal compassion, excellence in care, and wholistic medicine—alleviating mental, physical, social, and spiritual disease—is our collective vocation. This world is a dangerous place. But Jesus has called us to be God’s loving, hopeful hold until He comes again.

“We have the incredible opportunity to lead, care for, and share God’s love with every person we encounter and serve: our associates, patients, community members, and beyond. That mission to live God’s love is something I deeply resonate with and am passionate about.”

S E P T E M B E R 2020

27


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Articles inside

Sunset Calendar

3min
pages 69-72

Adventist Education

9min
pages 64-68

Newsdesk

9min
pages 58-63

Southern California Conference

10min
pages 54-57

Southeastern California Conference

10min
pages 50-53

Loma Linda University Health

4min
pages 40-41

Pacific Union College

4min
pages 48-49

Northern California Conference

10min
pages 44-47

Nevada-Utah Conference

6min
pages 42-43

La Sierra University

4min
pages 38-39

Holbrook Indian School

4min
pages 36-37

Hawaii Conference

4min
pages 34-35

Change Agents

22min
pages 14-19

Arizona Conference

2min
pages 28-29

A Bible Quiz for G. Alexander Bryant

11min
pages 8-13

TikTok, I was Making Some Chai

5min
pages 20-23

Adventist Health

2min
page 27

Central California Conference

10min
pages 30-33

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

5min
pages 24-26

The Promise of a Home

6min
pages 4-7
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