Reservoir or canal: Spiritual retreats for chaplains caring for people with dementia

ABSTRACT

This research outlines and evaluates a pilot study weekend retreat to refresh Australian Aged Care chaplains (September 2022). The retreat theme of “Living Water” had four movements: “Water Cleansing the Soul”, “A-thirst for God”, Water Refreshing the Soul” and “The Well-watered Garden.” Activities included ”lectio divina”, Ignatian meditation, painting, prayer-walks and corporate worship. Participants were interviewed pre-retreat and provided written evaluations afterwards. Bernard of Clairvaux provides the guiding metaphor for this research. He argues that we need to be ”reservoirs”, large bodies of water, outpouring from places of plenty, rather than narrow ”canals”. The theoretical undergirding for this research came from the writings of Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), a research Conductor in England in the 1920s and 30s.

KEYWORDS:

• Spiritual retreat
• chaplain
• dementia
• spiritual refreshment
• Evelyn Underhill

Acknowledgments

Australian Research Theology Foundation Inc Grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

Alphacrucis University College Human Research Ethics Committee

(HREC Application number: 076 Date of Approval: 28^th March 2022)

Notes

1. https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/course/caregiving-buddhist-chaplaincy-and-the-art-of-becoming-a-bodhisattva “The six paramitas of the Bodhisattva model – generosity, discipline, patience, joyful enthusiasm, wisdom, and meditation – offer chaplains a model of caregiving for ourselves and others.”

2. http://www.slcet.org/chaplain-retreats accessed 2/2/2023.

3. https://www.beunos.com/retreat/the-chaplains-retreat accessed 31/1/2023.

4. Jesuit Australia – A Christian Retreat for those who work in Pastoral/Spiritual Care & Chaplaincy in Health and Aged Care. ‘Running on Empty’ https://jesuit.org.au/wp-content/uploads/ACIS-2018-Program.pdf accessed 1/2/2023.

5. https://ccnswact.org.au/when-chaplains-retreat-a-time-for-growth-connection-and-hope accessed 3/2/2023.

6. https://www.qbmagazine.org.au/tea-for-the-soul-reducing-compassion-fatigue-for-aged-care-workers accessed 4/2/2023.

7. Debra Walters, “A Qualitative Study of the Effects of a Spiritual Practices Retreat on Asera Care Hospice Employees”, DMin dissertation, Mercer University, 2016.38.

8. Underhill also led retreats at Leiston Abbey, Glastonbury, Canterbury, St Michael’s House (Wantage), Little Compton and Watermillock (Armstrong, 1975, p. 266).

9. For photos of the cottage see: https://www.jamberooabbey.org.au/retreats/cottages/st-scholasticas-cottage.

10. Adapted from: https://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Repentance.htm#gsc.tab=0 accessed 3/5/2022.

11. See: https://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Expression-Faith-Offered-Human/dp/B000003OMJ.

12. Esther de Waal’s books would be useful resources: Seeking God, The Way of St. Benedict. Second Edition (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2001); Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality (Harrisburg:.

13. Adapted from: http://stpaulssparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Celtic-Evening-Prayer-for-St.-Pauls-Sparks-003.pdf accessed 3/5/2022.

14. Adapted from Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast. ‎Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press (1995).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ARTFinc (Australian Research Theology Foundation inc).