June 11 2003
Dear Fellow Chaplains,
Over the past few months, the Network Committee and I have been at work on
many levels. We have also encountered some developments that have set new
challenges before us.
1) The Network was represented at the American Conference of Heath Care
Chaplaincy that took place in Canada this past February. I, for personal
reasons, was not able to attend. Michael Moeller-Herr, of Germany, offered
to go at his personal expense. Even though I have thanked Michael for his
continuation in a personal letter, I again want to thank him for his
contribution. It seems that the ENHCC was well received by the delegates
of the Conference. I will be writing to George Handzo, the Director of the
American Association of American Association of Professional Chaplains, to
follow up on the contacts made by Michael.
2) The Network established contact with the Council of European Churches.
More specifically, I have exchanged several messages with the President of
CEC, Metropolitan Iereneos of Switserland and the Rev. Dr. Keith Clements,
the General Secretary of the CEC. They both were very responsive to the
ENHCC and invited us to take part in the upcoming Conference in Norway.
Because of the costs involved, the Network Committee decided that our
participation in the conference would not be possible. I tried to make
arrangements that our committee meeting, which is to take place this
coming September, take place in Geneva. In this way, we could have met
with both the President and the General Secretary. This unfortunately was
not possible because of changes being made at the Orthodox Ecumenical
Institute and Metropolitan Iereneos’ program. Such a meeting will be
reevaluated and could take place in 2004.
3) This leads us to another problem: finances. As was discussed in Turku,
the lack of any type of budget limits the activities of the ENHCC. This
was made obvious in relation to the CEC Conference. The Scottish
Association of Chaplains in Health Care and the Hospital Chaplaincies
Council of the General Synod of the Church of England have made a generous
contribution to the ENHCC. The Association of Catholic Health Care
Chaplains in German Speaking Switzerland have also indicated the
possibility of a contribution. It would be good if other delegations
followed the examples of our fellow chaplain associations. If this is a
possibility, let me know and I will inform you on how this can be done.
4) There have been some changes that have affected the make up of the
Network Committee itself. Michael Moeller-Herr is no longer serving as a
hospital chaplain and is not on his association’s board. This change has
brought some complications in the organization of the next consultation.
Also, Roel Hekking is no longer on the board of his association. It is not
clear if he will represent of his chaplaincy in the Network. Because of
this, Marlene Inauen has been asked to become a full member of the
Committee. The Committee is scheduled to meet in September in Aberdeen,
Scotland. In the mean time, we are working out the details of where the
Consultation will be held, and foremost, who is going to organize it.
The Network is becoming a very active group. There are many difficulties
that we most overcome, both as a consolidated body and as separate
(national and ecclesiastical) organizations. What we must keep in mind is
that the Network is ours, that we make it up, that it is a tool that we
can all use in order to help our chaplaincies grow in every way. The
Network is not to be “served but to serve”. In order for the Network to
serve its purpose as stated in the Cretan Declaration, to serve others, it
is up to each of us to utilize it to its fullest - I dare say to “believe”
in it, to take it to heart. With that in mind, I would like to reconfirm
my willingness to make this happen, to assist your chaplaincy in anyway
possible. I look forward to your reflections and input.
Yours,
Rev. Dr. Stavros Kofinas
Coordinator of the European Network of Healthcare Chaplaincy
(Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate)