My First Day at the Hospital

I just completed my first day at the hospital. My peer group will be interesting. We are from all over the world, from the Middle East, Korea, Canada, and the U.S. I am, to my surprise, the youngest in the group, by a number of years. We are all Christians: one United Methodist, myself an Anglican/Episcopalian, and three (count 'em, three) Presbyterians.

One of my own small struggles has been what to wear, not out of vanity, but out of identity. As a priest, when I am acting in that capacity, I wear a collar. Up until now that means once a week, on Sundays. There are few priests out here, at least among Episcopalians, who wear the collar on a weekday. That has been my practice as well.

But in the hospital, I will be a chaplain. It makes sense to dress like the priest that I am. But I am on the West Coast. Will this visible churchy dress close more doors than it opens?

I spoke to my supervisor at the end of the day today, and we talked over the pros and cons of the clerical collar. Cons: some people may close up if they have bad memories about the religion of their childhood, a common affliction here in California. People may also think I am a Roman Catholic priest, and this may be confusing. Pros: I will be easily identifiable as a chaplain and as an ordained minister.

But to me, of greatest interest is how people react to me in a visceral sense if I wear the collar. I will visually represent, in one person, both holiness and physical affliction. What will that conjunction mean to a patient in the hospital?

What we decided together was that I try both, alternating, and see how it goes.

I'll let you know.