The opportunities and expectations for pastoral care are as varied as the needs of those I minister to. In my work as a hospital chaplain, I provide spiritual comfort at some of the darkest moments of a patient's life or that of their family. Leading a pastoral care team in my responsibilities at Trinity reminds me that helping our home-bound who endure various kinds of limitations live out their best lives includes helping them participate in our democracy. As Presiding Bishop Curry reminds us, “It is a Christian obligation to vote, and more than that, it is the Church’s responsibility to help get souls to the polls.” Helping all of our parishioners to cast their votes may be as simple as arranging a ride to a polling place on election day. Or it may mean helping them request an absentee ballot (a link to the form online is here). Requests for absentee ballots can be requested now and must be mailed by Wednesday, October 23. Absentee ballots are also an option for young parishioners attending college out-of-state, and this would be a great time to touch base with those students to make sure they have a plan to vote. I encourage all of our clergy and pastoral care teams to reach out to everyone we minister to and support their efforts to make their voice heard.
The Rev. Jeff Goldone, Chaplain at Saint Louis University Hospital and Transitional Priest at Trinity CWE