The Presence of a Chaplain: My Personal Tapestry of Life

By Dr. Barbara Thomas-Reddick

To understand the purpose, the mission, and the relevance of this research titled The Presence of a Chaplain, I believe sharing my life story will give the reader in-depth insight and demonstrate the importance of including chaplains on multi-interdisciplinary teams. This writer believes that if chaplaincy is considered to be included in diverse systems, the student, parent/guardian, would benefit holistically, and the chaplains presence along would make a difference in the public and private schools, particularly but not limited to, when our children are challenged with depression, bullying, suicidal, and low self-esteem. When a chaplain is present to provide the listening ear, our children would have an outlet to share their concerns, thoughts, and problems to a credentialed, qualified, and trained chaplain. Chaplains are trained to remain available and journey wherever the child or individual maybe, reaching them with the holistic plan of care; mind, body, and soul. Being ever so mindful, to recognize when it is time to transition and pass the baton by making referrals when the matter is out of your scope of practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503576599

Dr. Barbara Thomas-Reddick

Dr. Barbara Thomas-Reddick was born and raised in Greenville, Florida, to Mr. Kinsey Thomas (deceased) and Mrs. Matilda Thomas. She has twelve siblings. She is married to Jewell Jerome Reddick, Sr., and together, they have nine children and five grandchildren. She graduated from Greenville High School and furthered her education at North Florida Community College, Madison, Florida; Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, Oklahoma; and Covenant Bible College and Seminary, Tallahassee, Florida. She completed her two-year internship in chaplaincy at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in the Clinical Pastoral Education Program, where she received 4 CPE units, and was later accepted in the Johns Hopkins Hospital CPE Residency Program, where she received 2 CPE units, located in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a member of the Capital City Democratic Womens Club, a volunteer chaplain of Franklin Academy, Incorporated. Dr. Reddick released her first Gospel CD in 1998, titled Walking by Faith and authored My Personal Tapestry of Life and The Presence of a Chaplain. She enjoys playing the piano, spending quality time with family, doing outreach ministry, and singing. She is presently the minister of music at her church, The Mount Ararat African American Episcopal Church, where the Reverend Margret Brown is pastor, and at The Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Monticello, where the Dr. Edward Scott II is the pastor. She is very passionate with community engagement and strongly embraces the philosophy that many great leaders believe in the beloved community

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Dr. Barbara Thomas-Reddick.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 07/20/2015

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Contents

Endorsements

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Writer’s Summary Sheet

2. Unique Time Line

3. Narrative Capsule

4. List of Process Items

Foundational Items

Growth Ministry/Expansion Items (Ordinary Cluster)

Growth Ministry Expansion Items (Pressure Cluster)

Growth Ministry Expansion Items

(Spiritual Insights, Extraordinary Cluster)

Processing Toward Unique Ministry (Guidance Items)

Processing Toward Unique Ministry(Life-Maturing Items)

5. Key Process Item Analysis

6. Pattern Analysis—Positive Testing/Expansion Pattern

7. Social Base Analysis

8. Major Boundary Analysis

THE PRESENCE OF A CHAPLAIN

Introduction

The Problem

The Purpose of the Study

Significance of the Project

Proposed Project and Procedures

Anticipated Results

Franklin Academy Inc. Demographic

Vocations in Pastoral Care

Root Causes of Spiritual or Physical Death

MAR Form

Proposal To The Department Of Education

A Collage of a Chaplain’s Journey

References

Endorsements

I am honored to pastor my licentiate, Dr. Barbara Thomas-Reddick. After reading The Presence of a Chaplain, I totally agree with including chaplains in the school system. For chaplains, provide services from an interfaith belief. I feel that by including professional chaplains in the schools, this would provide the students with an avenue to share their thoughts, feelings, and despairs. My hope is for chaplains to become a part of the interdisciplinary team in the public and private schools.

—Reverend Margret E. Brown

Congratulations on this outstanding personal account of real world events that could be devastating, but were lessened by the presence of a caring mentor. I’m sure this model will be found to be very useful when integrated into counselling sessions. Again, congratulations on a job well done.

—Reverend Dr. Edward and Pamela Scott

I have known Barbara for quite some years, and she has gained great knowledge in the field of chaplaincy and pastoral care. I had the honor in interviewing her when she first applied for the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital CPE Internship Program. She was very impressive then and she remains to have a style of integrity when she journeys in professional settings. I am happy to have this opportunity to endorse her first book, and I look forward to working with her in the future. Great work!

—Reverend Stanley Walker, Sr., Pastor

Chaplain Thomas-Reddick is clearly a woman of faith that believes deep in her heart in the power of meeting people in need with care and compassion. Her drive to help and to be of authentic support has enabled her vision for chaplaincy to emerge. Chaplain Thomas-Reddick believes in the role of professional chaplains and encourages others to stay curious about the potential impact of chaplains in various settings.

—Thomas Ty Crowe, ACPE Supervisor

I enjoyed your information and research on chaplaincy. I admire your boldness to share your tapestry of life. It really takes a unique individual to understand how to provide spiritual care in a diverse setting and provide services to different cultures. Your care for hurting young women is a much need in our society. Thank you for the awesome read, and I strongly believe that this recommendation for chaplains to be considered as a part of the interdisciplinary team in the public and private schools could be a great benefit.

—Annette Williams -Johnson, Teacher

As a teacher for 38 years, I strongly agree that implementation of this new approach into the education system; will tremendously impact holistic education positively with improved benefits.

—Dianne Davis, Retired Teacher

Barbara’s life journey is both fascinating and inspiring. This book is an awesome read!

—Shonda Knight, Executive Producer/Anchor

When I pray for others, I pray for myself. I empathize, knowing our human experience has similar challenges. We are one in Spirit- strong, wise, and whole.

—Patty Ball Thomas, Ph.D, LUT

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for empowering me with the knowledge to research in the field of chaplaincy and for the anointing to craft this book.

Thanks to Mrs. Margaret Franklin for trusting me to enter her school so that I could journey in the classroom setting with her students, to apprehend the research and knowledge needed to complete my dissertation, which is now in book format.

I am particularly grateful to my husband, Jewell Jerome Reddick, Sr., and our children, LaQuana, Alex, Shayla, Monique, Angelica, Nicole, LaKera, and Jewell (Tookie) Jr. They have provided their love and ongoing endurance of my absence from home in order for this project to come to fruition.

I am thankful to my mom, Matilda Thomas, who is my inspiration and my mentor; to my pastor, the Reverend Margret Brown; Apostle Anthony J. Sanders; Thaddeus Green;Evelyn Murphy; Tanya Thomas; Cherrye Bess-Branch; LaKendra Brown; Kimela Thomas; Jacquelyn Reaves; Reverend Zellene Williams-Smith; and Annette Williams for being my second eyes in reviewing my manuscript.

To my friend Dr. Vivian Royster, I enjoyed the time spent with you as we met to critique, review, and edit.

In addition, thanks to my baby girl, Angelica Colson, for designing the book cover and to my knee baby sister, Kim, for seeking out the front cover picture.

Thanks to all my siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

I am thankful to Chaplain Dr. John Galloway for his supervision in teaching me the clinical side of chaplaincy.

And last but not least, to Chaplain Thomas Ty Crowe for believing in me and choosing me to be trained at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the Clinical Pastoral Education Residency Program, which provided me a prestigious setting to learn and gain the know-how in a specialized skill, learning from the best of the best.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to God and my husband for being so supportive throughout the years in order that I learn and grow. In humility I am thankful for God’s continuous grace and mercy, and for my husband’s unique way of journeying with me, even in times when he didn’t understand the process or the why. I must confess that it really takes an exceptional individual to walk alongside a vessel of God. Thanks Jerome for being who you are to me, all of our children, and grandchildren. Yes, you sent me back to school to obtain my doctorate degree, but today I say to you that your character, your personality, your charisma, your lifestyle allows me to pause for this moment and solute to you and recognize you as Dr. Jewell Jerome Reddick, Sr. It is you who has proven to me time and time again, with God being number one; you are the bigger picture, behind the scene. Thank you my love!

Introduction

Purpose and Mission Statement:

To understand the purpose, the mission, and the relevance of this work, The Presence of a Chaplain, I believe sharing my life story will give the reader in-depth insight and demonstrate the importance of a chaplain journeying through life with the support of diverse systems, including, but not limited to, children and family, parents/guardians, and a credentialed multi/interdisciplinary team within the school system, both private and public.

My Personal Tapestry of Life then provides a road map from my life experiences, that shows the relevance of these same experiences to my professional experiences, and how embracing them as a model, one can become empowered, engaged, and connected with his or her spiritual, emotional, and overall psychological aspects of life. Hopefully, by sharing my life experiences, this will allow the reader to observe how chaplaincy unfolds as a significant part of this story, to be used as an exploratory model, because of its relevance to how one can overcome mental, physical, psychological, and overall behavioral challenges, as told in my Life Story. This is demonstrated in