Caring Cultures: How Congregations Respond to the Sick

Conclusion: A Practical Theology of Care for the Sick

185µ Conclusion A Practical Theology of Care for the Sick Introduction J ohn Swinton’s helpful book on the uses of qualitative research in practical theology begins his practical theological inquiries with a description of the “situation.”27 If I were to describe the situation where this inquiry begins, it would be this: churches caring for the sick in this diverse and changing small city. To this situation I bring several questions. What are the varieties of beliefs and practices regarding illness and the care of people who are ill? What do they do and believe in relation to the reality of human frailty? Most important, what do they have to learn from one another? To study these churches, I have employed the ethnographic methods of individual interview, focus group, participant observation, and the collection of material objects in order to answer these questions. From this material, I identified “belief-practices,” units of assumptions and behaviors that characterize these churches. These belief-practices cannot be fully understood “flatly,” simply as they are manifest in the present, no matter how “thick” the description is. They are manifestations of a deep past. Therefore this study includes a history of the individual congregation, its denominational history, and 186 Caring Cultures converging theological threads from the past. Finally, each congregation is situated within the power structures of this city, state, and nation, particularly as they are designated by race. Therefore a description of the belief-practices in relation to local and national distributions of power, particularly regarding health, is included. The central fruits of this study, the identified belief-practices, are presented in three moments. First, an “empathetic description” in which they are presented on their own terms, with judgment withheld as much as possible. Second, they are given an “appreciative interpretation ” when I offer a reading of them from my particular theological perspective. Finally, I offer a “cautionary warning” regarding ways they might be vulnerable to universal human impulses toward idolatry. The last two moments are unapologetically from a particular theological stance. At this point, I will articulate the theological stance shaping these questions and the fruits of this research. Finitude: Central Theological Issue The theological category most relevant to this study is finitude. Each of the belief-practices can be understood as connected in some way to questions of human finitude. Trials of Human Finitude Each congregation has developed belief-practices to deal with the trials of bodily finitude. Toward that end, they all provide such practical help as meals and transportation. They also all provide presence in visits to the sick at home and in the hospital. They all pray for people who are sick. Yet each specializes in what they believe is the primary form of God’s presence to the sick and how they, as a church, mediate it. At Healing Waters Church, healing is the primary way they mediate God’s presence to people facing the trials of human finitude. Through the prayers of the faithful, the strength of the belief, and the channel of particular healers, “God is going to move”; God will heal the sick. It is also firmly believed that the prayers of the faithful can heal the sick in the Latino ministry with the sick at Our Lady of Durham, and there were accounts of such healings. But this A Practical Theology of Care for the Sick 187 ministry, influenced by the Catholic charismatic movement, is focused on the dual activity of prayer and bringing the Word of God to the sick, particularly when they are in the hospital. The Word includes both comfort and enjoinders to be faithful in piety and lifestyle. Scripture, prayer, and words of encouragement are the primary ways that the group at Our Lady of Durham seeks to mediate the presence of God to people struggling with the trials of bodily finitude. First Downtown Church seeks to mediate God’s presence through the support of “the community.” The interpersonal bonds of sustaining presence, care, and ongoing commitment are described as the primary way God is present during the trials of bodily finitude . Again, both practical help and words of prayer and Scripture are also part of First Downtown Church. The most emphasized way of mediating God is, however, in the realm of the intersubjective. God’s Relation to the Finite Each congregation’s belief-practices also deal with the question of God’s relationship to the finite...