Seeing the Whole Person and the Whole Pain Religion Unmuted

The work of a chaplain involves providing spiritual care to individuals outside of a congregational setting, work that can be difficult and varied. According to our guest, sociologist Wendy Cadge, a chaplain can be witness to a person’s whole pain as well as recognize and discuss death, all in ways that can be difficult for family, healthcare workers, and even society at large to do. In this episode she tells some of the stories of chaplains gleaned from her years of research, including the ways that politics, gender, and a global pandemic can affect a chaplain’s work.