title: Recovering Religious Voice and Imagination: A Response to Nolan's Case Study "He Needs to Talk!".
abstract: In Nolan's case study, "He Needs to Talk!": A Chaplain's Response to Nonreligious Spiritual Care," he asks an important question: "What is distinctive about the chaplain's role in working with nonreligious people?" This is a compelling question for chaplains working in a society where individuals are increasingly defining themselves as NOT religious. In this response, I will analyze how our current religious context, in which we feel over-responsible for an existential quest without a language to express our dilemma, creates a unique role for chaplaincy with the nonreligious. I will apply this context to Nolan's case study providing examples of how the care provided can support nonreligious individuals to find language to express their religious dilemmas and to foster a moral imagination that counters over-responsibility. Finally, I will suggest that case studies provide thick qualitative descriptions of care that help to reveal what chaplains do while countering stereotypical and thin accounts of religion.
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing , University of British Columbia , Kelowna , British Columbia , Canada.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pesut
mesh_terms: D002604:Chaplaincy Service, Hospital; D002977:Clergy / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010327:Pastoral Care; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations
keywords: chaplaincy service; existentialism; hospital; language; palliative care; qualitative research; religion; spirituality