Local News: Highlighting the Challenges and Opportunities of Local Leadership

Interview with Jeffery Murphy, BCC, Outstanding Local Leadership Award Recipient

by Kathryn Willoughby Weed, BCC

Jeff Murphy, clinical chaplain at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson received the 2007 Outstanding Local Leadership Award for his work as Mississippi's representative. Kathryn Willoughby Weed interviewed Jeff about his experience as serving as an area/state representative for the APC: 

What was the first thing you did on becoming Mississippi's state representative? I talked with the other chaplains in the state, beginning with the board certified and associate chaplains. We discussed what was needed and what we were lacking. We agreed that we needed regular meetings for education, support and communication. At our first meeting we formed the Mississippi Chaplains Association (MCA) which now meets quarterly. Mississippi has twenty-three APC members. However, we agreed early on that the MCA should also include chaplains affiliated with other professional organizations, non-affiliated chaplains, and volunteer chaplains. The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, National Association of Catholic Chaplains, and National Association of Veteran Affairs Chaplains are all represented in MCA.

How do APC and the Mississippi Chaplains' Association work together? Following Hurricane Katrina MCA communicated our needs to the APC National Office. Valerie Storms, Chair of the Membership Services Council, visited Mississippi to assess our needs and to hear our stories. Through MCA we have also been able to communicate the benefits of membership in APC to chaplains throughout the state.

How has working with the MCA been beneficial to APC members in Mississippi? We are now better connected, having formed more collegial relationships and friendships. As APC members we are better acquainted with the resources we can offer each other throughout the state. MCA has also become an avenue for CCE credits.

Has your Hurricane Katrina experience changed the way you view your ministry? I am much more aware of the power of listening and of hearing stories. So many people from across the country and even around the world wanted to help, but could not come to our area or lacked the technical skills or the physical abilities for “hands on work” in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. But anyone could simply listen to the stories of those impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That seems so simple. But it is also so powerful. It communicates care and understanding not just from the individual, but also from the larger community and from God.

Is there anything you would do differently as representative if you had it to do over? I think that I would be more assertive in speaking with institutions that do not have a clinically trained chaplain on staff. Almost every institution MCA has spoken with about adding chaplaincy to its staff has been open to considering this and some chaplaincy positions are being created. Sometimes all an institution needs to create a chaplaincy position is education and a little encouragement.

What do you think is the most important task on the state/area representative position description? Of everything listed I think “Strengthens the communication among local members for mutual support and education” is the most important. If communication is open, the members make their needs known and we become better aware of our strengths and of where we need to grow.

Any last advice for representatives? Communication is the key – communication among the chaplains in the state, among the pastoral care and counseling organizations, and between chaplains and other professional organizations. This builds trust, relationship, and collegiality.

Kathryn Willoughby Weed, BCC, is staff chaplain at Saint Francis Hospital in Charleston, WV and serves as coordinator of state/area representatives for the APC. She can be contacted at Kathryn.Weed@stfh.net. Jeffery Murphy may be contacted at jnmurphy@hospadmin.umsmed.edu.