Senior Care & Ministry
ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:
Owned and operated by Lake County government, Winchester House has been providing long term health care for the residents of Lake County for over 150 years. Winchester House opened in 1847 and is one of the oldest continuously operated health care centers in Northern Illinois.
Currently, Winchester House has 360 beds and is the long term health care center for the residents of Lake County. Twenty-four hour skilled nursing care, as well as intermediate care is provided. Winchester House has a rehabilitation department that provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
We are a non-denominational facility and a student participating in field education at Winchester House would want to participate as a chaplain who sincerely offers hope to the residents, families, and staff in an ecumenical way.
STUDENT PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
devoted to rehabilitation, which can mean physical rehab. from an accident or from an event such as a stroke. We are a self contained medical facility but daily living happens there and we have fun, too! We celebrate 100 year old birthdays with some regularity. We hold monthly memorial services. We assist families when their loved one is dying.
STUDENT PLACEMENT EXPECTATIONS:
As we are a long term care facility we would expect the student to want to work with older folks and to want to support the staff. Winchester House is a specialized ministry, and it is a very vital “parish.”
PHILOSOPHY OF STUDENT SUPERVISION:
Supervising seminary students means assisting and guiding them with process, experience, and the inevitable question and issues in the practice of ministry that arise in active engagement with congregants. Supervising means allowing students to practice, but assisting them so that they do the least possible harm to self and others as they grow in ministry.
I tend towards inviting students to develop who they are with assistance by shadowing me and observing how I work. I make time for students after activities as much as possible to create a “debriefing” at the end of the day to process the events of the day and to figure out the strengths and weaknesses that they find within themselves as they grow and learn. I like collaboration, but recognize that I am the guide in the process.
It is my hope that any student who decides to come to Winchester House will find the process rigorous yet enjoyable. I think a supervisor offers challenges to students in a kind way and yet knows when to pull back and when to prod a little. I would hope we would engage the practical and the theological. Ministry to older adults in particular is about rekindling hope and possibility. It can be wildly creative and enjoyable and it can be heartbreaking. I would hope that as the student moves through the process the student would gain confidence and find that s/he had added more skills and deeper understanding of herself as a minister.
STIPEND AVAILABILITY:
At present, no. The possibility exists for a stipend in the future.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS:
A student may or may not have Sunday obligations at Winchester House. Many of our programs occur on weekdays. Depending on where the student lives, there are trains that go in and out of Libertyville on the MD-N MetraRail line.