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Organizationally:
More than three decades of transformation characterize the history and development of the work of music-thanatology and the
national and international pilot program, the Chalice of Repose Project.
For those who are interested in more information on Chalice
of Repose Project or the history of the field of music-thanatology,
both are detailed in Transitus: A Blessed Death in the Modern
World. For the purposes of the web, we have decided to
encapsulate the years past
in broad-brush outlines, and keep readers informed of newest developments in as much detail as is possible.
Thirty-Four Years (1973 - 2007):
We have flourished in several different locations,
educational, clinical and corporate structures, and in six different settings as the needs of the profession, the organization,
the School of Music-Thanatology, the faculty and
students repeatedly, exponentially expanded and grew each decade. The nineteen pioneering years in Denver,
Colorado included the original efforts at Ars Antiqua, a center for medieval musicology, followed by an undergraduate program at Regis
University, and finally a master’s degree program at St. Thomas Theological Seminary.
In 1992, in response to a corporate invitation, I decided to relocate the
Chalice of Repose Project and the School of Music-Thanatology to Missoula, Montana, a small university town in the
American Northwest near the Canadian border.
There, we shifted from the contained and protected world of seminary academia into the bustling
and chaotic heart of corporate medicine. While in Missoula, we were located in two different
buildings over the decade. The period from 1992 to 2002 included a fruitful alliance with St. Patrick
Hospital, (founded by the Sisters of Providence), four of the long-term geriatric care facilities of
The Goodman Group/Sage Corporation,
a local hospice, and peripherally, the Community Hospital. We also attended patients in hospitals and hospices in
both Helena and Hamilton, Montana.
Thousands
of Vigils Later:
In the fall of 2002, after delivering over
four-thousand two-hundred (4,200) vigils for dying patients in Montana, the economic picture was different and the organizational and professional needs of all involved had changed considerably. Faculty and clinicians had carried unusually heavy simultaneous teaching and clinical responsibilities for the decade,
without having had any sabbaticals. In our patient-care programs, our on-call clinical rotations had been delivered three-hundred and sixty-five days of the year for just three months short of ten years, and as faculty, we did this while holding full-time academic appointments for the School, teaching three semesters a year:
Fall, Winter, Summer.
Truly, the professionals needed respite, and the central question had become sustainability.
International Expansion and Mt. Angel:
After much consideration and prayer, in October of 2002,
we
took the opportunity to relocate the Chalice of Repose Project national headquarters
and the School of Music-Thanatology to Mt. Angel, Oregon, a quiet village just one hour south of Portland, Oregon, specifically so that the work could expand and deepen.
The timing was right and the decision was perfect!
Here, amidst soft, rolling hills sprinkled with miles of vineyards and orchards, Chalice and the newly-formed
Vox
Clamantis Clinic
found a perfect setting for professional renewal and expanded educational and clinical programs, coupled with vigorous national and international outreach.
Following curriculum revisions, the School of Music-Thanatology has made
major new contributions in the field of palliative care by offering
distance learning programs. Both Contemplative Musicianship and
Music-Thanatology programs continue to attract students from all over
North America, Europe and Asia. Additionally, our students work as
paid professionals in every psycho-social setting: hospital,
hospice, long-term care facilities, geriatric homes, etc. With several institutional collaborative relationships established and new ones being developed
all the time, our work with American and European medical and educational centers
continues to unfold in new and living ways, serving patients, their
families and bright, dedicated new students.
The Opportunity to Learn about Us:
The work of music-thanatology has been imitated, at times, by efforts to simply bring harps and harpists into hospital settings.
We invite you to discover more about the Chalice of Repose Project. It is the premiere music-thanatology organization and the only organization able to validate the certification of music-thanatology professionals.
Our commitment is to continue grounding the field in the world with integrity, artistry, spirit and substance, and in so doing, we bring the palliative and pastoral work to hospitals, medical settings and communities throughout the world.
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Photo:
Lynn Johnson |
The
Mystery of the Human Being:
Music-thanatology brings together a disciplined and very particular contemplative curriculum which, in the end, re-unites medicine, spirituality/theology and music.
Our primary focus is on the patient and on the mystery of the human being.
We work towards the relief of physiological pain that may be eclipsing
the quality of life at the end of life. If pain is so extreme that
it prevents interiority, the palliative care team will offer every
modality possible for compassionate care so that an inner life may be
cultivated or protected.
Dying and
Becoming:
In this light, we work to facilitate conditions in
which an individual may find meaning even in their diminishment, thus
linking the possibilities inherent in suffering and redemption. We are committed to bringing the experience of death back into the fullness of the life cycle, and of supporting the shared experience of death with loved ones and communities,
thus helping to transform the personal and collective experiences of dying
and becoming. We are further committed to the possibilities of a blessed, peaceful and/or conscious death, especially when lovingly and deeply supported.
Our second focus is on the health of the musician-clinician (and
other providers and care-givers), for how we really are affects the vulnerable patient, their loved ones, and the entire health care team.
We hope that this work inspires readers from many walks of life, all of whom might be seeking new and living ways of being within the fullness of the human life cycle.
For
information about our Founder/Director, please go to Therese
Schroeder-Sheker: Residencies.
Home
© Therese Schroeder-Sheker
2003. All rights reserved.
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