(OPINION) A recent decision requiring Texas to grant a convicted murderer his Baptist pastor’s audible prayers and comforting touch during his execution was a rare moment in which activists on both sides of America’s culture wars cheered for “religious liberty” — a freedom that until recently didn’t require cynical “scare quotes” that suggest uncertainty.
Read MoreLt. Chaplain Autumn Wilson is only one of few female chaplains in the U.S. Armed Forces that belongs to the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)—a historically Black denomination with 2.5 to 3.5 million members. Though the church has majority female members, there are far fewer female ministers. Wilson is also the only woman working as a chaplain at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. About 5% of all military chaplains are women.
Read MoreJamie Kimmel’s training and prior experience as a hospice chaplain couldn’t have prepared him for the ways this crisis is changing how he works. He’s rationing personal protective equipment and relying on reduced public transportation for his commute. At his hospital, he comforts COVID-19 patients by phone as they grapple with existential questions and the possibility of death, all while separated from loved ones.
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