The Chaplaincy of Health and Medical-Social Institutions (AESMS) is a Service of the Protestant Federation of France. “The AESMS Service’s mission is to ensure the presence of chaplains and Protestant auxiliaries trained and approved in health and medico-social institutions (AESMS) to enable the sick, disabled, elderly who wish to benefit from spiritual and religious accompaniment. 150 chaplains and 2000 chaplaincy auxiliaries, sent by their Church, in a dynamic and increasingly federative organization, exercise, in the name of their faith in Jesus Christ, this primordial and delicate ministry. Extract of the 2017 service report, presented to the 2018 General Assembly of the FPF.
“I was sick and you visited me …” (Matthew, 25.36).
The first mission of the chaplain is the visit. The meeting of the patients constitutes the heart of our activity in the hospital. Our meetings are primarily human accompaniments before being spiritual and religious. According to the people visited, these accompaniments can take different forms: a listening time, a time of sharing a biblical text or a time of prayer, depending on whether it is a simple patient, or a person at the end of life, or following a death.
The work of listening to the disease, to questions about the meaning of suffering and of life, facing old age and approaching death, leads us to take time at the hospital with patients , with residents or with their relatives.
The Chaplain
- Responds to all requests for visits, made by the services, patients or their relatives, whatever the time and day.
- Recruits, trains and accompanies auxiliary volunteers in their activity in order to help everyone live better and fulfill their mission of visitor of the sick
- Assures and prepares meetings with volunteer visitors, as well as team review times. He also ensures and prepares the times of prayer and worship.
After having prepared his application file for approval, Pastor Emmanuel KAMONDJI was recommended by the CEAF to the National Chaplaincy-FPF, and he has been approved to be chaplain at the Regional University Hospital of Lille since the month from September 2017.
Education: Pastor Kamondji obtained the University Diploma Chaplain, Theological and Vocational Training at the University of Strasbourg. He also followed the formation of Laïcité at the Faculty of Legal Sciences of the University of Lille II where he obtained the University Diploma RELIGIONS ET SOCIÉTÉ DEMOCRATIQUE. And also: the Pastoral Training in Listening and Communication; Training to support end-of-life patients and their entourage.
Conclusion: In its 2017 report, the Protest Federation mentioned 150 licensed hospital chaplains, including only 1 chaplain-CEAF. We are still launching an appeal, on the occasion of this General Assembly, to the pastors and members of our churches who feel called to this ministry at the hospital, to approach the CEAF for more information and advice.