Taylor D Huber

I ministered to roughly 80 patients/families on our service. As a hospice chaplain, I manage my fluctuating caseload and create orders to meet the social and spiritual needs of my patients. I use various traditions and theories in my pastoral care practice: namely Nonviolent Communication, the five stages of grief, and feelings as messengers. In addition to ministering to patients, I provided seminars at interdisciplinary meetings surrounding the impact of spiritual care and overall patient care. Another aspect of my role as a chaplain is to care for nurses and social workers and provide timely feedback around stressful situations

As a Resident Chaplain in OSF ST. Francis’ CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program I completed 4 Units of CPE. As part of the CPE Residency, I also learned clinical theory around Pastoral Care and conducted over 20 evaluations on my care approach. Each unit of CPE included 100 hours of classroom learning and 400 hours of clinical support. During the Residency, I served as a floor chaplain in the Medical Acute Care Units covering 100 plus patients in addition to other caregivers. I also worked days and overnight on-call shifts where I would attend all patient codes and deaths and Level I and II traumas. My primary role was to provide pastoral care to patients and help them discuss their grief and feelings. Also, I would lead debriefing sessions with doctors and nurses after stressful situations. I was privileged with space to understand my pain and personality so I can model the same process with patients.

During the Summer of 2018, I was serving part-time at the Peoria Rescue Ministries. I served as a night shift supervisor. I was responsible for making sure we maintained a safe environment. One of my responsibilities was delivering the evening sermon for the men. I also served at the women’s pregnancy center during the week, where I would meet with gentlemen who accompanied expecting mothers who were receiving pregnancy tests or ultrasounds. Part of my role involved educating couples about the birthing process to help them understand the miracle of life. Furthermore, I conducted several parenting programs that assisted parents in making steps to become part of their child’s life again.

I had a dual role at YFC. One part of my role was to generate fundraising and community support with donors. Each year I would promote a banquet that would help support the possibility of service trips, along with summer camps. The other part of my role was to lead weekly youth events for 40-60 high schoolers and bi-weekly Bible Studies. During this time, I also spoke at several youth retreats. One notable project I helped organize was a racial reconciliation work/education trip that took rural and inner-city teens through key Civil Rights locations.

At Grace Church, I served as an intern youth pastor. I created multiple teaching programs that lasted seven weeks long. I predominately taught grades 5th-8th. As part of my teaching curriculum, I would email the parents the lesson plan prior to my delivery of the lesson. I would create booklets for the students so that they could engage in the lesson and by the end of each series the student would have a complete commentary on a specific book of the Bible or topic. My scope of teaching included studies through books of the Bible but also core doctrines of the faith, such as Baptism and the Trinity.