Campaign sparks church programs on final wishes

According to a recent survey by the California Health Foundation, 60 percent of respondents said it was extremely important that their family not be burdened in making tough decisions about their care. However, 56 percent of respondents had not discussed their wishes.

A coalition of community partners throughout the Barrington area has joined the Be@Ease campaign to help residents learn to talk about advance care plans so that if an emergency situation ever does arise, families are prepared.

Some of those community partners are area churches, whose leaders often are called to guide a family through times of crisis.

“For the church, it was a natural for us to join Be@Ease,” said Tom Burns, president of the Barrington Area Ministerial Association, which includes 15 Christian churches in the area. “Oftentimes, when people face crisis, they draw most significantly on their faith. We get called to the hospital, home, funeral … it’s a significant part of our ministry, and we know firsthand that when the crisis is greater, the fear is greater.”

The worst time to make a decision is during a crisis, Burns added, and the families that aren’t prepared to make life decisions for a loved one face a great challenge.

Those who have planned ahead, however, can spend the last moments with their loved ones in peace, and that is a true gift, said the Rev. Zina Jacque of the Community Church of Barrington, one of five area churches that is introducing the Be@Ease program to its members before the end of the year.

“Be@Ease is an initiative that invites people to be at ease about the end of their life … because they have shared their wishes, their desires, their words with others,” Jacque said. “Be@Ease from a church perspective lets us talk about rising well into life immortal, but also dying well, with our dignity, with our wishes known.”

Starting a conversation about death and dying is difficult, but it’s the crux of the Be@Ease campaign, said the Rev. Cynthia Anderson, associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Barrington, which also is actively introducing Be@Ease to its members.

“For many people, it’s a conversation they think about having, but don’t have,” she said. “If we take the time and we move past the discomfort of having the conversation before a crisis, it can be a positive process.”

Besides getting the conversation started, the Be@Ease campaign also provides access to Five Wishes, a nationally recognized document that allows anyone 18 and older to share their wishes about the end of life. Once completed, the Five Wishes document is valid under the laws of 42 states, including Illinois.

The Five Wishes ask people to discuss:

Ÿ The person I want to make care decisions for me when I can’t

Ÿ The kind of medical treatment I want or don’t want

Ÿ How comfortable I want to be

Ÿ How I want people to treat me

Ÿ What I want my loved ones to know

The document itself is self-explanatory, Anderson said, but First United Methodist Church plans to host workshops to help members sort through their thoughts about the end of life and walk them through the Five Wishes.

Jacque, meanwhile, used All Saints Day — celebrated Nov. 1, as a day in which the church remembers the lives of members and saints who have died — to spark conversation about planning ahead.

“The sermon I preached on Nov. 3, invited us to think about the legacy of the lives above our heads,” Jacque said, referring to banners that will hang throughout the church carrying the names of deceased members. “I’ll be able, without mentioning any names, to talk about those who died well and left their families in peace, and also … those whose wishes were not known and it created great turmoil.”

The conversation will continue next year through lunches and dinners as the congregation explores Be@Ease, she said.

Most Barrington churches will get involved in the campaign in their own way in the coming months, Burns said.

Syl Boeder, program director of Be@Ease, said the churches who have already jumped on board have shared their gratefulness for the program.

“In talks with area pastors, we heard how much they value being part of our Be@Ease community drive,” Boeder said. “They told us that they feel — as we do — that advance care planning is a real gift, to loved ones and family, to doctors and to them as faith leaders. They minister to families in difficult times. Knowing about someone’s wishes in advance makes it easier to work through these conversations in a caring and loving manner.”

“I’m hoping that anyone in any Barrington area congregation will have these important conversations, and they will be at ease in making these important decisions and sharing them with people who are important to them.”

For information about the Be@Ease campaign, visit [URL]www.BeAtEase.org;http://www.BeAtEase.org[URL], or contact Syl Boeder or Rachel Cook at Community Education and Outreach at (224) 770-2541 or [/URL]barrington@BeAtEase.org;mailto:barrington%40BeAtEase.org?subject=[URL].[/URL]