Jeanne Connor - Parish Nurse at Big Timber, Montana

Main Street, Big Timber, Montana

Introduction

Driving past Livingston on my way to Big Timber on a hot summer day in August, the Crazy Mountains come into view. Legend says the "Crazies" are named after a woman from the area who went "crazy" a long time ago and became lost in those rugged peaks. I don’t know if the legend is true, but I do know that if that woman lived there today and needed a ministry of presence and peace and healing, she would find it in the ministry of Parish Nurse Jeanne Connor and Pastor Larry Pray.

"Wondering where God is in this walk through life?" reads a Cancer Support Group brochure. "The parish nurse ministry of health and healing at First Congregational Church is there to be with you on this journey through life," relates Pastor Larry. "Jeanne has been a very real presence to people in their journey." Jeanne works four hours a week as a paid, part-time parish nurse. Currently her hours are funded by a grant from Billings Deaconess Clinic.

A Ministry of Presence

In explaining his "theory" on why he feels a parish nurse presence works so well for people, Pastor Larry says, "Sometimes when you look at the doctor/patient relationship, you know it can be threatened because an exchange of money is ultimately involved, and there could be that cloud of money hanging over the healing relationship." He feels that the uniqueness of parish nursing is that it doesn’t cost anything to the recipient of care. People come in to tell their story and to have someone listen to their story with undivided attention—no strings attached.

Pastor Larry and Jeanne

Jeanne says people are appreciative when she is able to spend time listening to their concerns. "Often a person will come in to the office and tell their story," says Jeanne, "and after they are done, they think that they have kept me so long. I like the fact that in this position as the parish nurse, I don’t even have to look at my watch while they are talking. I can just be there."

Jeanne recalls a story Annette Langdon presented at the Basic Parish Nurse Preparation Course about feeling that when you are with a person, it doesn’t matter where you are, you can pull that ‘pretend’ curtain right around you and them. "I like to think about pulling that curtain around as I listen and as I pray with the folks I see," Jeanne says. She strives to be a peaceful presence and to give people a sense of security.

"We have done a very creative, really unique work here in this ministry that is very exciting," says Pastor Larry as he tells me about their work in planning and creating "Celebration Banquets." This ministry focus, which brings people together for meaningful sharing, is one that Jeanne and Pastor Larry would like to share with other churches. "What we do is purposefully share a banquet feast together around a common theme," says Pastor Larry. "Let me tell you about our Grandmother’s Dinner."

Pastor Larry told how they invited the congregation to come to a dinner and to bring a dish to share that they remember their Grandmothers preparing. Pastor Larry is thrilled as he tells about folks in their 80s who brought their grandmother’s recipes. "These are grandmothers that were alive in the 1850s!" he says, "And then they tell the story of THEIR grandmother and what she used to do for them." He describes a scene of meaningful sharing and personal awareness as each person shares what their grandmother did for them or meant to them.

United Church of Christ
Big Timber, Montana

Jeanne and Pastor Larry said they have worked on these Celebration Banquets for several years with the "Seasoned Adult" group. This group meets in the summer at their church camp, Camp Mimanagish up the Boulder River. The adults gather at the camp for a day of Bible study and fellowship. The culminating event is the banquet meal, usually laid out in many courses, with elegant food and table settings. The banquet theme is " The Stages of Your Life with God." This event is meaningful for the group because each course centers around a different aspect of sharing a part of one’s story. For example, the main course was centered around the "hard sayings of Jesus," and each person was given the opportunity to express what they felt was a hard teaching to live by and why.

These events put people at ease, show them they are cherished for who they are, and people are listened to as they share with one another. The "fine china" is laid out and the "fine food" is served as a message to show that each person is special and that life is a celebration of the journey we make together. Pastor Larry said that each person is ‘gifted’ when they take part in this banquet. They are not only gifted with the banquet meal; they are gifted with the presence of community. They are gifted with the story. Pastor Larry emphasizes that the whole church is built around the story. "We are the canvas of God’s creation, and the overriding job here is that we care about each other."

Pastor Larry told the story of a Russian priest who says that in Russia, his church was not about revival and it was not about a big evangelical movement. For him, the church was about ministry that was "eye to eye, hand to hand, face to face, one human being to one human being." "This is the ministry of parish nursing; this is the ministry of the church here in this place," relates Pastor Larry. "It is meaningful contact with self, with neighbor, and with God."

Jeanne does that one on one ministry in her work with people. She tells about meeting with people for regular office hours weekly and making referrals to health care agencies. She also makes home visits and meets people where they are. A dream of Jeanne’s is to help people in the community assimilate and feel closer to each other. "There are a lot of newcomers here now and I would like to help connect them to the community."

In addition to this one on one ministry, Jeanne helped start a Cancer Support Group that meets twice a month, and she sends out a health page newsletter to all the churches in Big Timber ten times per year. She led a group of teens in the church through a discussion on healthy sexuality, and helped host a new mother’s dinner group and meeting. She also was instrumental in getting pink ribbons distributed across the entire community for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. "I was so excited about the Breast Cancer Awareness Program," she said, "that we gave out 500 pink ribbons in our small town of Big Timber!"

Parish Nurse Jeanne Connor
at her office

Pastor Larry and Jeanne said they would like to progress with their ministry and carry on this unique program. Last November they hosted a national speaker on parish nursing for their program "Called to Heal." This was a parish nurse/clergy consultation on parish nursing to share the ideas they have begun in their program at Big Timber. Their challenge now is to seek the funds needed for their ministry to continue and to grow.

Jeanne says she is beginning to understand why parish nurses needs to be spiritually mature. "I have been thinking about what that really means," she said, "and then I came across this definition that seemed to make real sense to me and a way for me to see myself in this ministry. ‘Spiritual maturity is the acceptance of life and relationships.’ That statement really struck me as being full of wisdom for the ministry of parish nursing."

On the right is the Affirmation of Faith printed on the Cancer Support Group brochure. In learning about the ministry of parish nursing done by Jeanne Connor and her pastor, I got a glimpse of how these words are made real to the people of Big Timber as Jeanne and Pastor Larry work together to be the Affirmation of Faith to those they touch.

Affirmation of Faith
The light of God surrounds me.
The love of God enfolds me.
The power of God protects me.
The presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is.
Amen.