Before becoming the Field Coordinator for this Office,
Chaplain Meairs served as the Director of the Chaplain
Service at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. She
previously served as a staff chaplain at the VA
North Texas Healthcare System in Dallas and at the
VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. Her hospital experience
also includes residencies in Clinical Pastoral Education
at Stanford University Hospital, in Palo Alto, California;
Children’s Medical Center of Dallas; and at
the VA Medical Center in Dallas. She has specialized
in Spinal Cord Injury, rehabilitation medicine,
Medical Ethics, and End of Life issues. In March
of 2001 she presented on “The Chaplain on
the Spinal Cord Injury Interdisciplinary Team”
for a VA National Chaplain Center Grand Rounds,
and this was later published. She served on the
VA’s national Advisory Team on palliative
care and has presented at the VA National Leadership
Conferences on Pain Management and End of Life care.
Chaplain Meairs teaches classes to patients and
staff, and she has been a guest speaker at college
nursing programs on subjects related to ethics,
end of life care, and spirituality. She has experience
on the Ethics Committees at three VA Medical Centers,
and coordinated the Palliative Care Consult Team
at the VAMC in San Diego. In addition, her chaplain
duties included leading worship services, providing
general pastoral support throughout the medical
center, and serving as a resource to the broader
community. In 1998 she received the Secretary’s
Hands and Heart Award for the care she has provided
to patients. She was recognized in 1999 for Excellence
in Chaplaincy with a national award presented by
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West, Jr.
As a chaplain endorsed by the Episcopal Church of
the United States of America, Chaplain Meairs served
under the Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies
(includes active duty and federal chaplains). In
July 2001 she participated in the Formative Healthcare
Symposium sponsored by this Office to improve the
Church’s role in healthcare issues. She was
called to New York in September of 2001 as a member
of the Bishop’s 100 Days Support Mission following
the terrorist attacks on the 11th of that month.
Her experience in grief work and Critical Incident
Stress Debriefing were put to use on behalf of the
Diocese of New York.
Chaplain Meairs is herself a veteran, having served
four years in the United States Marine Corps. She
currently participates in local veterans activities,
including duty as detachment chaplain for the Marine
Corps League and on the Board for the MCRD Command
Museum. In the Fall of 2004 Chaplain Meairs was
honored with two presentations from her fellow Marine
veterans: The Chapel of the Four Chaplains Legion
of Honor Award and the Veteran of the Year for the
local Marine Corps League. While on active duty
she served as Commanding Officer of the Women Marine’s
Company at Quantico. Her background in art and communication
was put to work in the fields of Training Aids and
Public Affairs, and she was assigned to the Marine
Corps History and Museums Branch in Washington,
D.C. She served as a Special Projects Officer during
our nation’s Bicentennial celebration, where
she earned a Joint Service Commendation Medal for
her contribution to a Defense Department project
involving a traveling museum that told the story
of the Marine Corps to the nation.
Chaplain Meairs used the GI Bill to attend seminary,
earning a Master of Divinity degree at the Church
Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.
While serving as an assistant minister and church
school chaplain in Fort Worth she also completed
a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies, with
an emphasis on religion and art, at Texas Christian
University. She has been working in doctoral level
studies in faith practice and pastoral care.
Chaplain Meairs and her husband, the Rev. Edward
L. Busch, M.D., live in San Diego, California, with
their dog. Among their primary interests are golf
and grandchildren. |
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Bab's blog
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2007
Beginnings
Beginnings This is a new beginning for me: learning
to blog! It is my hope, along with that of Bishop
Packard, that an ongoing dialogue may be maintained
for chaplains interested in healthcare and other
relevant areas of our ministry. My first assignment
for our Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies was
to attend the national Association of Professional
Chaplains conference near San Francisco in April.
While there I helped host the breakfast gathering
for the Assembly of Episcopal Healthcare Chaplains
and gave a presentation at their dinner banquet.
My presentation focused on a trip I made to Kenya
where I experienced firsthand hospital chaplaincy
in rural Africa and I taught some classes on pastoral
care at the local Anglican seminary. Sharing my
experiences was a small part of meeting Episcopal
chaplains from all over this country and learning
about their work. I want to encourage more sharing
as we prepare for Pastoral Care Week in October.
In May I participated in the VA Chaplain National
Leadership Convocation, which was held for the
first time as a Joint Conference with the Military
Chaplains Association with the theme: "Care
for Returning Warriors and Wounded Healers."
This meeting emphasized the need for preparation
of chaplains going into combat areas as well as
the great efforts underway to care for those who
have experienced the effects of war, trauma, and
longterm healing. There is a collaborative effort
between active duty chaplains and VA chaplains
to increase Clinical Pastoral Education in the
Armed Forces as this has been seen to help chaplains
better work in the field under stressful conditions.
A follow-up to how the VA can support active duty
chaplains was discussed recently by the Board
for the National Association of VA Chaplains:
providing BOard Certified Chaplain colleagues
to help with preparation for certification as
chaplains seek to apply pastoral experience to
professional standards.Something I learned in
reflecting on the two conferences above is that
we have a long way to go in appreciating the varied
and dramatic experiences of our chaplains, and
in respecting each other. Even more, I am aware
that the Church has little idea of the depth of
the work of chaplains who are daily challenged
to use their faith and spiritual strengths to
help others, and themselves, in dealing with issues
of loss, death, disease, and trauma. In our contacts
at the Office for the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies
we support chaplains working in all kinds of trauma
centers, on response teams for disasters, in hospices,
in settings of all kinds from remote to metropolitan,
and with an increased realization of the facets
of emergency care. Let us pray for each other
and offer ears, hands and hearts in the continuing
work our ministry requires.
by Babs Meairs
8/8/07
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