Divine Innovation: Spirit Alive is an innovation that is focused on Phoebe Ministries’ spirit-filled mission

Back in 1903, the senior living retirement community known as Phoebe Ministries was founded. And to this day it is associated with the United Church of Christ. So it is only fitting that they have programs focused on driving home their Christ-centered mission, right?

At Phoebe, one of the major missions they have is keeping everything centered around their Christian values. In fact, when you visit their mission page, it says:

“A community of faith, called by God, to enrich the lives of our seniors, their families, and the communities we serve.”

Aligning with their mission statement is an innovative pastoral program that is headed by three main people at Phoebe, and all three of them know they could not run the program efficiently without the others.

First off, you have President & CEO Scott Stevenson. Without his constant encouragement to remain aligned with the Phoebe mission, this program would not be possible.

Then you have Rev. Dr. Scott Brooks-Cope, who is the regional director of pastoral care and education. He helped spearhead the program in the first place, and his oversight has helped push this program forward.

Finally, you have Emily Southerton, who is the Spirit Alive Coordinator at Phoebe Ministries and an associate pastor. She is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the program and make it even better than it already is.

All three of them do their due diligence for this amazing program, which is the LeadingAge PA 2023 Innovation of the Year Award winner, but at this point you may be asking what Spirit Alive actually is.

“Spirit Alive is an innovative pastoral care program developed at Phoebe Ministries for seniors with mid-to-late-stage dementia,” according to Phoebe themselves. “As cognitive function diminishes due to dementia, some may assume that the capacity for spirituality also diminishes. Losing language, memory, attention and behavioral regulation often makes it difficult for individuals with dementia to engage in traditional religious services and former spiritual practices. The limitations imposed by the disease can mask the spirit that is alive and well within individuals with advancing dementia.”

The program quite literally helps keep the spirit alive in many of these individuals (and their families) who begin to lose hope. Dementia is never easy to deal with, but looking at it from the perspective Spirit Alive does can help individuals cope the best they can with it.

“Religious and spiritual experiences are critical for many seniors with dementia,” Phoebe said. “Spirit Alive has enabled residents of Phoebe living with memory loss to live a better quality of life.”

Spirit Alive essentially takes small-group experiences to the next level. They work with small groups of residents with dementia and mix their insights on the cognitive effects of dementia with the pastoral care side of things. They mix the scientific side with the spiritual side, which is a truly innovative way of helping residents deal with their dementia.

“Residents are not the only ones impacted by the experience of Spirit Alive,” Phoebe said. “Staff and volunteers have shared how the program has helped them become more open and trusting to how the spirit moves. This has helped aid them in focusing on the spirit, rather than feeling a responsibility to teach or lead the group in a specific direction.”

When you are a Christian organization, it can be difficult to stay focused on Christ at all times. Especially when it comes to an elder care organization.

However, Phoebe is making sure this is not the case. Through everything they do, they try to keep God first and keep him moving throughout their facilities. They believe this is the best practice for their residents and workers alike.

In fact, their mission is why a lot of the people who work for Phoebe do, including people within the program. When asked about why she pursued a career in aging services, Brooks-Kope had this to say:

“To bring the love of God to seniors and to support a great group of chaplains who embody God’s love and care day in and day out in our setting. Also, it’s a great setting to teach chaplaincy in our CPE Program.”

Phoebe’s workers love their organization’s mission, along with Spirit Alive’s mission. However, that only goes so far, as residents have to be bought into the missions as well.

“Residents look forward to this small, customized group,” retired Resident Nursing Assessment Coordinator at Phoebe Richland Jan Koran said. “It helps them feel special, safe, and comfortable sharing their feelings.”

It is important for any person at that age to feel like they can confide in someone, but this rings especially true when it comes to senior community residents with dementia. They need to be around people they can trust, and that is exactly what Spirit Alive provides for them.

For example, there was a time an 88-year-old resident opened up about a story she had never told anyone before in her whole life. It was a childhood memory about her interaction with the spirit from when she was a young child growing up in a small farming community. It was a touching story and was one that would have never been told had it not been for Spirit Alive.

“The group quietly listened, and each member spontaneously told her that they ‘believed her’ and ‘knew it was real,’” Pastor Jamie Moyer said. “She was visibly moved by this experience that made a connection through holding shoes while sharing stories.”

Talk about an eye-opening experience for all involved.

And to think it was all made possible by a couple people who had an idea and were not afraid to put it to action.

“Spirit Alive has truly impacted the model of pastoral care, especially in terms of offering spiritual care to those with dementia,” Southerton said. “This innovative and spirit-filled program has inspired others in aging services to replicate new ways of leading worship and providing pastoral care to older adults.”

Spirit Alive truly is an innovation that is impacting the masses, and that is why they are the LeadingAge PA 2023 Innovation of the Year Award winners.