This could have been such an interesting book. As it is, I am pretty surprised it was actually published, especially by one of the preeminent publishers of academic works.

It reads like an undergraduate class presentation: here is what I'm going to talk about and this is the order in which I'm going to organize it. Now that I told you, here is a reminder of what I said, and here are my conclusions.

If I were a chaplain intern, this book would do nothing to help me understand my calling better. The disparagement of volunteers showcases Cadge's complete lack of understanding of the ministry of presence many bring to the comfort vocation.

The study had a promising premise. Too bad a professional didn't flesh it out. ( )

About all I can say for this book is that it isn't badly written, it's just badly thought out. There is also a very useful chapter on the history of modern hospital chaplaincy. The author decided to do a sociological study of spiritual care in modern hospitals, then made a series of decisions that really limited what she could figure out. The first, and worst, was not to survey or talk to patients. She also decided to focus on major research hospitals, which is definitely skewed. Otherwise, she spends a lot of time looking at which hospitals have dedicated chapel space, and how they are decorated. Every chaplain I know who has read this book has the same reaction - she doesn't get what we do, and isn't really interested in finding out. She talks to some chaplains and some staff, but generally manages to miss the big picture. Because she is determined to only ask questions about things that can be measured, she only asks about trivial things, and then determines that chaplains engage in trivial matters. Cadge has been speaking at chaplains' conferences, and her argument there is that chaplains need to do actual scientific research to show that their work actually accomplishes something. In today's financial environment, this is probably true, but this book isn't it. It may, however, inspire someone to do a better job. ( )