Month: August 2021

Biographical Sketch – Dr. Phillip D. Williams, BCC-HPC

 | Present Position | Chaplain, Southeast Texas, VA Healthcare Center, Temple, TX VA National Chaplain Chairman Hospice Specialty Certification Board, Hampton, VA Consultant, Williams Church Consulting Group, Temple, Texas Adjunct Professor/Board of Governors, Rockbridge Seminary, Springfield, Missouri
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| Work History | Chaplain, Polytrauma/Spinal Cord Care, VA Medical Center, Palo Alto, California Lead-Chaplain/Bereavement Coordinator, CHRISTUS, VNA, San Antonio, Texas Chaplain/Bereavement Coordinator, Nurses in Touch Hospice, Floresville, Texas Chaplain, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Baptist Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas Pastor of Church Planting, Community Bible Church, San Antonio, Texas Vice President, Buckner Church and Community Relations, Dallas, Texas Executive Pastor, Concord Missionary Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas Adjunct Professor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas Pastor and Founder, Capitol Region Fellowship, Great Falls, Virginia Assistant Pastor and Administrator, Calvary Baptist Church, Baltimore, Maryland Executive Pastor Staff Coach, Christian Fellowship Church, Vienna, Virginia Special Agent (Dignitary Protection) for Secretaries of Defense, Weinberger, Carlucci,             Cheney and their foreign counterparts Chief of Economic Crimes Division, Hq US Army Criminal Investigation Command Department of Defense White Collar & General Crimes, Drug and Homicide Investigator Senior Counselor and Educator for Substance Counseling, West Berlin, Germany US Army Infantry Soldier
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| Education | Doctor of Ministry, summa cum laude, Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, D.C. Master of Arts, Religious Education & Counseling, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia Bachelor of Science, The University of The State of New York, Albany, New York Associate of Arts, Law Enforcement, Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia Chaplain Board Certification, Nation VA Chaplain (NAVAC), Dayton, Ohio Chaplain Board Certification, The Association of Certified Christian Chaplains, Orlando Florida Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Residency, Baptist Health, Little Rock, Arkansas Chaplain Orientation Electronic (CORE), Hampton, Virginia Warriors 2 Soulmate Coaching Certification, Biloxi, Mississippi VA Whole Health Coaching Certification, Palo Alto, California VA Polytrauma/TBI 101, Palo Alto, California
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| Author   | ANSWER! A Spiritual Gifts Identification Workshop Community Bible Church Multi-Site Leaders Guide Don’t Go There!! Timnah is not God’s Plan for You G.A.L.S. The Destroyers of Lives Know Your Church and Where You Fit In (1st edition) Know Your Church and Where You Fit In (2nd edition) Twelve Days of Christmas, Reliving the Memories Weeping in The Name of Jesus (unpublished) SELFISHNESS: A Whale of a Story JUMPSTART Your Week 52 Devotionals Out of My Briefcase Be the Presence of God: In Trials and Transitions Dr. Phil’s Daily Dose: 366 Devotionals © 2017 FRANCES Ready to Die Dr. Phil’s Daily Dose: 366 Devotionals © 2018 Say Yes to a New Normal: A Journey from Depression
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| Awards | Doctor of Ministry Award for Academic Excellence  , Howard University, Washington, D.C. Employee of the Quarter, Nurses In Touch, Floresville, TX 2018 Henri Award Nominee for Literary Excellence in Christians Writing, Dallas, TX  

The Role of Symbols in End of Life Care

Symbols are objects that take on a deeper meaning for the person grasping them. Every symbol points beyond itself to a reality for which it stands. 

Symbols can be both corporate and private, easily recognized but contextualized in the individual experience. 

Rituals in End of Life Care

Symbols are often (though not always) tangible, representational, and passive; rituals, on the other hand, are active, responsive, and collective. Rituals, for the sake of this study, are a collection of actions. 

A ritual is a stereotyped sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and designed to influence preternatural entities or forces on behalf of the actors’ goals and interests. 

Rituals may be seasonal, hallowing a culturally defined moment of change in the climatic cycle or the inauguration of an activity such as planting, harvesting, or moving from winter to summer pasture; or they may be contingent, held in response to an individual or collective crisis.

Symbols are often used in rituals. Consider a commonplace, mundane example. The simple action of planting a tree has a routine—prepare the soil, dig the hole, place the tree, cover with soil, water, etc. This may not seem like much of a ritual, but when that planting is done in memory of someone who has died within a community that celebrates the life that has gone before, and the individuals participate in the planting, this simple act becomes a ritual, a ritual of remembrance. 

Rituals are active and may be rooted in tradition or they are active, built on the simple action and then assigned metaphorical significance.