A MESSAGE FROM PHILLIP LECONTE:

In the three years since we first started the “The Survivor Network”, I have spent many hours in the presence of chaplains — both in person as part of our ongoing video productions and then listening to them speak during the many hours of post-production.

Phillip LeConte, Executive DirectorMy time spent with chaplains has not only enriched my life, it has informed and bolstered my confidence in the program. It is, after all, the stated purpose of “The Survivor Network” to recreate, as best we can via the Internet, the experience of visiting with a chaplain.  

And while the Internet will never replace the caregiver sitting across from the grieving  — it is an effective tool for filling the silence that surrounds grief — particularly during those late hours when personal care is impractical.

Together with Master Chaplain Dave Fair, I have conducted nearly one hundred hours of interviews with chaplains.  While the project requires a kind of role reversal of a chaplain’s customary “ministry of presence” (here chaplains do the talking; the grieving listen), I can now say, based on my own experience, that those grieving the loss of life or just in need of an encouraging word will find solace and comfort where once was only silence.

Chaplains speak soulfully from the heart in a manner that is measured, thoughtful, soothing.  
In today’s America that is unique. Chaplains invest language with a kind of grace that is immediately distinguishable from 90 percent of what we hear and see through the media.

I encourage those in despair to spend time with the “Survivor Network”, not because it will distract you from your grief, but it will help you heal. I also recommend the “Survivor Network” to anyone who occasionally seeks out Phillip LeConte and Chaplain Fair on the set.a sacred space. Spend a few minutes with our chaplains and you are right back there on grandma’s porch swing — when gentle words punctuated long, sweet stretches of silence.

That I may speak with soothing power
a word in season, as from thee,
to weary ones in needful hour.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1872

At the very least, listening to the “Survivor Network” will make you better prepared for the role that life ultimately hands each of us — that of caregiver to those who grieve.

Phillip LeConte