Interfaith Care in Practice: Navigating Tradition, Identity, and Spiritual Need in Real Scenarios

Religious literacy and cultural humility are necessary but not sufficient — the decisive skill is knowing what to do when you are with someone whose tradition you are just beginning to understand, who is in pain, and who needs genuine presence rather than a fact-retrieval exercise. This hands-on course builds that decisive skill through intensive scenario-based work, reflection exercises, and structured planning tools. By the end of this course you will be able to conduct a respectful spiritual assessment of a person from a tradition different from your own, adapt your presence and response to the specific spiritual and cultural needs identified in the assessment, navigate the tension between your own faith identity and the spiritual needs of a care seeker from a different tradition, and construct a care plan that coordinates with the appropriate religious community leader or family members. What you will learn: - Conducting a FICA or HOPE spiritual assessment across different religious and non-religious worldviews - Reading non-verbal and environmental cues about a person's spiritual world (sacred objects, texts, dress) - The first question: how to open a spiritual care encounter in a way that invites rather than imposes - Responding to prayer requests from a tradition not your own: options, ethics, and practical approaches - End-of-life spiritual care across traditions: what matters most, who else needs to be involved - When care seekers have been harmed by religion: spiritually and religiously sensitive trauma care - Navigating institutional constraints (time, space, policy) that complicate interfaith care - Debrief and self-care after difficult interfaith encounters: processing difference and discomfort The course provides ten structured case scenarios set in hospital, correctional, military, and campus contexts. Each scenario features a care seeker from a tradition different from the majority-tradition reader. The scenario is followed by a structured analysis worksheet, a care-planning template, and guided reflection questions. Annotated worked examples model skilled interfaith presence for the same scenario after you have completed your own analysis. This course is educational and does not confer certification; supervised clinical experience remains central to developing genuine interfaith competency. This course is written for student chaplains, CPE participants, faith community volunteers, and ministry students preparing for diverse care settings. It is suitable for those who have a basic orientation to interfaith care and are ready to practice. Some prior exposure to interfaith concepts is helpful but no formal background is required.