When one door closes another door opens.
At about the same time, Hospice Care of Middletown, which serves more than 150 patients and families per year from Butler, Warren, Preble, Montgomery and Hamilton counties, was searching for a chaplain to replace June Deaton, who was retiring.
Lewis never heard of the Hospice agency until he saw the job posting. After reading its mission and vision statements, he realized they “lined up” with his beliefs.
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“They care about people and not just numbers,” he said.
He was one of 20 who applied for the chaplain position and one of six who were interviewed. Beth McGuire, clinical director at Hospice Care of Middletown, said the selection committee was impressed by Lewis’ smile, spiritual presence, sensitivity, sense of humor and desire to give back to the community.
Those qualities made him “hands down the person” Hospice was seeking, she said.
Lewis, 58, was hired two weeks ago and already has made an impact. After making several Hospice visits with social workers, Lewis made his first solo visit with a 103-year-old client and her grandson. The woman died a few days later and her grandson wanted Lewis to conduct her funeral.
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“God has called me to minister to people,” Lewis said while sitting in his mostly empty office. “This is a great way to minister to people during the most difficult and darkest times in their lives.”
And that includes the family of the Hospice patient. He said relatives sometimes “struggle” with the realization that their loved one is in the “last stages of life.”
He tells them: “You can celebrate that your loved one is going to a better place and you will joining them one day.”
Lewis said it’s important to understand the level of spirituality with every patient. Some are devout believers. Some have no faith.
“You just don’t know,” he said. “Got to be very respectful. If they have spiritual concerns or fear about dying, I share with them that I do believe in an after life.”
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Lewis probably never felt he’d be in this place professionally. The 1979 Badin High School graduate earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Central State University in 1983 and worked for Duracell batteries for 11 years.
He taught Sunday School classes for several years and while attending a youth conference, he was “called” by God to enter the ministry. He compared that part of his life to the Beverly Hillbillies that featured the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family from the Ozarks region who move to posh Beverly Hills, Calif. after striking oil on their land.
Instead of California, Lewis, his wife, Lori, and four of their children, packed all their belongings into a truck and moved to Warsaw, Ind., where he graduated from Grace Theological Seminary in 1995.
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Lewis said preachers are “masters of a lot of traits.” He performed sermons, pre-marital counseling, baptisms, taught Sunday School and handled administrative duties.
Now he finds himself in a “more focused” position, dealing with those facing death.
Regardless, his motto remains in the same: “Serving God by serving others.”
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