EXETER NEWS-LETTER          June 6, 2019

Exeter woman finds new calling as interfaith chaplain

Retired doctor now wants to treat spiritual needs

           Abby Arsenault news@seacoastonline.com

              June 6, 2019, 5:30 p.m. ET

              

EXETER — After spending 43 years looking after people’s physical ailments, Exeter resident Mary Anne Totten has decided to pursue her dream of treating one’s spiritual afflictions.

Totten along with 16 others were ordained as interfaith chaplains June 2 after completing a two-year program at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME).

Graduating from medical school in 1972, Totten had a long career practicing internal medicine. She had her own private solo medical practice in West Virginia for 15 years before moving to New Hampshire in 2002. It was in Manchester that she served as medical director in two nursing homes. While Totten views these as wonderful experiences, she desired to spend more time with her patients, tending to both their physical and mental needs.

“As we all know, there generally is not the time for that in the typical medical visit,” Totten said. “After I retired in 2015, I decided to pursue the interfaith chaplaincy program. I have a passion for the senior population and particularly continuing care and nursing home work, and this is where I hope to apply my new skills.”

Interfaith chaplains share duties with other orthodox religious leaders such as priests or rabbis. They are able to officiate weddings and oversee funerals, yet they are prohibited from performing communion or taking last rites. This is due to the fact that interfaith chaplains do not align themselves with any one denomination, instead focusing on broad spirituality. Totten found this aspect to be especially intriguing, as it aligned with her personal values.

 

                      Author  Memoirist