When Ylisse Bess first began her work as a chaplain after graduating from BU School of Theology with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.), she decided to explore chaplaincy from a research perspective. So Bess reached out to Shelly Rambo, Associate Professor of Theology and (now) Director of Trauma Responsive Congregations (TRC), looking to pursue this interest. Moving from Educational Advisor to Associate Director on our team, Bess is passionate about TRC’s, which she describes as, “really great congregations that are already doing wonderful work and thinking through how to respond to traumas in their communities, partnering with TRC to learn from and better support their efforts to maximize their impact.”
Ylisse Bess, Associate Director
As a chaplain, Bess is able to accompany people in their times of transition and crisis, allowing her to witness the many types of trauma that can occur in people’s lives. She has been able to work on a number of projects seeking to better support ministers in congregational settings, understanding that ministers do not have the same structured support systems as chaplains. Many people experience traumas and they often bring those to or experience them in faith communities, and the task of attempting to properly deal with those traumas is often too tall an order for congregational leaders who are often already overworked. Burnout and exhaustion are very real challenges which pressure TRC’s partner congregations, and that is where Bess sees her role in this work. As she moves from Educational Advisor to Associate Director in the TRC leadership team, Bess hopes to be the first line of support for our partnered congregations, able to connect them with the resources and support networks they will need to persist in this important work.
When I was interviewing with Bess regarding her new role, she shared with me that one of her favorite things about congregational life is the familiarness of the community, seeing the growth and development of a faith community occurring over generations. There is a particular kind of power that can be built in the shared experience of life in a faith community — forged in the laughter, the laments, the shouts of celebration, the worshiping and dancing, the shared silence of prayer — and it can be a power that heals or hurts. This power is what draws Bess to the work of Trauma Responsive Congregations, to support and encourage the leaders of our partner churches as they endeavor to analyze the social structures and wounds in their communities and mobilize that sacred power of communal life to address them effectively.
As Bess begins her work in her new position, she wants our partners to know: “You and your congregations are amazing and are doing amazing work. Reach out whenever you need, we’re really here to be a resource, to help find resources, to help you deal with even the small issues. The work you’re doing matters, and we want you to trust us in that process and know that you can bring even the small issues to us.”