March 23, 2005

QUEENS VILLAGE, NY – The Reverend Esther F. Perkins, Protestant Chaplain at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center since 1980, died as a result of cancer on March 22, 2005. She was two weeks away from her 68th birthday.

A Wake Service will be held on Easter Sunday evening, 7-9 p.m., at Forbes Temple, 191-12 Jamaica Avenue, Hollis. On Monday morning, March 28, there will be a time of viewing at 9 a.m. with the Funeral Service at 10:30 a.m. in Faith Chapel at Creedmoor. Burial will follow at Pinelawn. A second Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, March 31, 1:30 p.m., also at Faith Chapel at Creedmoor.

The Queens Federation of Churches honored Esther Perkins in January 2004 with the Grant F. Anderson Citation for Meritorious Ministry. The following biographical sketch was published on that occasion:

The Reverend Esther F. Perkins, Protestant Chaplain at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, is one of seven children, born in Harlem, where she attended public schools. She is a graduate of Washington Irving High School (Manhattan), Brooklyn College School of Nursing, Wheaton College (Illinois), Post Graduate Center for Mental Health and New York Theological Seminary. She is an associate minister and trustee at the St. Mark's Holy Tabernacle – United Holy Church of America.

Her experiences include being a well respected Private Duty Nurse, Foreign Missionary Nurse (two terms), Mission Station Manager in Liberia, West Africa, and Supervisor of Nurses at the House of Detention for Men on Riker's Island. She also served as Volunteer Pastoral Counselor at the Family Court in Queens.

In 1980, Reverend Perkins accepted the call to become a Mental Health Chaplain at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. Her appointment made history as she became the first female Mental Health Chaplain in New York State. As the Protestant Chaplain, she is pastor, preacher, counselor and educator: visiting regularly on all units, pastoral counselor to patients, staff and families, leading three worship services and four small spirituality groups each week.

She is a liaison between the facility and the discharged patients, participating in the Elmhurst Clinic "Drop In" Center weekly. She visits and fellowships with consumers in the community who have been discharged, the goal being to prevent recidivism by encouragement and support. She has done extensive work in reaching out to the community to educate regarding mental illness and to recruit volunteers to minister with her to this "on the edge" population. She now supervises over 50 volunteers monthly. Reverend Perkins has established a tradition with over 20 years of well-attended and well-anticipated outings/activities with community churches which are open to discharged patients who have lost their connections or have never formed them in the community churches.

During her tenure, she was appointed Department Head of Pastoral Services. She said her goal was "to work to move the department from a federation to a team." In time, she was successful in enlarging the role of the Chaplain at Creedmoor, and exhibiting a Pastoral Service Department with a team spirit that was cohesive, well respected by staff and "second to none in NYS Mental Health" – according to the NYS Commissioner of Mental Health. For nine years, she has been a part of NAMI – Western Queens, a family support group for those whose loved one has mental illness. Inside the Mental Health System, this Chaplain has shown tremendous courage in her determination and role as an advocate.

She has the courage to call a spade a spade, even when it makes her unpopular. Her preaching, leading the spirituality groups and individual counseling is full of insight, innovation, compassion, tenderness and energy. She has an uncanny ability to communicate with her parishioners and clients in clear and simple language. In her fervor to fulfill her calling, however, she has been known to accommodate the needs of the patients at the facility, despite hardship to herself.

For the past seven years, Reverend Perkins has served the New York State Community of Churches, Albany, as the Downstate Chair of the New York State Certification Committee, which reviews and determines qualification of Protestant ministers seeking to become chaplains in New York State.

Queens Federation of Churches