• About Pastoral Care
• Specialized Pastoral Care
• ACPE
• Ethics Consultations
• Volunteer Ministry
• Program Schedule
• Didactic Offerings for CPE

Volunteer Ministry Program

The department began a Chaplain Volunteer program in 1999. The genesis of this program was born from a need to reach out to the growing number of patients and families being treated in the Emergency Department and First Care. Children's sees more patients in its emergency room than any other pediatric emergency center in the country. Many of these families have long waiting times particularly in our First Care Clinic in the emergency room. This clinic sees patients who have no primary physician and are here for a non-emergency visit. The volunteers visit in the waiting area, providing a ministry of hospitality to patients and family members.

Chaplain volunteers also visit Day Surgery and, in some instances, general pediatric floors. Ministry varies from distributing coloring sheets, crayons, pillows, and stuffed animals to children, to calming anxious parents and extended family members through reflective listening. These general pastoral services help to ensure that less-traumatic pastoral needs are not overlooked. At the same time, chaplain volunteers enable resident chaplains to focus upon families dealing with crises or facing difficult decisions.

All chaplain volunteers are required to complete specialized training provided by senior chaplains. To date we have trained more than 50 volunteers and have an active roster of 25 participants in the program. Their training includes a general volunteer orientation through the hospital's volunteer program and an additional 15-hour orientation in the Pastoral Care department. For quality improvement, the chaplain volunteers meet monthly for continuing education provided by a CPE supervisor or supervisor-in-training, including content presentations and review of verbatim material. It is our belief that the interaction of CPE students with these lay volunteers provides an educational enhancement for both groups connecting us to our grounding in the broader faith community.

To receive additional information or to request an application packet, please call Pastoral Care at 214-456-2822.