Hospital Ministry in Chinook Winds Region

Live out your faith by helping others in their time of need. 

Spring 2021 Online Visitation Course is now full! You can sign up for the next course offering. See Below

Jesus calls us to visit

 â€śI was sick and you visited me,” Jesus reminds us (Mt 25:36, ESV). 

Chinook Winds Hospital Visitation Program

Do you have a heart and a passion to follow Jesus and offer a message of hope to those who are sick in hospital?  

The United Church of Canada, Chinook Winds Region wants to bring a message of hope into our hospitals based on Jesus’ teachings.

Is the Spirit moving in you to provide hopeful space in service of those who need a calm presence when they are in hospital? If so, please join us to learn about the skills and practice of hospital visiting. This is an important ministry that can make a positive difference in the lives of those we visit. Come and live out your faith by helping others in their time of need. 

Intended Audience for Hospital Ministry Online Course 

 This program is offered to all persons in the Chinook Winds region, both clergy and lay. Whether you have a good deal of pastoral care experience or none at all, this online Zoom course, offered over seven consecutive Tuesday evenings, will help equip you for service as a hospital visitor.  

 
A Snapshot of Those We Visit

 We visit adults who have self-identified on hospital admission as members of the United Church of Canada. Most of these people will not have an active membership in a congregation. Some of those we visit might be seriously ill and have doubts and questions about faith. Our role is not to change their minds, or to cure what cannot be cured. Our role is to offer a sympathetic ear and an empathetic presence.  

Is this Program for me?

  • Do you have a passion and a heart for visiting others? 
  • Do you have a warm presence and a spirit open to bringing comfort to those who are ill?  
  • Are you comfortable in your own skin and don’t want or need to change others?   
  • Can you see yourself sitting with people who might be seriously ill, and have experienced loss and grief of a wide range due to a wide range of causes? And who may have doubts and questions about their faith?  
  • Are you active in a United Church congregation? 
  • Are you willing to take further education through specific programs so you can be an effective team member with responsibilities both to the United Church and to the Alberta Health Services Visitors’ requirements?  
  • Are you open to guidance to being an ongoing learner? 
  • Do you have a strong desire to a hopeful faith to those who need a calm presence who can bring a ministry of presence? 

Course Content

• Exploring God’s presence in our own lives: Call and Response, Jesus the Master Visitor 
• Self-Care and Boundaries (Limits and Scope of Volunteers) 
• Confidentiality and Ethics 
• The physical and intellectual effects of ageing 
• The Art and Skill of Visiting: Uncomfortable conversations and different perspectives.  

• Next Steps: AHS Requirements and Expectations 

How Do I sign up or find out more details? 

To prepare visitors for when we can again visit-in-person in hospitals, we will offer a Zoom-based program starting at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 13 April to Tuesday 25 May. 

The above Spring session is now full. Please sign up below to be informed of the next session

Sign up for Next Course Offering HERE. Date TBA

If you would like to find out more, please email Geoffrey Simmins,
Chinook Winds Region Hospital Ministry Coordinator
.

The Hospital Ministry Coordinator and the volunteer Hospital Ministries Team (a subcommittee of the Region’s Lay Ministry Support Working Group) are working towards the goal to have Alberta Health Services (AHS)-approved United Church Hospital Ministry in all Acute Care Hospitals in the region by 2022.