Learn to navigate the healthcare system. Don’t lose yourself while doing it.
You already know how to sit with grief.
What many chaplains discover, however, is that hospice can require more than spiritual formation. It also requires learning how healthcare works.
As a hospice chaplain in the United States, I’ve found that some of the most challenging aspects of the work go beyond the bedside. Learning how to advocate for patients and families, communicate with your team, and demonstrate the value of spiritual care is part of the work, too.
That’s why I created Human. Chaplain.
This site focuses on the practical realities of hospice chaplaincy in the United States. I’ll share resources, tools, lessons learned, and occasional reflections from my work as a hospice chaplain navigating the U.S. healthcare system.
My hope is that these resources help chaplains work more effectively within healthcare systems while remaining grounded in the values that brought us to this work in the first place.
Spiritual care does not happen outside the system. It happens within it.
While much of this site focuses on the practical work of hospice chaplaincy, that isn’t the whole story.
I’ve come to realize that the more I learn to navigate the demands of the U.S. healthcare system, the more intentional I must be about tending my own inner life.
Woven throughout these resources are occasional reflections on my own growth along with selected quotes and excerpts from books, articles, and podcasts that continue to nurture my own spiritual formation.
My hope is that both the practical resources and the reflections encourage you as you continue finding your own way of being fully human in this work.