Skip to Content

Pastoral services

As part of our commitment to providing comprehensive care, pastoral care services are available to our patients and their loved ones.

Wesley chaplains come from a wide variety of denominational affiliations and offer multi-faith spiritual support to patients, families and staff. They also provide pastoral care education.

Wesley Medical Center, including Wesley Woodlawn Hospital & ER, employs three full-time chaplains, one part-time chaplain and two PRN chaplains. The staff also includes a CPE program manager, an administrative assistant, a director of pastoral care and education and five CPE chaplain residents.


Patient support

  • Pastoral care
  • Spiritual concerns
  • Pre-surgical visits
  • Crisis care
  • End-of-life care

Family support

  • Hospitality
  • Orientation to hospital
  • Crisis ministry
  • Continuing care
  • Bereavement care

Worship and sacraments

  • Wesley Memorial Chapel and St. Luke's Chapel available for prayer and meditation
  • Communion upon request
  • Emergency baptism
  • Blessing of infants

Staff support

  • Critical incident stress debriefing
  • Disaster support for patients, our staff and community outreach
  • Spiritual and emotional support for Wesley employees

Services to clergy and spiritual leaders

  • Daily patient affiliation lists maintained in the department

Clinical pastoral education

Our clinical pastoral education program is accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. to offer programs at Level 1, Level 2, and supervisory clinical pastoral education.


Wesley Memorial Chapel

Since 1951, Wesley Memorial Chapel has been a place for prayer and worship.

In 1944 one of the dreams of the Women's Association of Wesley Hospital was the construction of a new chapel. The Foster Chapel was inadequate for the needs of the growing number of student nurses and was not accessible to patients and family members. A new chapel would provide a place of worship for nursing students and a place of prayer for patients and families.

The plans for the chapel included a slate roof and silverdale stone walls to set it apart from the rest of the hospital. The cost of the chapel was $71,000. The cornerstone was laid in 1950. The Service of Consecration of Wesley Memorial Chapel was held on October 18, 1951. The Rev. Dr. Armour H. Evans, Wesley Hospital superintendent (chief executive officer) from 1947-1957, presided at the groundbreaking and the consecration. Kathryn Millsap, deaconess in the Methodist church, served as Wesley's chaplain during this time (1927-1959).

Members of the Women's Association placed great importance on the windows. More than twenty stained-glass windows were designed to add peace and meaning.