Faith-Related/Spiritual Services

Department of Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care is the area that relates to a person’s own religious and/or spiritual beliefs and practices.

We at the Department of Pastoral Care know that each person’s beliefs and practices can be extremely important and a significant resource of comfort and support throughout the course of treatment; at the same time, in the context of illness, we also know that spiritual and religious beliefs can be barriers and obstructions that inhibit true healing.

Our Chaplains, who are of various denominations, have experience in working with faith in the context of illness. They are trained to work in a multi-faith environment in a way that neither judges nor preaches, but accepts and understands the situation as it is.

Our Chaplains have two primary interventions that they provide for patients, families, and staff:

• Concrete, specific religious rituals and/or sacraments in moments of crisis;
• Longer-term interventions of pastoral care through listening, presence, religious or spiritual guidance, prayer, and religious rituals/sacraments in non-emergency situations.

We make every effort to respect each person’s belief system and to work within it.

While we may not always be able to find a Chaplain of every belief, we will do our best to find a Chaplain appropriate to your religious tradition, faith and belief so that you have resources from your tradition available to you.

To find out more about the Department and the services we provide, please visit us at http://pastoralcare.med.nyu.edu/ or contact our office at 212-263-5903.

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