Companions on the Way: Chaplaincy in Interfaith Contexts

Cate Beaulieu-Desjardins, MDiv, MPH, BCC, of Philadephia, Pennsylvania, is the Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship and an Assistant Professor for Religion, Health, and Human Values at Rush University College of Health Sciences, as well as Assistant Director for Research Development at Transforming Chaplaincy through Rush University. She spends much of her time on spiritual care research, primarily in pediatric medicine, and teaching evidence-based chaplaincy skills to practitioners. She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume, Case Studies in Pediatric Chaplaincy.

Christine Farah, MA, LLB, Spiritual Care Practitioner and Counsellor, The Nazareth Hospital, Israel. Christine is the Director of the SERVE Nazareth Volunteer Program as well as a Spiritual Care Team Member at The Nazareth Hospital EMMS. Christine is an experienced pastoral care professional with a strong foundation in law, counselling, and chaplaincy. She has unique skills for providing emotional and spiritual support across diverse cultural settings, particularly within Arabic contexts. She is highly committed to whole person care and ministry in interfaith and multilingual contexts.

Sunghyun Lee, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Psychology at AMBS. She identifies herself as a scholar, pastoral caregiver and an ordained minister of the Korean Methodist Church. As an immigrant in the U.S. from South Korea, Sunghyun saw a lot of immigrants struggle with racism, language barriers and cultural and systemic differences in the United States. These experiences motivated her to become an advocate for immigrants and international students, which resulted in her founding an organization, Sojourner Coaching, LLC, to support them. As a scholar, Sunghyun identifies herself as a Christian care ethicist and a scholar of pastoral care and counseling whose core value is grounded in empathy. She endeavors to integrate theory and practice in her overarching research interests and through her own organization.

Luis Rodriguez, DMin, ACPE, BCC, Clinical Pastoral Education Director, Houston (Texas) Methodist, was born in Puerto Rico. He is an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA, an ACPE Certified Educator, and System Director of the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Houston Methodist. Dr. Rodriguez holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and a Master of Divinity degree, magna cum laude, from the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. He completed three years of supervisory Clinical Pastoral Education training at Baptist Health System in San Antonio, Texas. His professional experience includes service at Mennonite System Hospital in Puerto Rico, Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Baptist Health System in San Antonio, Texas; Harris County Hospital in Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Houston Methodist Hospital. He is also a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains in the United States. Dr. Rodriguez has extensive experience in teaching, spiritual care leadership, and educational consultation in different countries. Through his clinical and educational work, he has developed a legacy of clinical pastoral education students who have grown in their understanding and practice of spiritual care. He is currently working on his new book, Bridges to the Beyond: Pathways for Spiritual Care.

Leah R. Thomas, PhD, is Associate Professor of Pastoral Care at AMBS. She blends an academic focus on pastoral care and Christian social ethics with professional experience in hospital chaplaincy, pastoring and nonprofit management. Her ministry and theological commitments inform her teaching and research, which carefully attends to and incorporates voices excluded by the dominant culture, asking how these voices inform and shift caregiving. Leah’s research interests include anti-racist and intercultural pastoral care, trauma, culture, and the role of embodiment in caregiving and Christian spiritual practices.