Winchester Medical Center Dedicates New All Faiths Chapel
Representatives of seven faith traditions participated in the dedication of Winchester Medical Center’s new All Faiths Chapel on Thursday, August 26 at 1:30 pm. The new chapel is open around the clock to people of all religious traditions for contemplation, prayer and special observances.
The dedication service featured blessings by representatives of seven local faith communities — Baha’i, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant – as well as greetings and prayers by the medical center’s three chaplains and harp music by Sea Raven.
The new chapel is larger and more centrally located, just steps from the Main Lobby and elevators. A generous grant from the Winchester Medical Center Foundation provided new furnishings and a sound system. Stained glass windows made by local artist/nurse practitioner Sallie Ebert Grundman was moved from the previous chapel and installed in the new space. The Winchester Medical Center Auxiliary donated a statue in memory of 47-year volunteer Betty Hancock.
“Although nearly all of our time is spent at the bedside, in waiting rooms, in critical care and the emergency department, we are thrilled to have a peaceful space where visitors and staff may go to pray, meditate, or sit quietly,” explains Peter Ford, MDiv, Director of Chaplaincy Services. “We will also use the new chapel for occasional weddings and memorial services on request from the hospital community.”
Ford became Winchester Medical Center’s first chaplain in 1977. Today, he and two other full-time chaplains, Leland Collins and Phil McCarley, provide spiritual and emotional support to patients, families and staff coping with illness, injury, and end of life issues. The chaplains are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Six per diem chaplains provide trained “substitute” support as needed. The department also facilitates patient visitation by hundreds of community-based clergy at the medical center.
Chaplaincy Services at Winchester Medical Center provides support to the chaplaincy programs at Valley Health’s five sister hospitals in Front Royal, Luray, and Woodstock, VA and Berkeley Springs and Romney, WV. The department also partners with Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg to provide supervised clinical experience for its student chaplains.
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