The Ministry of Presence is a ministry of hope.

If a chaplain visit or contact would be helpful, please call the Spiritual Care Services Offce at 303-425-2393.

Some of the most basic human needs of cancer patients and others are met when a caregiver offers intentional and attentive listening. The chaplains in Spiritual Care listen as a primary way of offering hope to patients and other care seekers. By listening compassionately, the "Ministry of Peace" is practiced - the coming alongside and standing with another in whatever circumstances they are facing, including cancer.

Hope is particularly important for those with cancer, and researchers have found a strong link between religious/spiritual belief and hope. Hope enables people to cope with difficult and uncontrollable situations. ELMC chaplains have available to them a variety of resources and services for patients, families and staff, such as providing the sacraments and other ritual/liturgical/devotional support; being available for family and medical-team conferences; and presiding at funerals and memorial services.

Chaplains empower patients to draw upon their own internal and external resources in times of fear and grief. As poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land And on the strangest sea Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

A diagnosis of cancer takes one into life's extremities, yet hope can comfort and support even in emotional and physical storms. Lutheran chaplains are committed to having and offering hope to cancer patients and their loved ones.

If a chaplain visit or contact would be helpful, please call the Spiritual Care Services Office at 303-425-2393.