Gareth: until we meet again?

The role of a hospital chaplain provides opportunities to come alongside people of many different faiths, as well as those without any formal or even informal expression of faith. It is not necessarily of primary importance to me what people believe in terms of their religious traditions, as I want to be able to walk with individuals as they seek meaning in the unique experiences, past and present, which life has brought to them. Supporting patients and their families through some of the loneliest and most desolate times of their lives, as well as through experiences of joy and peace, all mixed in with feelings of hope and fear, draws upon my firmly held belief in the worth of every human life, more than on my personal faith in a particular formalised expression of faith or in a specific understanding of the nature of God. Whilst this may not be the case for every hospital chaplain, it is this approach that, for me, enables me to work with people of diverse spiritual and non-spiritual backgrounds. MODEL: chaplaincy MODEL: multi-faith chaplaincy VALUE: compassion VALUE: valuing people VALUE: caring APPROACH: non-judgemental VALUE: acceptance.