PASTORAL VISITORS PROGRAM at Brigham & Women's Hospital
The Pastoral Visitors (PV) Program is a supervised program for volunteers who provide pastoral support to patients. Volunteers receive on-going training and supervision. The expectation is that volunteers will attend a mandatory group supervision meeting held on the first and third Tuesdays from 4:30-6:00pm and visit patients for 3-4 hours twice a week during the day Tuesday through Friday during the academic year.
The PV Program, started in 1980, is modeled on Clinical Pastoral Education, the training for those seeking professional ministry. The focus of the PV program, however, is oriented more toward skill building and less toward personal growth as in CPE. Both are supervised programs that use an action-reflection model for learning.
There are usually 8-10 Pastoral Visitors each year, and several have been visiting patients for nearly ten years. One Pastoral Visitor has been coming since 1979! Some are retired and others are fulfilling or discerning a call to pastoral ministry. Occasionally graduate students join us for a year to bring a clinical dimension to their academic work in theology. All PV's bring their diverse backgrounds and life experiences to the group and to their work with patients.
Pastoral Visitors are assigned two patient care units, which they will visit for the year, taking into consideration the preferences of the volunteer and the scheduling needs of the staff and the CPE residents and interns. Staff and/or students will also be assigned to the units. PV's record their visits in the Chaplaincy computer program so that their visits and comments become an integral part of the resources of the Chaplaincy staff.
An application for Pastoral Visitors can be found in the link below. Applicants will also go through the standard requirements for volunteer applications including a background check and orientation.
Thank you for your interest in our Pastoral Visitors Program. We can be reached at (617)-732-7480 if you have any questions or would like to make an appointment for an interview. Deborah Hall, M.Div., Staff Chaplain Arthur Judge, M.Div., Staff Chaplain
Pastoral Visitor Application
**Please download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this application**
After filling out the application, please mail to:
Pastoral Visitor Program
Chaplaincy Department
Brigham and Women's Hospital
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
Thank you for your interest!
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