Spiritual Services, Medical Center Downtown Campus

Our interfaith chaplains are here to help patients, families, staff and volunteers cope with distress from illness, injury and unanticipated life events.

Interfaith spiritual support during a health crisis: A ministry of presence.

Whether you are a patient or family member, a health crisis can be emotionally and physically overwhelming.

Chaplains can provide support when you are having trouble focusing or making decisions; when sources of strength and practices once meaningful seem out of reach; when you find yourself asking questions like “Why me?”, “What does this mean for my life?”,  and “How will I get through this?”

Our professionally trained interfaith chaplains are here to help. They will meet you with respect for your own belief and value system and offer support regardless of your religion or spiritual tradition.

Spiritual Services are an integral part of caring for your mind, body, and spirit.

Working with you and your family, a chaplain can provide or arrange:

  • Listening and supportive conversation in a confidential setting
  • Understanding of the emotional and spiritual distress of illness and how it affects you, your relationships, and your wellness 
  • Help with discovering sources of comfort and meaning for you in coping with the stress of illness 
  • Prayer or meditations for relaxation and centering
  • Rituals and spiritual practices important to you 
  • A bridge to your faith community, and to your clergy or spiritual leader
  • Support for you and your family in making health care choices
  • Support in facing death, or losses and life changes due to illness
  • Support for families in their grief when a loved one is dying
  • Assistance with challenges that come up during a hospital stay
  • Assist with End-of-Life Planning

Interfaith chaplains are available in the hospital between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For emergency needs that arise after-hours, on weekends or holidays, on-call chaplains are available. Call the operator at 319-339-0300 to page the on-call chaplain.

Advance Directive (Honoring Your Wishes)

An advance directive is a general term for your verbal and written wishes about your medical care in the future. These are only used if you are not able to speak for yourself. Each state has its own advance directives law(s).  Learn more

If you would like help creating your own advance directive documents, a chaplain would be happy to assist you in this important matter.

Additional Spiritual Resources

The following sacred texts, meditation literature, and loss and grief literature can be found in the Downtown Hospital’s Interfaith Chapel (Level 1, just off main elevators). Some of the resources are linked to similar online versions.

Please do not take the resources out of the Meditation Room or Interfaith Chapel.

Download Bibliography | Patient Library

Sacred Texts, Meditation Literature, and Loss and Grief Literature

Bahai

Buddhist 

Catholic

Celtic

  • Anam Cara:  Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World by John O’Donohue

Hindu

Jewish

Latter Day Saints - Mormon

Muslim 

Native American and Indigenous

Protestant 

General Spirituality Books:

Please do not remove literature from the Meditation Room - Thanks!
 

Chaplains are trained to listen, but this is a chance to share from our experience: thoughts, stories, practices, and lessons on various themes which we hope may bring our readers some insight and inspiration in daily coping and living. Our views reflect individual views and not that of our department.

Visit our blog

Prayers, Poems and Blessings for Uncertain Times

Prayers, Poems and Blessings for Uncertain Times is a spiritual resource for staff, patients and families developed by chaplains. Our hope is that it will bring you comfort and peace for challenging days.

Download Prayers, Poems, and Blessings for Uncertain Times

Prayers for Parents of Babies on the Way and in the NICU

Download Prayers for Parents of Babies on the Way and in the NICU

Music has many benefits for wellness and well-being, whether listening to music or singing. It can reduce stress, boost mood-state and the immune system, nurture memory, promote depth of feeling, a connection to self, others, the transcendent. Meditative music can calm the mind and bring clarity and insight. Below are some suggested musical offerings.

The below sites introduce contemporary oral tradition songs from community songwriters across the country and world:

The Bird Sings

Singing Together to Nourish the Soul and Re-enchant the World

Praying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
—(from Mary Oliver’s book of poems, Thirst)

If you would like to make a confidential prayer request, a prayer box is provided for written requests in the Interfaith Chapel on level 1.

Prayers for Morning and Night

Watch our podcasts

A time for restoration and contemplation

Celebrate the changes of the seasons by walking the labyrinth, a winding path of twists and turns within a 22-foot circle. Walking the labyrinth is a centering practice with mental and physical health benefits. Whether used as a tool for calming the nervous system, mindfulness, reflection, prayer or other rituals, this 20-minute walk is a chance to slow down and find balance in the day. It is offered quarterly. At each event, information about how to walk the labyrinth, a choice of items for the journey (wise quotes, stones, battery votives, finger labyrinths) and other resources to enhance the participants' experience, are provided.

Walking the Path Can Serve as a Multi-Fold Opportunity:

  • To slow down and step briefly outside of time to catch new breath;
  • To reflect on your life’s journey with its unexpected arrivals, departures, and meandering processes;
  • To ritually set down burdens, to acknowledge past or current losses, or to set resolve for future goals.

Upcoming Walk:
November 21, 2024

Held in the first floor Atrium. Come anytime between 11 a.m.—1 p.m. to experience this 20-minute restorative walk! All ages are welcome!

Questions? Contact Jenny Seylar

Need Assistance?

To talk with a chaplain, ask your nurse or a member of your health care team to call the operator at 1-319-339-0300 and page the on-call chaplain.

Spiritual Services Staff Directory

Clinical Interfaith Chaplains Downtown Campus

Meditation Spaces

Interfaith Chapel
Level 1
1-319-339-3556
Amenity
Chapel at Medical Center Downtown
In Medical Center Downtown
500 E. Market Street, Iowa City, IA 52245
Rose Garden
Outside of main entrance, Level 2
1-319-339-0300
Amenity
Rose Garden at Medical Center Downtown
In Medical Center Downtown
500 E. Market Street, Iowa City, IA 52245