Hospital Chaplain

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term wonmok (院牧) means "one who ministers in a hospital (院)." It refers to a pastor who serves not in a local church but within an institution, namely a hospital, and corresponds to the English term "chaplain." In a broader sense, the term may also include ministers serving in nursing homes or welfare facilities, but in the Korean church it usually denotes a hospital chaplain. Together with the military chaplain and the school chaplain, the hospital chaplain is regarded as one of the principal types of institutional minister.

Biblical and Historical Background

Biblical passages that emphasize caring for the sick are commonly cited as the basis for chaplaincy ministry. Notable examples are Matthew 25:36, "I was sick, and ye visited me," and James 5:14, which instructs the sick to call for the elders of the church to pray over them.

The modern institution of hospital chaplaincy developed in the Western church. In particular, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), a program that trains participants in pastoral care through direct encounters with patients, is generally said to have begun in the United States in the 1920s and has become the foundational training for developing chaplains' professional competence. In Korea, evangelism and spiritual care were provided alongside medical treatment in medical institutions founded by missionaries, and the involvement of Horace Allen in the founding of Jejungwon in 1885 is often cited as the starting point of medical missions in Korea.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korea, chaplaincy offices have been established chiefly in hospitals founded on Christian principles. The principal duties of a hospital chaplain include the following:

• Bedside pastoral visitation and prayer
• Counseling patients and their families, and providing emotional support before and after surgery
• Leading worship services within the hospital and guiding staff Christian fellowship groups
• Caring for dying patients, hospice ministry, and comforting families

The position is usually filled by a pastor ordained in the denomination to which he or she belongs. Some hospitals require completion of Clinical Pastoral Education as a qualification. The church constitutions of many denominations treat the chaplain as a form of institutional minister rather than as the pastor of a local church, and chaplains are typically sent out with the approval of their presbytery or district conference. Qualifications and regulations governing status, however, vary by denomination.

In chaplaincy offices, evangelists or lay volunteers sometimes assist the chaplain with ward visits and music ministry. Because patients come from diverse religious backgrounds, there is a growing emphasis on non-coercive care and on professional expertise in Christian counseling.