Chaplain services

Spiritual and religious services

Our chaplains help patients and family members through outpatient treatment, hospital stays, and extended care. If needed, they will contact your personal clergy or spiritual care provider in the community. Our chaplains are clinical pastoral care specialists who provide religious and non-religious people with services.

Worship services

People of all faiths and traditions are invited to attend:

• Ecumenical Chapel Service, at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays CT

Benefits

Research shows that spiritually active patients experience or report:

• Faster healing
• Greater coping skills
• Reduced pain
• Better quality of life

Contact a chaplain

For more information, please call our chaplain at 605-336-3230, ext. 6254.

Interfaith Chapel

Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital
Building 5
Third floor
Hours:  24/7

Ways VA Chaplains Support Veterans

Chaplains are here to care for the whole person — mind, heart, spirit, and story. You don’t have to be religious or follow any particular belief system to talk with a chaplain. We meet Veterans wherever they are in life, honoring each person’s experiences, values, and sources of strength. Our calling is to listen deeply, to walk with you through whatever you’re carrying, and to help you find purpose, grounding, and hope in the ways that fit who you are.

Emotional and Supportive Presence

• Offering a safe, nonjudgmental space where Veterans can speak freely
• Listening with care during times of fear, uncertainty, anger, loneliness, or transition
• Providing steady companionship during hospital stays, procedures, or difficult conversations

Spiritual Care and Encouragement

• Supporting Veterans as they explore or reconnect with their spiritual practices or beliefs
• Offering prayer, ritual, reflection, or quiet grounding when desired
• Walking alongside Veterans who are wrestling with meaning, identity, faith, or hope

Spiritual Distress and Moral Injury Support

• Helping Veterans navigate moments of spiritual disconnection, doubt, or inner conflict
• Providing support when guilt, regret, or moral injury weighs heavily
• Being a calm, compassionate presence in times of spiritual crisis or deep distress

Grief, Loss, and Healing

• Providing grief support after the loss of loved ones, health, identity, or independence
• Companioning families through anticipatory grief and end‑of‑life experiences
• Helping Veterans reflect on their stories with compassion, dignity, and gentleness

Advocacy and Empowerment

• Speaking up for Veterans’ needs when they feel unheard or overwhelmed
• Helping them communicate concerns, values, and wishes with their care team
• Supporting informed decisions that align with personal beliefs, values, and goals

Finding Purpose and Meaning

• Helping Veterans reconnect with what gives their life direction, strength, or hope
• Exploring personal values, resilience, and sources of grounding
• Supporting life transitions, identity shifts, and new beginnings

Healing Story Work

• Providing space for Veterans to tell, shape, or re‑frame their personal story
• Helping them explore how past experiences affect the present
• Encouraging discovery of dignity, meaning, and purpose within their own narrative

Family and Relationship Support

• Offering support to families navigating stress, illness, conflict, or grief
• Helping Veterans and loved ones communicate needs, concerns, or hopes
• Supporting shared meaning‑making and connection during difficult times