Chaplaincy Research Summer Institute | A Look Back​
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
July 27-31, 2026

Congratulations to all participants who completed the Chaplaincy Research Summer Institute (CRSI)!

This intensive Transforming Chaplaincy program strengthened chaplains’ research literacy through engagement with the research process, relevant methods, and evidence-based application to practice.

Stay tuned for next year's CRSI's dates and location.

Spiritual Care Management & Leadership Program​
September 2026 - May 2027

The Transforming Chaplaincy Certificate Program in Spiritual Care Management and Leadership (SCML), a distinctive educational offering at Rush University College of Health Sciences, is an exceptional resource for those aspiring to lead spiritual care programs in healthcare.

Led by experts, it integrates classroom learning, real-world case studies, and experiential activities to equip participants with the skills needed for effective leadership amidst the complexities of healthcare spiritual care. Emphasizing a comprehensive curriculum that covers everything from emotional intelligence to strategic thinking and innovation, this program is designed for current and aspiring spiritual care leaders seeking to enhance their capabilities and impact.

Participants will join a supportive community, engage in reflective practices, and apply what they learn to real-world challenges, preparing them to lead with agility and compassion in the evolving healthcare landscape.

Pilot Grant Award: A Quantifiable Spiritual Assessment Tool for Patients Living with Chronic Illnesses

Transforming Chaplaincy has also received a one-year Pilot Grant from the College of Health Sciences at Rush University to develop a quantifiable spiritual assessment tool for patients living with chronic illnesses. The project will address the critical need for evidence-based tools for spiritual care in ambulatory chronic illness care. location.

Upcoming Course
Research Literacy 101
​September 2-30

Research Literacy (RL) 101 will be offered again, September 2-30. Offered since 2019, RL 101 is a five-week online, asynchronous course that concludes with a two-hour synchronous session on September 30, featuring participant presentations. Each week, the course helps colleagues build skills in locating, evaluating, and summarizing evidence-based content relevant to chaplaincy practice. 25 continuing education hours are available through course completion.

Registration and Cost

Early bird rate: $250 available through Saturday, August 15.
​Full program: $350
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You will be sent an invoice once you register. The registration fee is due no later than Monday, August 31.

Our Next Webinar

Clarifying What Chaplains Need to Know and Do: An Evidence-Based Competency Framework
​Tuesday, September 15, 12-1:15 PM (CDT)

Professional chaplaincy is a complex, relational field with fragmented competency standards, creating challenges for education, certification, and curricular alignment. This webinar presents the Center for Chaplaincy Studies Competencies, a validated cross-sector framework of 36 competencies that offers educators and certifying bodies an evidence-based tool for strengthening competency-based preparation in chaplaincy.

This webinar is based on Drs. Keefe-Perry and Moon's recent publication: An Evidence-Based, Cross-Sector Competency Framework for Chaplaincy: A Model for Competency-Based Education with Complex Professions​

Presenters: Drs. Callid Keefe-Perry and Zachary Moon, Brite Divinity School
​Respondent: Dr. Michael K. Washington, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary & Northwestern Medicine

New Publications

Congratulations to these authors connected with Transforming Chaplaincy (TC). Kelsey White, TC research fellow alumna; Fabian Winiger, Leader of the Telechaplaincy Community of Practice, a TC collaboration as well as Co-Leader of TC's John Templeton Foundation funded Digital Spiritual Care project; Shelley Varner Perez, research fellow alumna; and Paul Galchutt, TC's Assistant Director of Engagment

Conceptualizing Spiritual Care in the U.S. Through Chaplain Activities in Research: A Scoping Review Sub-Analysis

A sub-analysis of 44 articles from a larger scoping review identified 388 spiritual care activities across 14 categories, with most focused-on patients and families and the most common activities involving psycho-spiritual support, spiritual assessment/support, rituals and services, and staff support/education. The findings suggest that spiritual care is best understood as relationship-based care that facilitates spiritual and religious traditions, practices, beliefs, and values to support health and wellbeing.

White, K. B., Adjei, N., McClelland, L. E., & Cadge, W. (2026). Conceptualizing spiritual care in the U.S. through chaplain activities in research: A scoping review sub-analysis. Journal of health care chaplaincy, 1–30. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2026.2696185​

Artificial Intelligence in Spiritual Care: Modified Delphi Study

An international modified Delphi study of 149 invited experts examined how AI might be used in spiritual care, including its potential benefits, risks, ethical and theological concerns, limits, and needed professional competencies. Experts agreed that AI is most appropriate for administrative, informational, documentation, and research support, while relational, patient-facing, and ritual aspects of care should remain primarily human-led. The findings suggest that early professional guidance can support responsible AI adoption by emphasizing human oversight, privacy protection, evidence-based implementation, clear limits on decision-making, and training to help spiritual care providers evaluate when AI use is appropriate.

Winiger, F., Smith, C. E., Nourriz, S., Szilagyi, C., & Haußmann, A. (2026). Artificial intelligence in spiritual care: Modified Delphi study. Journal of medical Internet research, 28, e97094. https://doi.org/10.2196/97094​

Prevalence and Correlates of Spiritual Distress in Adult Patients Facing Elective Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

This study found that spiritual distress is common among patients preparing for elective surgery requiring an overnight stay, even though this population is not typically associated with terminal illness or end-of-life concerns. Among 140 surveyed patients, 35% met criteria for spiritual distress, which was associated with factors such as depression, anxiety, being unmarried, financial worry, poorer self-rated health, lower religious involvement, and no identified religion. These findings point to an important opportunity for preoperative teams to recognize spiritual distress and help connect patients with appropriate spiritual care as they navigate illness, surgery, meaning, and purpose.

Makar, K. G., Worden, A. M., Thomas, M. R., Varner-Perez, S. E., Di, M., & Torke, A. M. (2025). Prevalence and correlates of spiritual distress in adult patients facing elective surgery: A cross-sectional analysis. Surgery, 188, 109724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2025.109724​

A Qualitative Study of Spiritual Distress in Adults Facing Elective Surgery

This qualitative study examines how spirituality shapes the experiences of adult patients preparing for elective surgery, focusing on differences between those with high spiritual distress and those with spiritual well-being. Interviews with 29 patients found that spiritually distressed participants often reported life stressors, anxiety, fear of complications, and anger or doubt toward the divine, while spiritually well participants tended to view surgery with hope, trust, and resilience. The findings suggest that routine assessment of spiritual well-being and spiritual support may improve whole-person, patient-centered care in surgical settings.

Makar KG, Thomas MR, Worden AM, Varner-Perez SE, Matthias MS, Torke AM. (2026). A qualitative study of spiritual distress in adults facing elective surgery. Surgery. Aug 3:110499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2026.110499​

Lessons on Caring: Wisdom from Patients Who Changed Us

This paper presents patients and families experiencing serious illness, dying, and bereavement as essential teachers whose stories shape clinical wisdom. It frames the report as a reflective, literature-informed teaching tool that encourages clinicians to practice with humility, presence, and human-centered intention.

Rusch, R., Arora, G., Burford, A., Byock, I., Bemis, H., Coats, H., Galchutt, P., Fowler, T., Leiter, R. E., Mamer, T., Rubenstein, J., Rosa, W. E., & Silverstein, A. (2026). Lessons on caring: Wisdom from patients who changed us. BMJ supportive & palliative care, spcare-2026-006534. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2026-006534​

ISPEC Training Course
​September 24-25

The ISPEC™ (Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum) training course provides a unique opportunity for clinicians and chaplain pairs from the same health setting to learn how to integrate spiritual care into patient care throughout their organization. Consider joining the next course, September 24 and 25. Application deadline is September 10.

Transforming Chaplaincy is proud to be affiliated with the George Washington Institute for Spirituality & Health (GWish) and its Founder, Dr. Christina Puchalski.

INPCS Annual Meeting
Chaplain Scholarships
​Indianapolis, IN
September 29 - October 1

The goals of the International Neuropalliative Care Society (INPCS) include improving “clinical care for persons living with neurological disorders by championing palliative models of care and offering resources to facilitate these models in practice.” The 6^th annual meeting of INPCS will be held September 29-October 1, 2026 in Indianapolis, IN (www.inpcs.org). INPCS values spiritual care as an important part of neuropalliative care and welcomes chaplains to participate in its Annual Meeting.

For the 2026 INPCS Annual Meeting three scholarships are available to encourage chaplains to participate in the Meeting and INPCS. For chaplains who receive the scholarships registration for the Annual Meeting will be free.

Applicants for the scholarships must meet the following qualifications: 1) have completed chaplaincy education (e.g. CPE residency), 2) be employed full-time as healthcare chaplains, and 3) work at least 50% time in palliative care. Preference will be given to those who provide care for neuropalliative care patients/families or care for patients with advanced neurological illness and their families. Early application is encouraged. Scholarships will be awarded as applications are received.

To apply for a scholarship, send a current CV and 1 page statement about your interest in attending the INPCS Annual Meeting to info@inpcs.org. Please submit these documents formatted in one pdf file. Address questions to George Fitchett, Professor, Department of Religion, Health & Human Values, Rush University Medical Center and member of INPCS Board of Directors, george_fitchett@rush.edu.

ACPE National Conference
Poster Presentation Submissions
​Phoenix, AZ | October 11-14

Consider submitting the results from your department's quality improvement project or maybe the preliminary findings from your latest study with a poster presentation proposal at ACPE's national conference. The deadline for submission is August 15.

Become a Supporting Partner

If you are interested in becoming a Supporting Partner with Transforming Chaplaincy, please contact Cate Beaulieu-Desjardins, TC's Assistant Director of Research Development, at caitlin_m_desjardins@rush.edu.

To Support Transforming Chaplaincy

Please consider supporting our mission so that every patient has access to high-quality, evidence-based spiritual care.

Missed a Webinar?

Thank you! Our YouTube channel has reached 2,000+ subscribers! We appreciate your engagement as we seek to advance spiritual care through research through our various mediums to disseminate the evidence base.

If you were not available to tune into a Transforming Chaplaincy (TC) live broadcast or perhaps you want to see a specific webinar again, check out TC's YouTube channel. Many of you (2K) are already TC YouTube channel subscribers and know how this works. When you subscribe, you receive a notification that a new recording is ready for your viewing along with 120+ of our videos. Thank you for whenever you engage TC's content to advance spiritual care through research. Transforming Chaplaincy’s YouTube channel.

​Transforming Chaplaincy: Advancing Spiritual Care Through Research​
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​Vision: We envision a future when chaplaincy is formed, informed, and transformed by evidence-based practice
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​Mission: The mission of Transforming Chaplaincy is to promote evidence-based spiritual care and integrate research into professional practice and education by fostering a culture of inquiry

Our mailing address is:​
Transforming Chaplaincy
Rush University Medical Center
Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, IL 60612