Sister Barbara Sheehan ushers in new ministry

Recently, Sister Barbara Sheehan, SP, started a new ministry as a part-time chaplain for the long-term care unit at Providence Health Care (PHC).

Little did she know that another new ministry was waiting in the wings.

Not all the patients in long-term health care at PHC are Catholic. And for a while, a non-Catholic minister would preach the gospel to those in the unit’s chapel.

But that minister exited PHC, leaving many of the residents without a church service.

Providing a Spiritual Venue

“They have wanted a service for non-Catholics for quite some time,” Sister Barbara said. “We wanted to provide an additional spiritual venue for those who are not Catholic.”

So, Sister Barbara teamed with others and reached out to a handful of Christian pastors in the area, who have all agreed to offer their services.

A decision was made to have these pastors offer service once a week for approximately 30 minutes.

“There are a variety of ministers,” Sister Barbara said.

Coming Together

One of the persons whom Sister Barbara worked with to establish this ministry was Father Terry Johnson.

“At Providence Health Care, the needs of the residents include not only physical, but also spiritual and psychological,” Father Terry said. “This initiative brings all those together for the residents as they come together in community for prayer, reflection and sharing their journeys of faith here in presence of our Providence God who never fails us, as Saint Mother Theodore Guerin said many times in her life.”

The pastors include the Rev. Mary Beth Mullen, the Rev. Ed Gladish of West Terre Haute United Methodist Church, Pastor Adin Rodgers of Bethany United Church of Christ in West Terre Haute, Senior Minister Rebecca Zelensky of Central Christian Church in Terre Haute, and Martha Starkey, RN, Manager of Lourdes Hall at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

“This is a viable spiritual dimension of life that we wanted to offer,” Sister Barbara said. “I think it’s marvelous and we have the full support of Providence Health Care. This is part of the holistic care for each patient.”