What is Spiritual Care & Chaplaincy Services?
Spirituality is an expression of the universal human need to make meaning and create a purposeful life, to find hope, to express love and to feel connection. Religion is one of the many ways people express spirituality, but by no means its only expression.
At Scottish Rite, our full-time chaplain, Jerilynn Putnam, is a spiritual care provider who is here to listen, accompany and bear witness to the joys, sorrows and hopes of children and families. She is also available for prayer, blessings, rituals and religious needs.
As part of your child’s care team, the chaplain works alongside medical providers to support your child’s emotional and spiritual well-being. During difficult situations, children and families may feel challenged and may ask questions they have never asked before. Visiting with a chaplain offers a space for patients and caregivers to explore how they are making meaning of their experience.
How We Support Patients & Families
Our chaplain can support you during different steps in your child’s care journey. You may seek support before a surgery, during a long hospitalization or after a new diagnosis.
Chaplains nurture the human spirit in all people. Our chaplain affirms each child’s spirituality and offers care that is developmentally appropriate. It is her honor to support children and families in ways that are most helpful to them.
For long-term patients, our chaplain can provide a spiritual assessment to determine your child’s spiritual needs. She is also available to check in weekly with children and their caregivers who receive inpatient care.
This support may include:
- Listening compassionately and confidentially
- Accompanying and advocating for children and families
- Partnering with caregivers and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams
- Supporting spiritual practices and religious observances
- Welcoming a family’s own religious leader to visit in the hospital
- Connecting you to religious resources, spaces and leaders in the community
- Facilitating rituals, spiritual support groups and mindfulness activities
- Consulting on religious, spiritual and ethical questions or concerns
- Praying, blessing and sharing hope
You can meet with the chaplain during your visit or hospital stay. Conversations are private and guided by your needs.
Specialized Spiritual Support for Children & Caregivers
As a pediatric hospital, Scottish Rite offers chaplain services designed specifically for children.
Spiritual Play helps children build trust and express their thoughts and feelings. It can help them find strength, hope and a sense of connection. These activities help children feel connected to themselves, others, nature and the world around them.
Godly Play® uses interactive storytelling, creativity and reflection to help children explore spiritual questions and meaning. Through stories, imagination, art and wonder, children can express thoughts and emotions in a way that feels natural and supportive. Sessions may take place one-on-one, in groups or during Sunday chapel gatherings.
For caregivers and families, our chaplain also offers opportunities for support and community-building. This may include bringing together families whose children are hospitalized for coffee and other informal support gatherings.
Chapel and Meditation Space
The Dallas campus chapel is available 24 hours a day for patients, families and staff seeking a space for worship, prayer, reflection or meditation.
All patients, caregivers and staff members are welcome to use this space daily for worship, quiet meditation and prayer.
Multiple religious resources, including Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu resources, are available in the chapel.
If your child is hospitalized, we offer Sunday afternoon chapel gatherings for families. These gatherings may include Godly Play®, wisdom stories or Spiritual Play to support children’s spiritual and emotional well-being.
Our Frisco location does not currently have a dedicated chapel or meditation space.
