FARMINGTON – Pastoral Care Week will be observed by chaplains, patient support team volunteers and other spiritual caregivers at Franklin Memorial Hospital during the week of Oct. 24-30.

The annual observance celebrates the work of thousands of well-trained and gifted pastoral caregivers of all faiths.

During Pastoral Care Week, special activities will take place at the hospital including a structured prayer service daily in the Tree of Life Chapel and Quiet Room at 12:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, by different representatives of area faiths. A spiritual prayer will also be posted outside the space and changed each day.

A highlight of the week will be the dedication of the new Tree of Life Chapel and Quiet Room at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Bass Room. The public is invited to attend. The chapel is now in a refurbished space on the first floor.

Ray Anderson, the hospital chaplain at Maine General and a United Methodist minister, will be the speaker. He will discuss spiritual care in a hospital setting. After the program, there will be an open house and refreshments.

At Franklin Memorial Hospital, seven clergy members who make up the Board of Chaplains are being recognized. They include the Revs. Steve Bracy, Marriott Churchill, Marcia Charles, Susan Crane, Doug Dunlap, Tom Deschanes, Anne Roundy and Tim Walmer. These chaplains serve patients’ emotional and spiritual needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Hospital chaplains serve in an “interfaith” capacity, welcoming requests from people regardless of religious tradition. They provide pastoral care and counseling for the religious, spiritual and emotional needs of patients and their families in the face of a new diagnosis, or dealing with death, grief and loss.

The Rev. Marriott Churchill, an ordained United Church of Christ minister, is Franklin Memorial Hospital’s non-volunteer chaplain. Besides managing the chaplaincy program, she serves as hospital chaplain 24 hours per week and when not on duty, the other seven chaplains are on call. Churchill also supervises the Patient Support Team, made up of volunteers who support critically ill or injured patients and their families.

The Patient Support Team is trained to make referrals and identify additional support needed for critically ill or injured patients and their families. Patient Support Team volunteers include Marge Beckler, Ernie Bickford, Gloria Bickford, Glennice Cottle, Benice Diotto, Belle Foss and Marie Poulin.

Informational table tents will also be set up in the hospital’s cafeteria so staff and visitors can learn more about chaplain services, who the chaplains are, and when to contact them.

For more information, phone the Rev. Marriott Churchill at 779-2509.