About this role
Hospital Chaplain
Mercy Ships is an international charity that brings hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor through state-of-the-art hospital ships. Since 1978, our volunteer crew—made up of medical professionals and skilled workers from over 60 nations—has delivered free surgeries and medical care to over 2.8 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, transforming lives one patient and one port at a time. Join our global team of over 3,000 volunteers and help us change lives daily.
About this role
Hospital Chaplains walk alongside patients and their families throughout their surgical journey as integral members of the hospital’s interdisciplinary care team, providing spiritual, emotional, and psychosocial care and support.
What you will contribute
-
Drawing on your faith in Jesus as the source of the hope and comfort you bring, you will provide care to each patient you encounter while remaining sensitive to, respectful of, and responsive to individuals of all faith traditions as well as those with no religious affiliation.
-
With deep cultural and contextual understanding, you will seek to understand each patient’s story, values, and lived experience, building authentic relationships that inform compassionate, culturally responsive care.
-
You will serve as a trusted companion, cultural translator, and patient advocate, fostering clear, two-way communication between patients, their families, and the medical team so that each is heard, understood, and able to understand the other throughout the surgical journey.
-
You will be present at all stages of patient care, including the Preoperative area, Patient Wards, Outpatient Clinic, Isolation Units, Ophthalmic Clinic, Dental Clinic, and the Hospital Outpatient Extension (HOPE) Center.
-
You will help organize and lead a variety of faith-based programmatic activities and services in the hospital and at the HOPE Center.
-
You will share in the on-call roster on nights and weekends
For This Role, You Will Need
-
Mercy Ships alumni, preferred but not required.
-
Successful completion of Mercy Ships On Boarding Program
-
Fluent in English, required. Fluent in French, preferred.
-
Proficient in the Microsoft Suite including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
-
An advanced degree in chaplaincy, social work, counselling, or theology/biblical studies, preferred.
-
Supportive of Mercy Ships mission and vision, and committed to its core values
The experience of a lifetime is calling.
More than 1,200 volunteers from over 60 nations serve with Mercy Ships each year.
At Mercy Ships, we are proud to be recognized around the world for the life-changing surgeries and training we deliver. We could not achieve this without our dedicated community of talented volunteers.
Imagine finishing your shift and stepping onto deck as the sun sets—knowing that today you’ve helped transform the lives of those who need it most. Apply now to start a journey that will reshape the lives of those you serve — and your own.