Spiritual Support crucial to healing patients and their families

Rev. Mark Auernhamer is a hospice chaplain at Wellspring Lutheran Services. Jane Olivier is a bereavement coordinator at Wellspring and has worked for Wellspring 22 years. Together they share stories about how the spiritual support is encouraging the people and families served at Wellspring.
"While we are taking care of physical needs and emotional needs sometimes it's a spiritual need and when we think of pain we think of physical and emotional pain, but sometimes it's spiritual pain or maybe they've never had spirituality or maybe they've turned away and denied it," says Jane Olivier, bereavement coordinator/social worker, Wellspring Lutheran Services. "I do think people are looking for something more maybe Covid had something to do it with when churches were closed down, people went away from their church and many haven't gone back maybe... faith was shaken."
In the last 18 months Wellspring's chaplain has performed four baptisms and we predict that number to grow.
"Having chaplain support for our patients and families is crucial," says Olivier. "Another thing we are seeing is that people are asking for our chaplain to do the funeral services - he did three in one week not too long ago."
"The chaplains role is quite brought, we also serve the staff," says Rev. Mark Auernhamer. "We're there to provide spiritual support and guidance and I've been asked by staff members to officiate their wedding. We're there to encourage and equip staff to share their faith."
Not to say that every who works for Wellspring is religious or Christian but they see the results and benefit it gives to those we serve," says Auernhamer. " But we are rapidly becoming an unchurched society which puts more emphasis on the need for spiritual care."
"People's faith is important to them and the fact that we can provide that support and give them what they need is a blessing," says Olivier.
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ABOUT WELLSPRING LUTHERAN SERVICES
Headquartered in Saginaw, Mich., Wellspring is a statewide nonprofit committed to engaging people at every stage of life to help them experience and embrace their God-given potential. With a vision focused on changing lives, building strong families and transforming communities, Wellspring offers these services: adoption, affordable housing, assisted living, behavioral health, family preservation, foster care, home care, hospice and grief support, independent living, memory support, parenting support, short-term rehabilitation, skilled nursing care, substance use disorders and supportive housing for youths. Wellspring’s workforce of nearly 1,000 deliver services statewide, impacting people in more than 50 of Michigan’s 83 counties. Learn more at www,wellspringlutheran.com.