
Welcome to the Spiritual Care Center at
St. Mark’s Hospital.
Our Staff, Residents and Interns provide spiritual care to people of all traditions, cultures and beliefs. We also serve as liaisons to connect members of the healthcare team, patients and families with other religious leaders in the community when requested. Chaplaincy services are an integral part of the care plan at St. Mark's Hospital and are private and confidential.
Our approach to experiential theological education is designed to increase self-awareness and to develop and hone the students’ ability to provide spiritual care for patients, families, and staff. The CPE curricula are designed to enhance the personal, theological and professional competencies of clergy, religious orders, laypersons, and theology students.
The ACPE CPETM Program at St. Mark’s is a relational learning environment that fosters growth in pastoral formation, reflection, and competence; such an environment involves mutual trust, respect, openness, support, clarification and confrontation.
St. Mark’s Hospital.
Our Staff, Residents and Interns provide spiritual care to people of all traditions, cultures and beliefs. We also serve as liaisons to connect members of the healthcare team, patients and families with other religious leaders in the community when requested. Chaplaincy services are an integral part of the care plan at St. Mark's Hospital and are private and confidential.
Our approach to experiential theological education is designed to increase self-awareness and to develop and hone the students’ ability to provide spiritual care for patients, families, and staff. The CPE curricula are designed to enhance the personal, theological and professional competencies of clergy, religious orders, laypersons, and theology students.
The ACPE CPETM Program at St. Mark’s is a relational learning environment that fosters growth in pastoral formation, reflection, and competence; such an environment involves mutual trust, respect, openness, support, clarification and confrontation.

These are but a sampling from world spiritual traditions. They represent the some of the ways that humanity has symbolized encounters with the Holy throughout history. In choosing students who will minister to our patients, we strive for diversity of religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age and temperament. Clinical Pastoral Education is multi-faith and teaches ministerial professionals to experience difference with curiosity and respect. Pastoral care students and ministers of all faiths are supervised as they engage with persons from all faith traditions who are in crisis. Out of the intense involvement with persons in need, and through feedback from peers and supervisors, students develop awareness of themselves as persons and of the needs of those whose ways differ from their own. CPE students reflect on the human condition through theological exploration, personality theorizing and live encounters with patients, families and staff members.
Northumbrian Community Rule of Availability and Vulnerability
I say ‘Yes, my Lord’ in all the good times through all the bad times.
In the same way as the liturgies emerged from lives actually lived in community, so has the Community’s Rule. It is a response to that insistent question: “How then shall we live?” It is a call to risky living: it is not a comfortable or easy solution to life’s problems. Whilst we welcome any who wish to walk with us in seeking God, we ask that those who wish to become Companions with us in Community say “YES” to Availability and Vulnerability as their way of living. This involves availability to God and to others—expressed in a commitment to being alone with God in the cell of our own heart and to being available for hospitality, intercession and mission. Intentional vulnerability is expressed through being teachable in the discipline of prayer, saturation in the Scriptures and being accountable to one another, often through soul friendships. It also means “embracing the heretical imperative’ (challenging assumed truth), being receptive to constructive criticism, affirming that relationships matter more than reputation, and living openly among people as “church without walls”. This is not something to be entered into lightly!
Testimonials from recent CPE students
Integration of Spiritual Care with St. Mark's Hospital
CPE students may come to Salt Lake City expecting to confront a homogeneous culture. When they arrive, they find a unique location with a predominant faith tradition as well as many other world religions. This is a rapidly changing big city area with its attendant problems. Violence, drugs and domestic crimes are on the rise. Students experience this first hand in emergency department assignments.
Salt Lake City reflects Utah’s expanding Hispanic population. Salt Lake City School District reports over 80 different languages among their students, with 40% as English as Second Language (ESL) students. As the city changes, so does the racial and cultural make-up of the hospital. Students enjoy providing spiritual care to our diverse staff and patient population.
At St. Mark’s Hospital students find a varied patient population which includes ethnic, racial, religious, country of origin and sexual orientation diversity. Employees of St. Mark’s Hospital include many faith groups, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
Because St. Mark’s has always included spiritual care as part of excellence in patient care, CPE students have unusual access to patients and staff throughout the hospital. Administrators, consultants, and faculty of St. Mark’s Hospital strongly support the CPE program and the clinical method of learning. The Hospital's medical staff and employees generally express great enthusiasm and respect for the CPE program and its CPE students. The students in turn appreciate the warmth and openness they experience in many areas of the hospital, including patient units, surgery, angiography, laboratory, administration, emergency department, and radiology.
Salt Lake City reflects Utah’s expanding Hispanic population. Salt Lake City School District reports over 80 different languages among their students, with 40% as English as Second Language (ESL) students. As the city changes, so does the racial and cultural make-up of the hospital. Students enjoy providing spiritual care to our diverse staff and patient population.
At St. Mark’s Hospital students find a varied patient population which includes ethnic, racial, religious, country of origin and sexual orientation diversity. Employees of St. Mark’s Hospital include many faith groups, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
Because St. Mark’s has always included spiritual care as part of excellence in patient care, CPE students have unusual access to patients and staff throughout the hospital. Administrators, consultants, and faculty of St. Mark’s Hospital strongly support the CPE program and the clinical method of learning. The Hospital's medical staff and employees generally express great enthusiasm and respect for the CPE program and its CPE students. The students in turn appreciate the warmth and openness they experience in many areas of the hospital, including patient units, surgery, angiography, laboratory, administration, emergency department, and radiology.