Spiritual Resources

Sometimes a hospitalization can bring up an ethical issue or concern. UNC Hospitals has an Ethics Committee available for consult to work through such issues. To request an ethics consult, talk with your chaplain or nurse, or call 919-843-1470.

Our department has strong allies in the community with various religious groups, denominations and faith communities. We have contacts with the Islam Society of Raleigh, Hillel Jewish Organization of Chapel Hill, the Jehovah’s Witness community, and others. If you would like us to arrange for your own faith leader to visit you in the hospital or you have a pastoral need that we are not equipped to meet, we can help you find the support you need.

Sometimes reading information on how to cope during a stressful time can be helpful. CareNotes publishes resources that offer help and hope to the hurting. CareNotes on a variety of grief, illness, health care, spirituality and faith-related topics are available. Copies of these booklets are free and can be requested from a chaplain, or are available in the John M. Reeves Chapel, the Hillsborough Hospital Chapel, ICU waiting rooms and various other locations throughout the hospital.

Chaplains are available to offer religious rituals at any time during your hospitalization. We can offer a blessing when death is near, celebrate the sacraments of baptism and communion, offer prayers before or after surgery, at the time of death, or when peace is needed.

A traditional worship service is offered in the John M. Reeves All-Faiths Chapel each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. All are welcome. For those who cannot attend the service in person, the service can be viewed in all inpatient hospital rooms on channel 7.

Muslim prayers are offered in the John M. Reeves All-Faiths Chapel on Fridays.

Information about the chapels and meditative spaces at UNC Hospitals is available here.

The labyrinth, a series of concentric circles making just one path with no wrong turns or dead-ends, has been with us for thousands of years. It is an archetype for life’s journey found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world.

Labyrinths are meditation tools for transformation. They are a way of praying or meditating that is automatically effective. Through the use of these sacred circles, many people are finding a way to relieve stress and connect with their inner selves and the Divine. Your chaplain can direct you to the labyrinth, located just outside the N.C. Cancer Hospital.

Chaplains are trained to provide support to you in coping with loss. Loss comes in many shapes and sizes; you may have lost someone close to you, lost an important relationship or ability, or may be going through a major life transition. Whatever the source of your loss and grief, chaplains can support you and connect you with UNC Hospitals Bereavement Support Services.

The Pastoral Care Department offers several inpatient and family support groups. In the N.C. Neurosciences Hospital, spirituality groups meet several times throughout the week. In the N.C. Children’s Hospital, there is a support group for parents of children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit each Wednesday with hot tea and snacks provided. Ask your chaplain for more information.

Gideons International donates King James versions of the New Testament and Psalms that are available for free to anyone in the hospital. There are also other versions/translations available on a limited basis when when have them. Large-print versions are available to borrow, if needed. Chaplains are happy to bring Bibles to patient rooms upon request.