Profile

Lifeline Chaplaincy is a ministry of the Churches of Christ to the seriously ill in The Texas Medical Center (TMC) located in Houston, Texas. Churches of Christ place a high emphasis on supportive care of members and community, believing such hospitality is a reflection of the love of Jesus Christ. Inspired by the ministry of hospital volunteers, especially Marie Banister, we feel called to carry on the ministry of Jesus by providing comfort and compassion to the broken and hurting.

The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center complex in the world. The 14 hospitals and numerous schools of medical learning offer an unprecedented working laboratory for pastoral training of ministry students. In 2005 we expanded our ministry to the Dallas Metroplex area. Our ministry is supported primarily by individuals and churches who have taken a special interest in our work and who wish to participate in the far-reaching good it accomplishes. We provide a “lifeline” to the seriously ill who have to contend with the large metropolitan area of Houston-especially strangers to our city.

In July 2008 we expanded our services to the Central Texas hospitals.

The Texas Medical Center, the Dallas Metroplex, and Scott and White Hospital in Temple and St. David's Medical Center-Austin offers some of the best medial care available anywhere in the world. People come from every part of the globe hoping to return home sound in body and mind. For some the trip is affordable, but for others it is not. In fact, many do not make the trip simply because the expense of staying in a hotel, eating out, paying for parking and numerous other hidden expenses are beyond their means. Some come in spite of the unknown expenses and get by as best they can. Even if that means they have to sleep in the waiting room of the hospital or in the back seat of their car.

Lifeline Chaplaincy's Compassionate Touch Program seeks to ease this burden by providing for some of the non-medical financial needs of patients and their care givers. For example, Lifeline has contracted with three hotels near the Texas Medical Center and has secured a special medical reduced rates for patients and/or their families. In most cases, this rate is substantially reduced from less than their customary rate.

Lifeline Chaplaincy also works in conjunction with the social service departments of hospitals to help provide financial assistance for patients and their families looking for short-term housing while undergoing treatment.

Mission
Our mission is twofold: (1) to provide ministry to the sick and (2) to train others who feel called to this area of ministry. Our primary objective is to provide physical, spiritual and emotional support to patients, their families and caregivers. This includes helping patients and their families find housing and directing them to much needed services. Through programs such as the Hospitality Apartments, we are able to direct long-term patients to subsidized and/or free housing. Our Compassionate Touch Program is aimed at helping meet some of the other non-medical financial needs of patients and their families.

If there is a time in our lives when we need the right kind of support, it’s when we have illness and death in our families. Friends and loved ones are there for us. In addition, we need people who are trained to know what to say and do and what not to say and do. Historically, hospital chaplains have been an enormous comfort to families in these kinds of crisis. But now medical economics mandate change. By the end of the century there probably will be few, if any, hospital funded “staff” chaplains. Lifeline Chaplaincy in The Texas Medical Center, Dallas Metroplex and Central Texas have become an educational resource for those desiring to respond in helpful ways to the seriously ill. Our dream is to become a national training center in the Texas Medical Center for chaplains and volunteers.

 

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