Director-Spiritual Care, Mercy St. Louis

Find your calling at Mercy!

The Director of Spiritual Care provides leadership for local Spiritual Care ministries ensuring the integration of spiritual care throughout the human experience of illness and healing for patients families caregivers coworkers and communities. This leader develops chaplains advances excellence in clinical Spiritual Care practice collaborates with interdisciplinary leaders and supports Mercys healing ministry through whole-person care. The Director partners with Mission Integration Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Ethics Community Health and ministry leadership to address local needs while advancing ministry-wide priorities.

Essential Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership
Leads implementation of local and ministry-wide Spiritual Care priorities.
Identifies opportunities for innovation quality improvement research and growth.
Participates in ministry-wide initiatives committees and workgroups.
Team Leadership
Recruits develops mentors evaluates and supports chaplains.
Maintains staffing budget schedules and operational resources.
Promotes a culture of professional excellence collaboration accountability and continuous learning.
Addresses personnel matters in collaboration with Human Resources.
Volunteer Ministry Leadership
Oversees recruitment onboarding engagement development recognition and retention of Spiritual Care volunteers.
Ensures volunteers are appropriately trained supported and integrated into the ministry of Spiritual Care.
Establishes quality and compliance expectations for volunteer activities and experiences.
Partners with volunteer coordinators local leaders and chaplains to maximize volunteer contributions to Mercys healing ministry.
Clinical Integration
Promotes excellence in Spiritual Care practice documentation and quality improvement.
Collaborates with clinical leaders and care teams to integrate spiritual care into whole-person care.
Establishes local standards related to chaplaincy practice documentation and EMR utilization.
CPE Collaboration
Collaborates with CPE faculty and ministry leadership to support student learning experiences.
Ensures local clinical environments support educational goals and accreditation requirements.
Partners with CPE faculty in developing future chaplains and Spiritual Care leaders.
Ministry Collaboration
Partners with Mission Integration Ethics Community Health Virtual Spiritual Care and ministry leadership to advance whole-person care.
Supports implementation of ministry-wide Spiritual Care initiatives and emerging models of care.
Mission and Professional Accountability
Serves as a visible leader of Mercys mission values and Catholic identity.
Integrates the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services into leadership and practice.
Maintains board certification and ecclesial endorsement as required.

Position Details:

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• Masters degree in Theology Divinity Ministry Health Administration or related field.
• Four units of Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Clinical Pastoral Education Inc. (CPEi) or College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP) Clinical Pastoral Education.

Certification

• Board Certified Chaplain through one of the following certifying bodies:
  • Association of Professional Chaplains (APC)/Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. (BCCI)
  • National Association of Veteran Affairs Chaplains (NAVAC)
  • National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC)
  • Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC)

Experience

• Three years of chaplaincy experience.
• Two years of healthcare leadership experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Theology Divinity Ministry Health Administration or related field.
• Five or more years of healthcare leadership experience.
• Experience collaborating with Clinical Pastoral Education programs.
• Experience with quality improvement research presentations or publications.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and the role of spiritual care within whole-person care.
• Strong leadership communication coaching and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholders.
• Experience using data quality improvement methodologies and project management principles.
• Ability to lead in a dynamic healthcare environment and develop creative solutions for diverse communities and staffing models.

Why Mercy

From day one Mercy offers outstanding benefits - including medical dental and vision coverage paid time off tuition support and matched retirement plans for team members working 32 hours per pay period.

Join a caring collaborative team where your voice matters. At Mercy youll help shape the future of healthcare through innovation technology and compassion. As we grow youll grow with us.

Required Experience:

Director