Spiritual Care Week
Pastoral Care Week
Spiritual Care Week: Healing Through Presence and Grace
October 18-24, 2026
Since 1985
Spiritual Care Week/Pastoral Care Week is hosted by The COMISS Network: The Network on Ministry in Specialized Settings. The first Pastoral Care Week was held in October 1985. Since then it has grown beyond national to international proportions. The celebration of Spiritual Care Week provides an opportunity for chaplains and pastoral care counselors, educators and providers to share their story and to celebrate various ministries. More specifically, the established objectives of the Spiritual Care Week Committee outline the scope of Spiritual Care Week observance:
-
To celebrate the education for and practice of spiritual care through professional chaplaincy and pastoral counseling.
-
To interpret and promote pastoral care.
-
To honor and celebrate all practitioners of pastoral care.
-
To express appreciation to institutions and their staff who support pastoral care ministries.
-
To publicize the work of pastoral care organizations affiliated with COMISS.
-
To promote continuing education for clergy, laity, and institutional employees regarding the value of pastoral care.
Each year a new theme brings to the light a certain aspect of spiritual care as a focus. A new theme invites us to new and creative ways to tell the story of spiritual care.
Celebrate This Week
Spiritual Care Week gives opportunities for organizations and institutions of all kinds and types to recognize the spiritual caregivers in their midst and the ministry which the caregivers provide.
This Year's Theme
Spiritual Care Week:
Healing Through Presence and Grace
October 18-24, 2026
Theme Interpretation
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, silver, or platinum lacquer. Rather than hiding the cracks, Kintsugi highlights them—transforming what was once broken into something more beautiful and valuable. When applied to the heart and spiritual care, this image becomes deeply meaningful.
​
Join us as we honor the sacred work of chaplains and spiritual care providers —those who walk beside the brokenhearted and offer healing, not by fixing, but by being present. Just as Kintsugi turns cracks into art with veins of gold, chaplains and spiritual care providers help others discover strength, beauty, and meaning through life’s wounds.
​
We are all vessels—shaped by life, marked by joy, and, at times, fractured by sorrow. In the sacred art of Kintsugi, broken pottery is not discarded but mended with gold, transforming what was once broken into a piece of beauty and resilience. So, it is with the human heart.
​
Chaplains and spiritual care providers walk tenderly into the places where others have cracked under the weight of grief, illness, and loss. We do not rush to fix but instead sit in the sacred silence of pain, bearing witness. With compassion, presence, and spiritual wisdom, we help others see that their brokenness is not the end of the story—but the beginning of a new one.
​
Each repaired heart is a testament: not to perfection, but to healing. Not to erasure, but to grace. We are all Kintsugi hearts—restored by love, made whole by presence, and shining with the gold of God’s mercy.
​
Let us celebrate the ministry and presence, compassion, and spiritual resilience.
For more information, go to:
Origins of Spiritual Care Week
Past and Future Themes of Spiritual Care Week
The Spiritual Care Week Committee:
​
Clyde Angel: Chair (Completing Vacated Term) - 2025-2028
Kyle Christiansen - 2024
Lisa Lani Easterling - 2025
Anissa Glaser-Bacon - 2023
Lesley Pella-Woo - 2025
Lori Whitmore - 2025
​
The Spiritual/Pastoral Care Week Committee
For more information or to send feedback or comments please e-mail the
Spiritual Care Week Committee c/o
Chaplain Clyde Angel
Pastoral Care Week Committee:
Clyde Angel: Chair (Completing Vacated Term) - 2025-2028
Kyle Christiansen - 2024
Lisa Lani Easterling - 2025
Anissa Glaser-Bacon - 2023
Lesley Pella-Woo - 2025
Lori Whitmore - 2025
​
MERCHANDISE TO SUPPORT YOUR CELEBRATION
Spiritual Care Week is no longer offering Spiritual or Pastoral Care Week celebration merchandise. If you desire to have items available to support your local Spiritual Care Week celebration, we encourage you to download one of the printable logo images above and take it to a local printer or merchandiser to create any desired celebration items.
GET IN
TOUCH
We can't wait to hear from you
Did you celebrate Spiritual Care Week last year?
What did you do to celebrate Spiritual Care Week?
How did you celebrate Spiritual Care Week?
Are you going to celebrate Spiritual Care Week this year?