Chaplain

Veterans Health Administration; Northampton (MA); On-site; USD 84,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration, located at the Edward P. Boland VA Medical Center in Leeds, MA, seeks a Staff Chaplain to provide comprehensive religious ministry, spiritual care, and pastoral counseling to Veterans, families, and staff.

The role requires leading worship services, crisis counseling, and collaboration with a multidisciplinary team to integrate spiritual care into overall patient care. The position is full-time, on-site, with a standard 40-hour week and rotating days as needed.

Qualifications

• Chaplain role requires providing religious, spiritual, and pastoral care in a hospital setting.
• Ability to lead religious services and worship.
• Strong interpersonal skills for counseling patients, caregivers, and staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide complete religious ministry services to Veteran patients according to their needs and desires.
• Conduct religious services, pastoral ministry, and administration of Chaplain services.
• Offer counseling and emotional support, especially during times of crisis.
• Engage as spiritual leader and public speaker; lead prayers and services.
• Collaborate with treatment teams to address spiritual distress and holistic care.
• Supervise volunteers and liaise with physicians, nurses, and social workers.

Skills

Pastoral counseling

Spiritual care

Public speaking

Crisis intervention

Job description

• Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

This Staff Chaplain position is located in Chaplain Service (CS) at the Edward P. Boland, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Central Western MA (CWM ) Leeds MA. The position is full-time at 40-hours per week.

Key Responsibilities

The incumbent serves as a Chaplain professional for the Veterans Health Administration. The incumbent provides religious, spiritual, and pastoral care to all persons that are commensurate with the needs, desires, and voluntary consent of the Veteran, caregiver, or staff. The incumbent addresses the spiritual component of health and wellness in every patient care setting to ensure that pastoral care is fully integrated into all aspects of service.

Duties include, but are not limited to: Serves as a Chaplain professional providing complete religious ministry services to Veteran patients according to their specific needs and desires. Serves as a primary resource, spiritual advisor and point of contact for the spiritual needs of patients, caregivers, and staff. Conducts religious services and worship, pastoral ministry, and administration of Chaplain services.

Engages as a spiritual leader, a compassionate listener and counselor, especially during times of crisis. Provides emotional support and counseling using empathy and strong interpersonal skills to effectively connect with people of all ages. Ensures assignments are carried out in a pluralistic environment, which encompasses sensitivity to the religious needs of many separate religious denominations and faith groups.

Leads and offers prayers and religious services for Veteran patients, patient families, staff, and community. Conduct rituals in front of groups of people, which requires effective leadership and public speaking skills. Uses leadership skills to lead prayer and religious services. Addresses the religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical problems of patients and staff. Provides counseling services to patients and staff.

Conducts regular rounds of hospital wards where patients are critically ill. Ministers to newly admitted, pre- and post-operative patients, the critically ill, and the families of concerned veteran patients. Provides advance care planning education, information, and counsel for patients and their families. Serves as a fully recognized member of an integrated multi-professional treatment team.

Maintains liaison with physicians, medical officers, psychologists, nurses, therapists, social workers, or others involved to exchange information relative to the background and current condition of patients. Supervises, trains and coaches volunteer groups who offer their services as assistants as needed. Engages in group consultative discussions or conferences with these professionals to evaluate and review the patient's progress.

Collaborates with treatment team professionals to discuss the recommended course of action, and other informed advice to attain the necessary therapeutic goals for the patient. Provides pastoral counseling on medical and ethical matters, including moral injury, problems of conscience, family or marital difficulties, justice or confinement matters, terminal diagnoses, or crisis.

Addresses fears that patients have when facing surgery and answers questions regarding the meaning of life when confronted with the reality of pain, illness, permanent disfigurement, crippling, or death. Provides religious instruction for patients through various means, such as individual or group discussion, faith based classes, instructional classes, and tutoring for courses completed by correspondence.

Collaborates with healthcare teams to create and update treatment plans to address spiritual distress, grief, and loss as existential concerns to enhance holistic care. Performs a variety of intervention methods, including individual and group intervention, to address the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and families. Provides crisis intervention and stabilization as required.

Provides support for individual(s) or unit emergencies, natural disasters, man-made disasters or planned special events. Spends minimally 70% of time in patient care Work Schedule:40 hours per week, 8:00am - 4:30pm,with rotating weekends/holidays/days off, and subject to other tours as needed, EST. Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: FS-1857 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Notifications: This position is in the Excepted Service. This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Valid Drivers License needed. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion.

Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

Requirements & Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.

For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be submitted to a current affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) at https://www.naces.org/members and be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $84260 – $109545/yr.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-09-28.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Internal Search' hiring path.

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Source: USAJOBS.gov — U.S. Federal Government