Adventist Health White Memorial Celebrates “Hospital Sabbath”
9 December 2022 |
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – White Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church celebrated their annual “Hospital Sabbath” this fall, bringing together the hospital and church communities in a celebration of holistic health for mind, body, and spirit. According to NAD News:
Hospital employees and administrators led the Hospital Sabbath church service by providing music, scripture reading, prayer, a children’s story and other special features. This year also included music by the San Gabriel Academy Chorale and the AHWM Praise Team. The guest speaker for the service was Terry Swenson, director of Spiritual Care and assistant professor of Religion and Theological Studies at Loma Linda University.
Edgar Urbina, director of Mission and Spiritual Care for Adventist Health White Memorial (AHWM), shared that “Hospital Sabbath is a reminder for hospital caregivers of the importance of spirituality in caring for patients and the importance of rest — of a Sabbath when they can rest and recharge their batteries both physically and spiritually. For our staff members who aren’t Adventist, it is a reminder of how White Memorial is a place that supports Sabbath rest.”
Now-retired hospital chaplain James Patterson was awarded the annual Christian Service Award by AHWM president John Raffoul during the service. Patterson shared that he felt at home with the staff at White Memorial from his first day, saying that “it felt like I had just met my family.”
Raffoul reiterated the importance of bringing the two Adventist organizations together:
“In the Adventist faith, in our culture, we believe in whole-person care,” said Raffoul. “We believe there are three components of every human being — the mental, physical, and spiritual. You need to treat the entire human being — each of those three components — for a person to become well and be healthy. Spiritual care is an essential component. Any hospital that practices caring for all three components needs a church connection to be able to achieve that spiritual well-being. AHWM is very fortunate because of the close relationship we have had with the White Memorial Church over the years. We work together very closely and we’re very blessed because of that — and very grateful, too.”
The full Hospital Sabbath service can be viewed here.
