Spiritual care is the cornerstone of the Christian values on which Martha & Mary is founded. We understand it as an important part of the holistic health model of attending properly to the mind, body, and spirit. All three components work in conjunction with each other to contribute to the well-being of the person. Thus, having an accredited chaplain as part of our staff is important to us for the total health care of our residents.

The Chapel services at Martha & Mary are approached from an ecumenical perspective, with care taken to respect the religious and denominational background of each resident. We offer personalized and creative spiritual care to all who desire it, including the following:

• 3:00pm worship every Sunday with our Chaplain or other area pastors leading the service.
• Holy Communion offered once a month on Communion Sunday.
• Tuesday morning worship services led by our Chaplain.
• A special worship service for our dementia residents every Wednesday.
• Wednesday morning Bible Study.
• Catholic Mass at least once per month.
• One-on-one visitation with residents by our Chaplain.
• The availability of individualized spiritual care plans.
• The availability of our Chaplain for residents who are failing in their health.
• The availability of memorial services in our Chapel.
• Bereavement Support, Companionship and Education groups co-facilitated by our Chaplain and Social Work Clinicians.

Martha & Mary's staff chaplain, Ernie McCluskey, holds a graduate degree in the fine arts from the University of Washington and a Master of Divinity degree with Fuller Theological Seminary. He has completed 1600 hours of specialized training in Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma and St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and is currently part of an on-going training program at the Center for Grief and Loss located in of Fort Collins, Colorado.