Learn what hospital chaplains actually do, explore CPE, and begin discerning whether this demanding ministry fits your calling and gifts.
The task of a Chaplain.
Not something that I was prepared to answer
I was visiting patients & offering them prayer alongside my beloved brother, Bobby. I was not at the hospital as a chaplain, I was there because Bobby was a patient.
The hospital eventually noticed and in due time I was called for a chaplain interview. I answered a call for an interview, unaware it would lead to a calling I had yet to understand.
What chaplaincy really is
A call to my Apostolic Assembly family
A chaplain brings spiritual and emotional care into moments of illness, grief, trauma, recovery, uncertainty, and hope. The work is deeply human: noticing what is happening, listening for what matters, and responding without forcing easy answers or imposing one’s own beliefs.
This is a crucial place for members of the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus to be present. A person does not have to be an ordained minister or feel fully equipped; what matters is a willingness to participate in God’s call to care for others. Chaplaincy is not about promoting a religion or denomination, because the work brings chaplains alongside people of many faiths, beliefs, and backgrounds. Chaplains remain rooted in their own faith while learning to serve patients, families, and staff with dignity and respect. As Apostolics, we should be represented in a field where God’s presence is so often sought and deeply felt.
Listen first
Some people need prayer. Some need questions. Some need silence. Care begins by paying attention.
Serve the whole circle
Illness affects patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare teams—not only the person in the bed.
Honor every person
Professional chaplaincy serves across faiths, cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds without surrendering one’s own identity.
People do not always need to be talked out of what they feel. Sometimes they need a safe place to tell the truth about it.
More than twenty years of invitation
Making a path for those who come next.
Chaplain Mannie Gomez has carried the vision for Apostolic chaplaincy to churches, conventions, prison-ministry gatherings, and the National Evangelism Congress in Las Vegas in 2025 and 2026.
The path has never been presented as easy. Chaplaincy asks for time, training, vulnerability, disciplined reflection, and a serious commitment to people in some of life’s hardest moments. Those demands help explain why many who admire the ministry are not yet ready to enter it.
Still, Mannie believes the need is worth continuing to name. His hope is not to pressure anyone into a role, but to help chaplaincy become a visible and natural ministry path within the Apostolic Assembly—one that future ministers and members can recognize, prepare for, and pursue with clear expectations.
Help identify people with the maturity, steadiness, listening skills, and teachable spirit needed for clinical spiritual care.
Build awareness, mentorship, and practical pathways so those who feel called do not have to discover the journey alone.
A path into practice
Formation opens the door.
Clinical Pastoral Education places students in real caregiving relationships and surrounds that work with supervision, peer learning, writing, theological reflection, and honest examination of the self.
In Arizona, Mannie has relationships within local university and healthcare chaplaincy settings that can help qualified applicants understand available CPE opportunities. Some residency pathways can include paid positions for applicants who meet the program’s requirements and are accepted through its own selection process.
The first step is simply an informed conversation about readiness, requirements, and what the journey asks.
A colleague in the work
Chaplain Keith Evans
Chaplaincy grows through colleagues who share practical knowledge, encouragement, and a commitment to spiritual care.
Keith joined Mannie in promoting hospital ministry at the 2019 Arizona Apostolic Assembly conference. His writing and practical Chaplain Skill Sets book series offer another window into the skills and stories of chaplaincy, including resources made available in Spanish and Ukrainian.
Featured colleague
Connect with Chaplain Keith Evans and follow his continuing work in chaplaincy and spiritual care.
An invitation to Apostolic pastors and members
Let’s make room for the next chaplain.
If you are an Apostolic Assembly pastor, minister, or member who wants to understand hospital chaplaincy, CPE, or how a local church can support someone exploring the call, Mannie would be glad to begin the conversation.