About Us

About Transforming Chaplaincy

Transforming Chaplaincy is one of the world’s leading programs in health and spiritual care research, with the mission to promote evidence-based spiritual care and integrate research into professional practice and education by fostering a culture of inquiry.

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transforming_chaplaincy@rush.edu

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Transforming Chaplaincy is based in the Rush University College of Health Sciences and the Department of Religion, Health and Human Values. Its beginnings date to the 1990s when Dr. George Fitchett established a ground-breaking program of research at Rush. In 2015, Dr. Fitchett and Rush partnered with Dr. Wendy Cadge and Brandeis University to co-found and co-lead Transforming Chaplaincy, a project funded by grants from the John Templeton Foundation and professional chaplaincy organizations, to advance chaplain research literacy and capacity for spiritual care research by supporting cohorts of chaplains in earning their research-focused master’s degrees among other initiatives.

After the grant’s conclusion in 2019, Transforming Chaplaincy has continued to grow as a thriving center for chaplaincy research under George Fitchett’s leadership. In 2023, Csaba Szilagyi became the director of Transforming Chaplaincy and the director of research in Rush’s Department of Religion, Health and Human Values; George Fitchett is now Transforming Chaplaincy’s Senior Advisor.

Transforming Chaplaincy is advancing spiritual care through research

Today Transforming Chaplaincy is both a research center and a robust network of chaplains, leaders, and researchers in all levels of healthcare. We collaborate with supporting partners, research partners, and foundations towards integrating evidence-based practice into every level of spiritual care in diverse clinical settings.

Our Recent Publications

Meet TC’s Leadership Team

Transforming Chaplaincy’s Core Team administer all aspects of our research program, partnership engagement, and educational offerings.

Csaba Szilagyi,
MDiv, MLA, MS, ACPE, FACHE

Director

Csaba Szilagyi, MDiv, MLA, MS, ACPEFACHE is the Director of Transforming Chaplaincy as well as Director of Research and an Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical Center. His research focuses on chaplains’ collaborative and leadership roles in healthcare teams, interprofessional spiritual care, and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).Csaba has extensive experience directing spiritual care services and research, and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), holding graduate degrees in Management, Education, and Divinity from Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Karoli Gaspar University, respectively. He is also an ACPE Certified Educator.

Csaba’s Work

George Fitchett,
D.Min, Ph.D.

Senior Advisor

George Fitchett, D.Min., Ph.D. is Senior Advisor for Transforming Chaplaincy and Professor in the Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago Illinois. He holds a conjoint appointment in Rush’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. George is trained in spiritual care and epidemiology. He is a retired Board-Certified Chaplain (APC) and CPE Educator (ACPE). Transforming Chaplaincy: The George Fitchett Reader (S Nolan & A Damen, Eds), a collection of his research, was published in the Fall, 2021.

George’s Work

Cate Beaulieu-Desjardins,
MDiv, MPH, BCC

Assistant Director for Research Development

Cate Beaulieu-Desjardins, MDiv, MPH, BCC, is leader in spiritual care research in Pediatrics both nationally and internationally. Cate serves as the convener of Transforming Chaplaincy’s Pediatric Spiritual Care Research Network and completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019 earning her MPH in Epidemiology and is currently pursuing an MsT in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. at KU Leuven, where her dissertation will focus on the theological experience of parenting a child dependent on mechanical ventilation and ethical questions in this population. She is co-editor for the forthcoming book Case Studies in Pediatric Chaplaincy (Pickwick).
Cate is endorsed and credentialed by Mennonite Church USA as one of the first openly LGBTQ+ persons granted ministry credentials in the denomination.

Cate’s Work

Paul Galchutt,
MDiv, MPH, BCC

Assistant Director for Engagement

Along with his current role as TC’s Assistant Director of Engagement, Paul Galchutt, MDiv, MPH, BCC is TC’s convener for the Hospice-Palliative Spiritual Care Research Network. He has twenty years of healthcare chaplaincy experience, including ten years with an inpatient palliative care team. Palliative care remains his primary area of study as a PhD student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. As a 2023 Cambia Sojourns Scholar, his work is focused on creating a chaplaincy serious illness curriculum through the lens of a chaplain’s clinical note. Additionally, he contributes to the larger academic community as an associate editor with the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy as well as the co-moderator of the Spiritual, Religious, and Existential special interest group with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s Research Network Collaborative.

Paul’s Work

Amanda Borchik, MDiv, BCC – Staff Researcher

As a board-certified Humanist pediatric chaplain specializing in palliative care, Amanda brings her practical experience to the TC research community. Amanda serves as Co-Convener of the Pediatric Spiritual Care Research Network and on the Pediatric Chaplains Network Advisory Council. As an advocate for nurturing the spirituality of pediatric palliative care patients, Amanda is also a member of the NCHPC Pediatric Palliative Care Division and a content expert for SCCM’s end-of-life guidelines panel. She will begin PhD studies in 2025 as she continues to support the strategic goals of TC.

Transforming Chaplaincy’s Advisory Committee

LaVera Crawley, MD, MPH, OFS
ACPE Certified Educator & System VP Pastoral and Spiritual Care
CommonSpirit Health

Theresa Vithayathil Edmonson, BCC
Vice President, Spiritual Health
Providence St. Joseph Health

Andrew Garman, PsyD
Professor, Dept. of Health Systems Management
Rush University Medical Center

Robyn Golden, LCSW
Associate VP of Social Work and Community Health
Rush University Medical Center

Trace Haythorn, PhD, PCC
Principal/Owner
Haythorn Coaching & Consulting, LLC

Rev. Ronald Oliver, PhD, MBA, BCC
System Vice President, Mission & Outreach
Norton Healthcare

Antonina Olszewski, MS, MSQ
Vice President of Spiritual Care
Ascension

Michael Skaggs
Co-founder and Director
Chaplaincy Innovation Lab Programs

Rev. Clayton L. Thomason, JD, MDiv
Assoc. Professor & Chairperson
Dept. of Religion, Health & Human Values
Rush University Medical Center

Alexia Torke, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine and Section Chief, Palliative Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Director
Evans Center at Indiana University Health

Kelsey White, PhD, BCC
Assistant Professor
Faculty Researcher
Virginia Commonwealth University
Department of Patient Counseling
College of Health Professions

Transforming Chaplaincy’s History

Date
1990	Research Program in Rush’s Department of Religion, Health & Human Values is launched; one of the first research programs in a spiritual care department
1993	Publication of Fitchett’s book Assessing Spiritual Needs: A Guide for Caregivers
1999	Publication of study funded by the Fetzer Institute, “The role of religion in medical rehabilitation outcomes: A longitudinal study,” (Fitchett et al. Rehabilitation Psychology, 44(4), 333-353).
2002	Fitchett receives NIH K Award, first chaplain to receive one.
2011	Fitchett and Pat Murphy begin popular Webinar Journal Club sponsored by APC
2015	Fitchett and Nolan publish first book of chaplain case studies, Spiritual Care in Practice: Case Studies in Healthcare Chaplaincy
2015	Transforming Chaplaincy launched with $4.5M funding from the John Templeton Foundation and professional chaplaincy organizations, Fitchett and Wendy Cadge, Co-Directors
2015-2019	Accomplishments of first phase of Transforming Chaplaincy
2015-2019	17 Chaplain Research Fellows trained (MPH and other degrees)published 30 articles or book chaptersmade over 100 presentationsResearch Literacy Curriculum Development Grants to 68 CPE Programs850 students trained100 staff trainedIntroduction to Research for Practicing Chaplains (free on-line class)135 participantsChaplain Research Summer Institute60 participants in 2017 and 2018$1.07M in additional grants, in partnership with ACPE and CIL, including:-Assessing and Reimagining Chaplaincy Education: the Case of Healthcare Chaplaincy, Henry Luce Foundation- Spiritual Care in Healthcare: Identifying Decision-makers’ Perspectives (E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation)
2016	Fitchett and colleagues, D. Wilkie (U Florida) and L. Emanuel (Northwestern) receive funding from NIH (R01) for a study of nurse-led and chaplain-led Dignity Therapy.
2019	Second phase of Transforming Chaplaincy begins with partnerships from Ascension, Providence, and IU Health
2019-2024	Accomplishments of 2^nd phase of Transforming Chaplaincy
	Research Networks formed
	Research Activities & Publications (see annual reports 2019-2024 for details)
	Certificate in Spiritual Care Management & Leadership – 3 classes
	Research Literacy Education: On-line RL courses, CRSI, webinars
	9 former TC Fellows enrolled in or completed PhD degrees

Transforming Chaplaincy

We love hearing from leaders and researchers interested in supporting partnerships and impactful collaborations. For chaplains looking to get involved in research for the first time, please see our Education page.

Contact Us Today

In Chicago

Rush University Medical Center
Dept. of Religion, Health & Human Values
Suite 028 Annex
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, IL 60612

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