About / Bio.

Hospital Pastoral Care Chaplain, Staff Photo
Photo by Hoon Park


J.S. was featured on CNN in 2023 covering his hospital chaplain work: This hospital chaplain has counseled thousands of dying patients. Here’s what he’s learned

J.S. was featured on the TODAYSHOW.com in 2022 covering his hospital chaplain work: Hospital chaplain reflects on job as ‘grief catcher’ in powerful posts about death

J.S. was featured on FOX13 local news in 2024 covering his hospital chaplain work and childhood: Faith in Action: Hospital chaplain brings comfort, understanding in midst of crises


Photo by Hoon Park


J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, former atheist/agnostic, sixth degree black belt, suicide survivor, Korean-American, and follows Christ.

J.S. is author of an upcoming book, As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve, part hospital chaplain experience and part memoir, published by W Publishing of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. He is also the author The Voices We Carry: Finding Your One True Voice in a World of Clamor and Noise, published by Northfield/Moody.

J.S. currently serves at a 1000+ bed hospital, one of the top-ranked in the nation, and was also a chaplain for three years at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast.


—


Some duties of a hospital chaplain: grief counseling, attending every death and Code Blue, help with end-of-life decision-making, notifying family members of loved ones in the ER, and advocating for patients and families in crisis.

Some duties of a chaplain for the homeless: trauma-informed care, grief support, church wound recovery, faith-based programs for low income families, and staff care for coworkers.

J.S. completed four units of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), which includes a six month internship and a year long residency. This is an accredited program with a cap of five chaplain residents per year.

J.S. has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of South Florida and a M.Div from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.



J.S. was on the front page of WordPress.com here, here, and here.

J.S. does #typewritertherapy, typewritten quotes made on a 1960s Smith Corona Classic 12 typewriter.

In 2012, J.S. gave away half his salary to fight human trafficking, a check for $10,000.
Matching contributions raised another $10k.
[Part of this story was in Eugene Cho’s book Overrated (pp. 164-165), and his blog here.]



– A Note from J.S. –

This site is for the grieving, traumatized, burnt out, doubting, and jaded. It’s for the honesty we all long for and the grace we all need.

My constant prayer for you and me is Psalm 139:23-24 —

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”


—

Follow J.S. on Instagram

Follow J.S. on Facebook

And on Twitter

—
Copyright © 2023 by J.S. Park
All rights reserved.
This blog or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher,
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or study/presentation material.

—
The logos and graphics on this blog are copyrighted art.
Other pictures are credited to their owners, and many of the pictures are under the Creative Commons license for non-commercial use (CC BY 2.0).
If a picture is your property and you request it be taken down, I will oblige immediately.

—
Click to return to the homepage.

Photos by Lewis Chi

Photo by hospital staff