Volunteer chaplain in Pembroke Pines, Florida initiates “House of Worship” in local hospital

Nosrat Scott, a Baha’i volunteer chaplain at Memorial Hospital Pembroke, noticed a need. Scott ministers to patients of many faiths, but the hospital had a Christian chapel and offered only Christian prayers. She approached her friend, Father Joe Spina, head of the hospital’s chaplaincy and asked if she could collect prayers from different faiths and make them available to patients and their loved ones.

Scott shared each prayer with Father Spina, in a spirit of consultation. She offered the prayers with patients, and says, “Many times the patient’s happy face for one short prayer brought me to tears.” 

After gathering prayers from eight religious traditions, Scott compiled them and had them formatted by a Bahá’í friend. Scott then sent them for editing and approval by Father Spina and local Auxiliary Board member Farhad Vojdani. Father Spina commented on the similarity of their messages. Scott told him, “They are all from the same Source, Father.”

Scott sent the collection to James Davis, the religion editor of the local Sun-Sentinel. He suggested the hospital, as a public place, should have an inclusive house of worship, rather than a solely Christian chapel. Once Spina was made aware of Davis’s thoughts, the group collaborated to make the space more inclusive. The offerings at the chapel now include an array of religious materials, to meet the needs of a beautifully diverse community.