SpiritualityProgram

The Spirituality Program at McGuire Memorial is based on the belief that individuals with disabilities not only have physical, social, and emotional needs, but that they also have a spiritual need – the need to experience the presence and love of God.

Residents experience living within a Christian community, developing Christian relationships, and taking part in community prayer experiences that use ritual and multi-sensory symbols in order to awaken and evoke a sense of the sacred – an intuitive knowledge of God.

The relationships established within the McGuire Memorial Christian Community help the individuals to: realize that they are loved; feel a sense of inclusion; and know God’s love. The prayer experiences often evoke within them a sense of the sacred, an experience of the holy, and the presence of God.

A full-time Director of Pastoral Care, Capuchin Franciscan Father William Gillum, coordinates and offers the spiritual programming at McGuire Memorial.

Catholic residents are given the opportunity to receive and celebrate the sacraments of the Church. Mass is celebrated daily for those who are Catholic and have received their First Communion. Joining them at the daily celebration of Mass are Felician Sisters who minister at McGuire Memorial assisted by volunteers from the neighboring Saint Cecilia Parish.

For individuals of other faiths such as those of the Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopal Churches, pastors provide religious services and experiences, and provide parish companions for services in their respective churches.