Overview
Spiritual Support
When faced with a medical situation, the main focus is to heal the body. For some though, a medical diagnosis or treatment may require spiritual healing as well. That’s where our healthcare team and Pastoral Care services can help. The chaplains at UT Health Science Center are trained to assist our patients, families, and staff by providing support throughout the healing process. This can include prayer, reading of scriptures, providing companionship, or arranging visits from leaders of specific faiths.
Our Pastoral Care team offers a caring environment and respects each one’s spirituality. With 20+ volunteer chaplains, we cater to all walks of life and traditions of faith when spiritual support is needed. To receive support services from the Pastoral Care staff, please call 903-877-2859.
Chapel and Services
The beautiful and peaceful Hurst Chapel is opened 24 hours a day to people of all faiths as a place to sit quietly and reflect, pray, meditate, or just be. Hurst Chapel is located on the first floor of building A and hosts two services.
- An Inter-denominational devotion is offered every 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Wednesdays of the month at 10:00 a.m.
- A Catholic Mass is offered the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 10:30 a.m.
Meet Reverend Jack Voss
As the Director of Spiritual Care at UT Health Science Center, the Rev. Jack Voss has provided the establishment of and administrative leadership over the department. This includes the recruitment, training and oversight of over 20 volunteer Pastoral Care Associates. Jack also provides spiritual and emotional pastoral care to the patients of the Palliative Supportive Care Clinic. He serves on the ethics, cancer and benevolence committees.
Rev. Voss, a native East Texan, received his bachelor’s of theology from Texas Bible College in Lufkin, Texas. Jack has devoted his entire career to ministry. He is an ordained Non-Denominational minister who began his ministry traveling the United States as an itinerant preacher for over 4 years. Jack then served as the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Christian Center in Owasso, Oklahoma for 21 years. Jack is the founder of Market Place Grill a monthly luncheon provided for Christian business and community professionals of the Owasso and Tulsa areas. Jack also founded and serves as the President of Jack Voss Ministries, Inc. offering training to servant leaders and motivational ministry to the local church. Jack received his CPE training at UT Southwestern.
He has preached and taught leadership in the African countries of Liberia, Malawi, and South Africa, as well as in the Asian countries of the Philippines and Taiwan. Other nations he has visited in his ministry are China, Mexico, New Zealand, and Ukraine.
Jack enjoys spending time with his family, reading and traveling.
Volunteer Chaplains
How to Volunteer
We welcome lay chaplains with training from CPE, Community of Hope, Stephen Ministry, or similar types of training. Volunteers are specially trained to be sensitive to all faiths and beliefs through the use of inclusive religious language and referrals to various faith communities. If interested in volunteering, please call 903-877-2859 to schedule an appointment with the Director of Spiritual Care.
Our Volunteer Chaplains
Anwar Khalifa
Biography
Anwar believes strongly in serving the community. His service includes volunteer chaplain for the Tyler Police Department, being on the steering committee for the Tyler Ministerial Alliance, the board of Adapt, the Freedom and Justice Foundation, the board of the Council on American Islamic Relations DFW, and the East Texas Islamic Society.
Camilla Fulp
Biography
Camilla has served as an associate pastor in a Tyler church for 21 years. She has written and recorded four music CDs and has ministered throughout the U.S.A. and abroad. In 2008, Camilla became a senior leader of Bethesda Church in Lindale, and in 2015 she started volunteering as a chaplain at UT Health Science Center.
Janice Voss
Biography
Janice Voss is a native Texan. She earned her Bachelors in Christian Education from Texas Bible College. Her ministry has covered 33 years as a co-pastor, praise and worship leader, ladies ministry coordinator, and speaker at both national and international women’s conferences. She has traveled to 13 countries for ministry, missions, and fun.
Jay Lockhart
Biography
Jay Lockhart holds a PhD in church administration from Trinity Theological Seminary and has been preaching for Churches of Christ for over 50 years. He currently preaches and serves as an elder for the Whitehouse Church of Christ. His ministry has taken him throughout the United States and several foreign countries. He has extensive experience in preaching, teaching, administration, and counseling and he conducts several seminars each year on these topics.
Jeff Dalrymple
Biography
Jeff had been a business owner for more than 21 years in California in the secular industry and has continued his business here in Texas since 2005. He graduated from Bethesda Church School of Supernatural Ministry in Lindale, Texas. Currently he serving on the ministry team at Bethesda Church. He co-teaches with his wife a series of classes by Danny Silk.
Jose Torres
Biography
Jose Torres is a native of East Texas. His parents immigrated from Mexico in the mid-1970s. His wife, Yendrix is Venezuelan. They have two children, Diego, who is 16 and Sofia, who is 14.
He studied religion and pastoral ministry at Jacksonville Baptist College and East Texas Baptist University. He has served as youth pastor, associate pastor, missions pastor and lead pastor in local churches throughout East Texas since 1998. He currently serves as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Colonial Hills, which is a Hispanic church that meets at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in South Tyler.
His passion is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost (Romans 1:16).
Karen Courville
Biography
Christ Church Episcopal in Tyler, TX is Karen's church home where she serves as DOK president and past Community of Hope leader. Other ministries include trained spiritual director, retreat leader, Stephens Minister, certified in Mental Health First Aid USA, and serving on teams for the “Epiphany” youthful offender ministry and “ Kairos” prison ministry for adults.
Linda Smith
Biography
Linda graduated from Bethesda School of Ministry in Lindale, Texas. She currently serves as an intern for Bethesda church and participates in ministry with East Texas House of Prayer. Linda has been actively involved with male and female prison ministries and street evangelism.
Mark Dunne
Biography
Father Mark Dunne is a priest for the Diocese of Tyler. Fr. Mark was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1999 after completion of studies for the priesthood at St. Johns College in Waterford City, earning his Diploma in Philosophy and Theology. Upon arriving in the United States he studied for 2 years at St Mary’s Seminary in Houston where he received his Masters in Theology. He was ordained to the Priesthood in 2002. Currently he is the Pastor of both St. Theresa’s Church in Union Grove and St Francis of Assisi in Gilmer.
Martha Coulter
Biography
Martha Coulter has served as a volunteer chaplain at UT Health North Campus Tyler for the past 1 1/2 years. After retiring from a nursing career, she is fulfilling a dream to visit with patients in the hospital setting and spend more time at their bedside. She wants to encourage them, hear their needs and pray with them. "Spiritual care is as important as physical care for healing the whole person," she shared. "We are spirit, soul and body."
Martha married the love of her life, Doug Coulter in 1970 before beginning her nursing career. They have three children and 11 grandchildren. After 37 years together Doug lost his battle with lung cancer. Her faith got her through her time of grieving.
Martha started her nursing career as an LVN after graduating from Trinity Valley Community College in Palestine. After eight years as LVN, Martha attended and graduated from Tyler Junior College with an associate’s degree in nursing in 1990. She then served as a staff nurse at hospitals in Palestine and Tyler. In 1998 Martha moved to Houston and continued her nursing career at Memorial Herman Hospital System until 2015. Most of her career was with maternal/child health, antepartum care, women's health, pediatrics, as well as some time in cardiology and on the medical-surgical floor. The last two years of her career she served as a charge nurse on a busy antepartum unit. All this experience prepared her for her calling as a volunteer chaplain, as well as growing in her faith.
Mary Dalrymple
Biography
Mary was a California corporate native until late 2005 before relocating to Texas. She had worked for Child Protective Services in Van Zandt County. Taught software computer classes for Van Zandt Adult Education. She is also a Quickbooks bookkeeping/payroll consultant/bookkeeper. Currently volunteers for the Children's Advocacy Center of Van Zandt County as well as serves as a volunteer Ombudsman for the State of Texas. She also currently serves on the Bethesda Church ministry team and co-teaches with her husband a series of classes by Danny Silk.
Matt Magill
Biography
Matt Magill is extremely grateful to be involved with chapel services at UT Health Science Center. He currently serves as the worship/arts director at Tyler's Bethel Bible Church (Downtown Campus) and is the founder and executive director of B3 Ministries, a non-profit para-church ministry that exists to glorify God at the intersection of Art, Faith and Family. You can see Matt and his wife Megan all over East Texas with their band The Magills.
Michael Jackson
Biography
An Episcopalian by birth and persuation and Diocese of Texas, Michael Jackson is a retired executve director of St. Vincent's Episcopal House and lay vicar of St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church in Galveston. He is CPE trained at the Washington Hospital Center and Scott & White Hospital. Mr. Jackson is a visiting chaplain at UTMB-Galveston and UT Health Science Center.
Neal Katz
Biography
Neal Katz is the rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Tyler, TX. He was ordained in 2003 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati, OH. Rabbi Katz in involved in many local non-profit agencies.
Ronald Cowden
Biography
Ronald Cowden is part of the baby boomer generation. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a crew chief, attended John Tyler High School and Tyler Junior College. He was also a vice president at Comcast.
Ron was ordained in 1993. He founded Recovery Ministry, an organization that ministered to prison inmates for 28 years. He also pastored Free World Church.
Ron is now retired and serving the Lord through his local church and chaplaincy.
Steven Fulp
Biography
Steven has served as an associate pastor in a Tyler church for 21 years. He has written and recorded four music CDs and has ministered throughout the U.S.A. and abroad. In 2008, Steven became a senior leader of Bethesda Church in Lindale. He started volunteering as a chaplain at UT Health Science Center in 2015.
VaLita Waits
Biography
VaLita Francine Waits received a master of divinity degree and a certification in spiritual direction from the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She serves as the Associate Pastor for External Affairs and Community Support at the New Days Community Church in Tyler and is on the founding board of directors of Justice for Our Neighbors of East Texas, a ministry of the United Methodist Church that supports a hospitality ministry welcoming immigrants.
