Center for Continuous Learning

Having served as a healthcare chaplain for 10 years, the Rev. Dr. Patricia Murphy, board-certified chaplain, is made for the role of ecclesiastical endorser of Chaplaincy and Specialized Ministries. “Healthcare chaplain is a ministry that was not so popular when I began. But it is, indeed, a ministry that impacts, comforts, changes, cultivates and nurtures the hearts and minds of people during challenging and complex times in their lives,” she says. “As ecclesiastical endorser for Chaplaincy and Specialized Ministries, I am looking forward to extending an arm of mentorship and leadership to those who embrace a ministry that is not popular but a necessary component of holistic healing in a divided world.” Murphy says she strives to live out Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’” She says, “As a little girl, I was always inquisitive. I was born with an inner zeal for wanting to know ‘why'.” She continues, “Now that I am a bit more seasoned, I have moved away from the ‘why’ to the concept of ‘where.’ Wherever God needs me, I will go. I have been charged to go out into the world and empower and encourage others.”

Dr. Jan McCormack serves as Denver Seminary’s tenured Associate Professor and Chair of the Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Programs. She holds a DMin from Denver Seminary, MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a BA from Lock Haven State College. Jan is a graduate of the Air Force’s Air War and Air Command and Staff Colleges. Rev. McCormack is a Board Certified Chaplain and former board member with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC); a Pastoral Counselor Educator with the former American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC); and a Certified Educator and former board member with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). She serves as the Denver Seminary CPE Center’s Director and ACPE National Faculty. A Life Member of the Military Chaplains Association (MCA), Jan serves as their Board’s Director of Research. Rev. McCormack is ordained and endorsed by the American Baptist Churches USA since 1978 and pastored a Presbyterian Church in Texas. Jan retired from the Air Force chaplaincy with twenty-two years of experience serving in five states, two foreign countries and the during the first Gulf War. She has further experience as a hospital, police, prison, NASCAR, drag racing, crisis and trauma, and industrial chaplain. Jan has served as consultant to the Army chaplaincy on mentoring; as a subject matter expert for the Navy Chaplaincy on Institutional Excellence; and the Air Force Chief of Chaplains’ Leaving a Legacy mentoring team. She is a consultant and faculty for the Tenwek Hospital’s Chaplaincy School in Kenya, Africa. Dr. McCormack’s counseling expertise is in the areas of brief therapy, crisis, trauma, and disaster work. She serves as a visiting faculty at the Central American Theological Seminary in Guatemala and the Southeast Asia Bible Seminary in Indonesia following the tsunami. She was on the faculty of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Training Institute, training others in disaster response. Dr. McCormack is a frequent presenter at professional and denominational organizations and seminars. She has contributed articles on chaplaincy and counseling topics to several journals and magazines, as well as coauthoring "The Work of the Chaplain." Her coauthored book, "Prayers beyond the Sanctuary: Representing the Holy in a Multifaith World" is currently under publication contract.

Anne Dondapati-Allen is staff chaplain and ethics consultant at the University of Colorado Hospital, Anschutz Campus. Anne is ordained through the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains and endorsed for Healthcare Chaplaincy by the ABHMS. In her current role as Staff Chaplain at the University of Colorado Hospital, Anschutz Campus, Anne provides spiritual care to patients, families and staff. Anne has considerable experience in critical incident debriefing and focusses her work on enhancing wellbeing and resilience in healthcare providers. Anne is a Lead Consultant for the UCH Ethics Consult Service which she has been a part of since 2018, and she has received her certification in Healthcare Ethics Consultation. In addition to ethics consultation, Anne also coordinates moral distress consultation and mitigation efforts and provides education related to Moral Resilience. Anne teaches the ethics curriculum in the Master’s in Palliative Care Program, Anschutz Medical Campus. Prior to her work in Healthcare Chaplaincy and Clinical Ethics consultation, Anne was Adjunct faculty in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Denver, Colorado Women’s College and Adjunct Faculty in Psychology, Johnson and Wales University, Denver Campus.