Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

12/26/2025

The work of Christmas doesn’t end on December 25.

Long after the songs fade and the season moves on, people are still living through illness, loss, fear and sudden change. Hospitals are still full. Families are still holding hard news.

This is where Sojourn chaplains show up. In hospital rooms, hallways, and moments most people never see, they offer presence without agenda and care without conditions. Sojourn chaplains remain offering steady presence in moments that don’t resolve quickly or neatly. Care that isn’t loud. Care that doesn’t look away.

As this year comes to a close, your support helps sustain that quiet, essential work—work that continues long after the holidays are over. The holidays end but the need for compassion does not.

If you’re able, please consider making an end-of-year gift.
The link is in our bio.

12/24/2025

On Christmas Eve, some patients can’t go home.

Sojourn Chaplains and ZSFG staff make sure they aren’t forgotten and that they feel celebrated during the holidays.

A holiday card.
A few gingerbread house competition.
Beautiful, playful, and silly decorations bring a bright spirit in challenging times.

Care that stays close — sometimes a holiday card tucked under a pillow, read again and again by a patient who’s had no visitors this year.

This is how compassion travels through the hospital.

Thank you for being part of it.

12/09/2025

Together we pray…

Our hearts are heavy with grief. Our whole community cries out, mourns, and rages together.
If you are in grief, in pain, or in fear, please know that you are not alone. This tragedy impacts us all.

We pray for Alberto’s family, friends, and coworkers who are most deeply impacted by his tragic and horrific death.
We pray for everyone who is feeling afraid and outraged. We cry out and rage together.

We pray for the phenomenal staff of Ward 86. The people of this clinic were world leaders in the initial response to the AIDS crisis, and they remain so today. The staff of Ward 86 were the first, first responders when Alberto was attacked.
We thank you for your bravery and dedication. We hold you in care and in love. May you feel the love of the entire ZSFG community and the love of the larger SF community holding you.

We pray for all healthcare workers here at ZSFG and across this nation.
We pray for your safety.
We pray that you may be and feel secure in your work.
We pray that necessary changes will be made to ensure the protection of all people who work at this and in healthcare centers and institutions across this nation and the world.

We honor the courage it takes to show up right now.
Support is available:

SFPDH EAP (24/7): 415-554-0610
UCSF FSAP: 415-476-8279
Spiritual Care: Ask the operator to connect you to our service phone
988 Su***de Lifeline

12/01/2025

December 1 is World AIDS Day — and this year, the administration turned its back on it, ordering federal silence instead of remembrance.

Sojourn Chaplaincy was born on Ward 5B at San Francisco General Hospital, in a moment when stigma was deadly and too many people were left to suffer and die alone. Our founders stepped into rooms others refused to enter. They held hands when touch was feared. They listened when the world looked away.

The people we accompanied—those who loved, fought, lived, and died—became our spiritual ancestors. Their courage shaped the way we understand chaplaincy: presence without fear, truth without hesitation, humanity without condition.

We honor them today and every day.

And we speak because they could not afford our silence—then or now.

Even as political leaders refuse to acknowledge World AIDS Day, we refuse the silence that has always endangered our communities.

Our ancestors call us to defend truth, protect care, and fight for the resources that keep people with HIV alive. They call us to stand without fear, to protect our immigrant neighbors, to stand with trans women of color, trans youth, and all trans people whose lives are targeted by the same harms that marked the early crisis.

Their legacy is a living call:
to stand with every person whose life is endangered by stigma, indifference, and political brutality.

We keep faith with them by what we choose today—presence, truth, courage, and solidarity.

11/30/2025

December 1 is World AIDS Day — and this year, the administration turned its back on it, ordering federal silence instead of remembrance.

Sojourn Chaplaincy was born on Ward 5B at San Francisco General Hospital, in a moment when stigma was deadly and too many people were left to suffer and die alone. Our founders stepped into rooms others refused to enter. They held hands when touch was feared. They listened when the world looked away.

The people we accompanied—those who loved, fought, lived, and died—became our spiritual ancestors. Their courage shaped the way we understand chaplaincy: presence without fear, truth without hesitation, humanity without condition.

We honor them today and every day.

And we speak because they could not afford our silence—then or now.

Even as political leaders refuse to acknowledge World AIDS Day, we refuse the silence that has always endangered our communities.

Our ancestors call us to defend truth, protect care, and fight for the resources that keep people with HIV alive. They call us to stand without fear, to protect our immigrant neighbors, to stand with trans women of color, trans youth, and all trans people whose lives are targeted by the same harms that marked the early crisis.

Their legacy is a living call:
to stand with every person whose life is endangered by stigma, indifference, and political brutality.

We keep faith with them by what we choose today—presence, truth, courage, and solidarity.

11/26/2025

This week holds many stories.

For some, Thanksgiving brings warmth, connection, or rest.
For others — especially many Indigenous peoples — it is a day of mourning, a reminder of loss, survival, and the ongoing work of justice.

At Sojourn, we hold all of these stories with care.

For those who feel grateful, lonely, hopeful, or heavy-hearted: you’re held in our prayers and in the quiet strength of this community.

May you find a moment of peace today, and may we continue to walk in truth, compassion, and solidarity.

11/20/2025

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It’s a day and week that we will gather in community to honor and grieve trans community members whose lives were taken by violence this year. It’s always a challenging day and if you are also grieving, please know that our hearts are with you.

On this Trans Day of Remembrance, we remember those we’ve lost and recommit ourselves to building a world where trans people can live, lead, and thrive with safety and honor.

This year as we relaunch the Trans Spiritual Care Initiative, we’re shifting the focus of this work to meet the challenges of these times by equipping allies across faith communities and across traditions to stand with trans people. We are revamping the curriculum and shifting our focus beyond hospital walls to build allies in faith communities. These trainings equip allies to challenge harmful theology and policy and fight to defend trans dignity, trans rights, and trans lives.

In the words of Mary Harris, “Pray for the dead and fight for the living”. Let’s work together this Trans Day of Remembrance to end transphobia and all violence against trans people.

May the memory of those who have died be a blessing. May our work be worthy of those we honor. May we one day live in a world where all trans people are cherished as the sacred beings they are.

Click the link in our bio to learn more about the TSCI and to donate in the memory of a beloved to support our work.

11/02/2025

November 2 is a day of remembrance across many traditions.
In Mexico and beyond, Día de los Mu***os honors ancestors and the love that lives through shared stories, altars, and offerings of many kinds.
In the Catholic faith, All Souls’ Day is a time to remember and pray for those who have gone before us.

May this day open our hearts to the the blessing of rememberance—
where love endures, memory is holy, and life and death keep faithful company. 🕯️🌼

***os

10/31/2025

Samhain marks the ancient Celtic new year — the turning of the seasons, when the veil between worlds grows thin and those who celebrate honor the ancestors who came before.

Wishing a very blessed Samhain to all those who celebrate. May this threshold bring you stillness, remembrance, and the quiet fire of renewal. 🍂🕯️

10/22/2025

Today at Sojourn Chaplaincy
our chaplains are walking through the hospital offering Blessing of the Hands — a moment of pause and care for the many hands that heal, comfort, and serve each day.

Each blessing is a quiet thank you — a recognition of the sacred work that happens here, person by person, heart to heart.

If you see us in the halls, you’re welcome to stop for a blessing. No preparation needed — just your hands, and a moment of breath.

❤️

Have you had your hands blessed this week?

04/18/2025

02/15/2025