Chaplain

As a chaplain within our department, you will be responsible, together with your future colleagues, for guiding patients and their loved ones through questions regarding meaning, worldview, and moral dilemmas. You create space for reflection and seek connection and meaning with them. In this way, you offer a place to speak in confidence about what the patient (and/or their loved one) is experiencing or preoccupied with. You will also participate in multidisciplinary consultations and organize reflection sessions.

You guide employees through significant events, individually or in a team setting. Additionally, as a department, we are responsible for medical ethics training for doctors in training. We also provide clinical lessons and professional development to various target groups in the hospital, focused on the spiritual and existential dimensions of care. Within the department, we coordinate among ourselves who takes on which tasks.

Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) is a top-clinical hospital in the center of Enschede. As a member of the Santeon group, MST provides highly complex patient care within a unique medical profile. Working at MST means being part of an organization where collaboration, innovation, and attention to both patients and employees are central.

The Spiritual Care department is part of the medical staff. What is unique about our position is that we combine substantive expertise in the field of worldview and meaning with the provision of a safe space. Each chaplain is involved with several departments as a point of contact. This forms the basis upon which we distribute new requests. We are visibly present on the wards and are easily accessible. We find good cooperation with other healthcare professionals to be very important.

Currently, the department consists of four chaplains. We view philosophical and religious diversity within the department as a strength. This makes it possible to connect with a diversity of life stories. Furthermore, each chaplain brings additional expertise and has their own areas of focus within the hospital. We are curious about the qualities and competencies that you bring.

• You have completed a university master's degree in Humanities, Religious Studies, or Theology, with a specialization in chaplaincy.

• Ideally, you bring several years of work experience in a hospital.

• You are a member of the VGVZ, or are willing to become a member.

• You act according to professional standards and work in line with the code of conduct of the professional association.

• You are open-minded, can communicate well with people from diverse backgrounds, and possess an open, lived worldview upon which you can reflect.

• You are able to navigate within a complex organization. In doing so, you can collaborate well with different disciplines while carefully handling your professional secrecy and safe space function.

• You are rooted in Twente or feel strongly connected to this region, giving you an affinity with the people, culture, and social context in which our hospital operates.

Do you have questions about the position or do you want to know more about what it is like to work in our department? Please feel free to contact us. You can do so by telephone via 053-4872930 or via geestelijkezorg@mst.nl. You can ask for chaplains:

Freerk Hovinga or Niek Nijhuis.

You are cordially invited to respond until 23-10-2026. The first round of job interviews will take place on 16-11-2026.