How this local chaplain is bringing Christ’s love to one hospital system

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It’s impossible to meet Dr. Cecelia Walker without being touched by her heart for service and her incredible life story.

The Birmingham native sees her chaplaincy role in the hospitals where she works as an opportunity to ensure that each person who enters the building experiences the love of Jesus, no matter their religion.

Meet Dr. Cecelia Ann Walker

Dr. Walker was born and raised in Birmingham, where she attended Parker High School—the first one in Birmingham for African Americans.

She went on to receive a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University followed by a Doctorate from the Morehouse School of Religion in Atlanta. Further demonstrating her commitment to education, Dr. Walker serves on the Samford University Board of Trustees.

In her personal life, she has experienced several tragic incidents that have deepened her compassion and allowed her to connect with others in their time of need. 

Fortunately, she’s married and is part of a very close family—she’s very involved in the lives of her siblings’ children and grandchildren.

As you might imagine, church has been a big part of Dr. Walker’s life, and she currently serves as Associate Minister at Greater Shiloh Baptist Church on the West End.

In her professional life, she is the Executive Director of Chaplaincy and Clinical Pastoral Education for the Brookwood Baptist Health System. In addition, Dr. Walker was recently named Beeson Divinity School’s Alumna of the Year and elected as the 30th President of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education.

For fun, she loves movies, books, live music and plays.

Bham Now: What does your role at Brookwood Baptist Health entail?

Walker: The Executive Director works to grow all the Chaplaincy and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programs.

The goal is for every patient, family member and staff person to experience the love of Christ when they come to our hospitals—not in a proselytizing way, as we understand that not every staff person or patient is Christian.

Growing the programs means being present in as many ways as possible, whether through sharing morning and evening prayers over the loudspeakers, or having chaplains in the waiting room pray with family members while their loved one is in surgery.

Our mission is to impact and train people so they can go out and make our communities better and be more equipped to work with diverse populations.

Bham Now: How does this work touch the lives the people who work in, stay at or visit the hospitals?

Walker: Often we join people where they are and offer them support. The patient, family or staff person that we are working with is our teacher. 

Being with them allows them to feel heard, seen and cared about. 

Sometimes nothing is helping with a patient who is in pain, and a chaplain can ask ‘What could I do that might be helpful?’ That might mean rubbing a person’s feet with lotion until they fall asleep.

Other people come in with heavy guilt, and they’re able to talk to the chaplains about it and unburden themselves. 

The staff at the hospitals also have scary times in their own families, so knowing they have someone right there that they get to see every day and that they can trust has a positive impact on patient care.

Bham Now: What is the most rewarding part of the work for you or for others?

Walker: I think almost all of us would say it is a sacred opportunity for someone to trust us during some of the most difficult or the most joyful times in their lives.

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Everyone who works in a hospital setting has the potential to touch others’ lives in a way that can help them feel seen, supported and understood. Chaplains play a key role in caring for the carers, the patients and their families.

You can work in a place that cares. Brookwood Baptist Health is hiring.

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