1939– Founded by Miss Mina Septer, under the name Hospital Gospel Ministry, in Los Angeles, California.
Following the leadership of Miss Septer, Rev. David Doerksen assumed the role as Executive Chaplain (now Executive Director), followed then by Rev. William Collins and Rev. Ray S Harris.
1951: The Hospital Gospel Ministry of America was incorporated.
1957: the name of the organization was changed to the Hospital Chaplains’ Ministry of America (HCMA), and the Articles of Incorporation were so amended.
1965: By this time HCMA had expanded to Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
1966: Dr. Stanley Belland was elected as Executive Chaplain, and under his leadership HCMA had expanded further into Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and British Columbia. It was also under his leadership that the role of Area Director was implemented.
1985: Rev. Tom Delamater was appointed as Executive Chaplain, and under his leadership God continued to bless HCMA with further expansion into Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, and Illinois.
1990: As HCMA continued to expand, Chaplain Timothy Malyon was appointed as Associate Executive Chaplain to assist Tom Delamater.
1994: Tom Delamater retired as Executive Chaplain and Timothy Malyon was appointed as his replacement. Through Timothy’s leadership HCMA was successful in revising the training curriculum, producing policy handbooks for the Chaplains and the Board of Directors, securing liability insurance for the Chaplains, Board and staff, and gaining recognition for the HCMA as a professional chaplaincy organization by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
2000: Chaplain Jeffrey Funk was appointed as Executive Director. Under his leadership, the Clinical Pastoral Training Curriculum was expanded to its current Four Unit (1,600 hours) format, a Clinical Pastoral Training Manual for the Teaching Chaplains was developed, and the one-year Internship program and the certification process was strengthened.
2002: HCMA obtained recognition as a professional chaplaincy organization by the Coalition on Ministry in Specialized Settings (COMISS) Network.
2008: HCMA Board of Directors made the decision to change the name to Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Association.
2018: Jefferey Funk resigned from his role as Executive Director and the HCMA Board of Directors led the organization during a period of transition.
2020: Chaplain James Kim was appointed as Executive Director.
