THE FOLLOWING IS A VA ILLIANA HEALTH CARE RELEASE
DANVILLE, Ill. – As VA Illiana continues its yearlong celebration of 125 years of service to America’s Veterans, the system’s Danville VA Medical Center is set to showcase its historic chapel building and spiritual services available to Veterans at a grand re-opening event scheduled for August 31, 2023, from noon – 3 p.m.
This “open-house” style event is an opportunity for Veterans, caregivers, family members, and members of the community to learn about the history of the chapel following its extended closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Attendees can also speak to VA Chaplains about their work at VA and learn how VA Chaplains serve as fully integrated members of a Veteran’s clinical team, working with other clinicians to provide top-notch physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual care. Information about the historic PACT Act Expansion of Care and VA’s Whole Health program will also be available.
“VA Illiana’s chapel has served Veterans for nearly our entire history,” said Chaplain Lonnie Sutterfield, chief of VA Illiana’s Chaplain Service. “As VA Illiana celebrates 125 years of service, VA Illiana Chaplains continue to support Veterans on this hallowed ground. VA Illiana Chaplains look forward to meeting Veterans at their point of spiritual needs, and ministering to them as they engage their Higher Power. I personally invite Veterans, staff, and the community to experience this sacred chapel space and I pray that it may bless you, as it has generations of Veterans as you affirm and honor your spiritual source of strength.”
Constructed in 1901 in the Gothic Revival style with two wings, VA Illiana’s Chapel was constructed to seat 600 worshipers. Today, the chapel’s two wings are home to the Catholic Chapel in the east wing and the Veterans Chapel (interfaith) in the west wing. Both wings are home to ornate stained-glass windows, soaring ceilings, and sanctuaries.
Chaplains have been part of the mission of caring for those who have served since before the establishment of today’s Department of Veterans Affairs. The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), a predecessor to today’s VA, hired its first chaplain in 1866. In the years since, VA’s Chaplain Services have grown to provide complete religious ministry to Veterans in accordance with their needs and desires. Drawn from a wide diversity of faith traditions, VA Chaplains address religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical problems of patients, ministering to newly admitted, pre- and post-operative patients, the critically ill, and the families concerned.
