Spiritual Care Services

The Rev. Sarah Lapenta-H, MDiv, MSW, LSW, BCC, GC-C

The Rev. Sarah Lapenta-H focuses on offering emotional and spiritual support to staff (individuals and groups) throughout the SHC system following adverse events, personal or professional losses/grief, and other distressing experiences to help foster healing, resilience, and a stronger sense of community. Rooted in compassion from her own personal and professional experiences, Sarah is a board-certified chaplain with APC, nationally certified grief counselor, and licensed social worker. She came to SHC in 2019 and supported SHC bereaved families through the pandemic as a former SHC Decedent Care Chaplain. She served as a Chaplain in various contexts including higher education, hospice, and an urban police department, and is also a published author and speaker. Sarah earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Purdue University; a Master of Divinity with foci in building intercultural community and in spiritual care across cultures; Master of Social Work from Boston University; and continuing education in the areas of diversity and inclusion; end-of-life care; dying, death, and grief; prolonged grief disorder; trauma-informed care; and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and supporting ‘spiritual wellness’ and meaning making related to one’s culture, beliefs, values, and ethics that guide and enrich one’s life. Sarah’s sources of strength and joy include her transcultural family unit, being a foster mom of now young adults, witty comedy, porch sitting, and urban walking.

Amy Shoemaker, MDiv, MS

Amy Shoemaker is an interfaith chaplain, holding a Master of Divinity from the Graduate Theological Union’s Institute of Buddhist Studies and chaplaincy endorsement through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She began at SHC as a Spiritual Care Volunteer in 2019, completed her chaplaincy training (CPE) here, and has been serving as Triage Chaplain since 2021; she is honored to now serve the team as Grief Care Chaplain, as well. Amy brings a depth of experience in grief support and bereavement counseling, including co-founding the Covid Grief Network, which provided mutual-aid support to young adults experiencing loss during the pandemic. She has had the privilege of providing spiritual care in a wide variety of settings over the years, including at UCSF’s adult and pediatric hospitals, through Penn Medicine’s Huntington’s Disease Center, and on Kaiser SF’s Palliative Care team. She formerly worked in mathematics and data science and holds a Master of Science from Stanford University’s Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. In her free time, Amy loves rock climbing, tea, sunshine, slow days with good people, and natural spaces big and small that ignite wonder and gratitude.