Masonic Village Hospice Chaplain Tyler Brown felt the calling to do seminary work after spending several years as a U.S. Army medic stationed in South Korea and Tennessee.

“When I got out of the Army, I wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of my life,” he said. “I wound up taking a gap year before heading to Central America for six months as part of a mission team. We were embedded with local families and the pastor of a local church and worked on projects in the community. The more I was down there, the more I fell in love with mission work and felt the calling to go to seminary.”

Tyler received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Liberty Theological Seminary, and while there, spent two years working at the local church where he grew up in Landisville, Pennsylvania. After that experience, he decided he wanted to devote himself fully to chaplain work.

After graduation, Tyler began looking for ministry jobs that utilized his background in health care. He started at Masonic Village in September 2024, working with two other chaplains, Nick Keeney and Emily Harr, to provide spiritual care for patients.

“Emily and I see patients on campus and Nick mostly sees the patients off campus,” Tyler said. “We have a great spiritual care team. Everyone does a wonderful job working together and taking care of patients.”

Tyler plans to get his clinical pastoral education certification this fall to further develop his clinical skills.

As part of his chaplain role, Tyler visits his patients assigned to him at least once a month or more often if needed.

“We meet with them and discuss whatever they want,” he said. “Some want to talk about God and death/dying. Some just want to talk about whatever’s on their mind. Some patients are very religious and want us to pray with them or read scripture. We also provide counseling to patients and their families. They go through a lot emotionally and spiritually, so we try to be there to care for them.”

Being here has changed Tyler’s mindset about what hospice is and what it does for a person.

“People tend to think that hospice is really depressing, but so far, that’s not what I’ve found,” he said. “Most of our patients are very at peace with who and where they are. They’ve lived long lives filled with love and support from family. It’s nice to be beside them when they experience real joy, and also, hopefully provide them care and comfort when they’re struggling. It’s an honor to be invited into that stage of someone’s life.”