Our Story

Lifeline Chaplaincy’s inspiration and roots go back to the 1960s. Marie Banister was a heart patient and stroke survivor and sensed a calling to be a spiritual encourager to patients in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. She volunteered for decades, tending to primarily focus on UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, as patients and families came from all over the world and, in many cases, endured extended stays away from home. Marie was a refreshing source of hope and encouragement to all the individuals and families she visited.

Over time, Marie asked the leadership of her home congregation (Southwest Central Church of Christ) to take up the mantle of securing a full-time chaplain to represent Churches of Christ in the Texas Medical Center. In 1983 they held a formative meeting, which launched an Executive Board to seek support and search for a chaplain. Steve Sandifer and Lifeline’s first Chairman Dr. Lynn Mitchell asked for an audience of churches and individuals to become the genesis for what eventually became Lifeline Chaplaincy.

In the mid-90s, Lifeline observed another pressing need within hospitals. Multiple patients and families often faced extreme difficulty in meeting the financial costs of non-medical items such as parking, lodging, food, and travel assistance. In response, Lifeline’s first Development Officer, Dr. Bill Love, secured a $10,000 grant in 1997 that was utilized to assist the neediest of patients. This significant gift provided a short-term resource for struggling patients and marked the humble beginning of a ministry that has now expanded into its own 501(c)(3) organization called Compassionate Touch, Inc. Today, almost twenty-five years after that modest genesis, Compassionate Touch has gifted over 4.9 million dollars to struggling hospital patients and caregivers.

The first twenty years of Lifeline Chaplaincy’s existence saw this seemingly small hospital-based ministry at M.D. Anderson blossom into a healthy and exemplary model of compassionate support to patients and caregivers, which paved the way for Lifeline to expand into other major hospitals in Houston. The volunteer program became more formalized and expansive under the direction of Barry Curtis and Dr. Roy Hatch, who together developed an outstanding, hands-on curriculum to train effective pastoral care volunteers for hospitals. This emphasis continues to be a significant part of Lifeline’s outreach today. As our volunteer base burgeoned, so too did our need to expand Lifeline with another professional chaplain. In 2002, Dr. Paul Riddle, a former Navy chaplain, joined Lifeline as the Director of Spiritual Care in Houston, where he began to visit patients, train volunteers, and extend our reach of compassionate support to patients and caregivers in all hospitals throughout the Texas Medical Center.

After 36 years of leading Lifeline Chaplaincy, Dr. Virgil Fry moved over from Executive Director to Vice-Chair of the Executive Board. Dr. Justin Thompson began his tenure as Executive Director in January 2021 and is fully committed to continuing the marvelous mission to provide compassionate support to the seriously ill, their families and caregivers, and to being an educational resource for crisis ministry. The future is bright with possibility for continued care and education as representatives of a loving and compassionate God.