About Us
Providing and Advancing Spiritual Care
The Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care (formerly Episcopal Community Services of Utah) is a national leader in providing and advancing spiritual care through chaplain education, research, innovation, and the preparation of highly qualified chaplains. No one should face life’s hardest moments—or its greatest celebrations—without compassionate support.
Through accredited education and supervised clinical experience, we prepare chaplains to serve in hospitals, senior living communities, hospices, corporations, and other settings where compassionate care matters most. We place qualified chaplains where they can make a meaningful difference.
As the profession evolves, we’re helping shape its future through research, innovation, collaboration, and best practices while expanding access to exceptional spiritual care for people and communities everywhere.
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The Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care is on a mission to provide and advance spiritual care.
The Institute is a pioneer in training and placing multi-faith chaplains to provide compassionate spiritual care that heals and empowers the people we serve, and strengthens the systems that serve them. Through empathy and professionalism, the Institute forms leaders who bring spiritual care and presence into the most vulnerable moments of life.
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Founded under the leadership of Rev. Linc Ure, Episcopal Community Services has provided spiritual care and education with compassion and care for over 41 years. We are excited to share the next chapter in that work. We are now the Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care.
The Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care remains rooted in the rich Episcopal tradition of community stewardship. Our history can be traced back more than 150 years. The cornerstone for the Cathedral Church of St. Mark’s was laid, parishes and missions were formed throughout the region, and the first Utah hospital, also named St. Mark’s, was founded.
From humble beginnings serving miners in a small adobe building, St. Mark’s Hospital became a pillar of medical care in Utah, proudly boasting many of the state’s first medical services including:
Utah’s first ambulance service
Utah’s first aseptic methods
Utah’s first bacteriology lab and x-ray machines
Utah’s first school of nursing
Hospital chaplains
Today, we continue our legacy of commitment to provide and advance spiritual care. We are one of the largest employers of professional chaplains in Utah, training skilled multi-faith chaplains through the Center for Advancing Spiritual Care & Education, a division of the Institute.
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Fr. Lincoln Ure (1946–2016) founded the ECS Spiritual Care & Education Center and established Utah’s first ACPE-accredited Clinical Pastoral Education program. For more than four decades, he helped shape the practice of professional spiritual care by mentoring hundreds of chaplains who continue to serve in hospitals, hospices, faith communities, and other settings throughout the region and beyond. His vision of compassionate presence, deep listening, and whole-person care continues to guide the work of the Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care today.
“Listen… just listen to the reverential humming in each person… It’s their soul.”
— Fr. Lincoln Ure
Meet the Team
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Karen Peña
Executive Director
Serving as the primary architect for the Institute’s strategic expansion, Karen drives the organization’s mission to the forefront of spiritual care innovation. Leveraging over two decades of executive leadership, she has led clinical footprint growth from two hospitals to nine, while simultaneously pioneering the integration of essential support services within low-income senior housing. Her entrepreneurial background and more than two decades as a business owner informs and fosters a uniquely relationship-centered, collaborated, inclusive, and precision-oriented approach to ministry. This dedication to scalable compassion ensures that the most vulnerable populations receive dignified care. Moving ahead, the Institute is advancing and providing spiritual care while ensuring exceptional care is provided with each opportunity. -
Brad Baird
DIRECTOR, SPIRITUAL CARE DEPARTMENT AT ST. MARK’S HOSPITAL and LEAD CHAPLAIN MANAGER
As the Lead Chaplain Manager at St. Mark’s Hospital, Brad Baird provides expert spiritual guidance in clinical settings while mentoring the chaplaincy team. He is instrumental in departmental stabilization and organizational development, dedicated to fostering inclusive, holistic spiritual care across diverse hospital environments. Grounded in a philosophy that prioritizes deep listening and authentic human connection, Brad helps individuals of all backgrounds draw upon their internal resilience during life transitions and health crises. His approach integrates theological depth with organizational strategy, supported by a Master of Divinity from Central Seminary, an MBA from Westminster University, and social science studies at the University of Utah. -
Zach Plants
CHAPLAIN MANAGER, STAFF CARE
Zach Plants serves as a Chaplain Manager at Lakeview Hospital and St. Mark’s Hospital, where he provides dedicated spiritual leadership within multifaceted clinical environments. With a strong commitment to trauma-informed care, Zach integrates a deep academic background—including a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and an undergraduate degree from Maryville College—with extensive hands-on experience in emergency, ICU, and end-of-life settings. He excels in interdisciplinary collaboration, working closely with hospital leadership and care teams to ensure that patients, families, and staff receive compassionate, holistic support, and is driven by a passion for cultivating resilience and fostering an inclusive, meaningful presence in high-acuity care environments. -
Rev. Barbara Novak
CHAPLAIN MANAGER SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITIES
Chaplain Barbara balances her background in hospitality business management with both her healing and spiritual education and artistic creativity to provide presence, spiritual care, and direction while leading the Senior and Community Living Chaplaincy. She and her team addresses the unique needs of aging individuals, their families, and housing staff by providing guidance in areas such as grief counseling, mental health challenges, life transitions, coping skills and community building. She is a deeply prayerful humanitarian who honors all faiths-all people, and represents the Institute at Salt Lake Interfaith Council gatherings. -
Kathleen Zenger Nilsen
CHAPLAIN, WOMEN’S SERVICES
Specializing in trauma-informed spiritual intervention for Women's Services, Kathleen provides expert leadership in crisis management, fetal demise, and end-of-life care. With a B.S. in Psychology and a history in mental health advocacy and nonprofit executive leadership, the role brings clinical depth and strategic empathy to the hospital environment. A central pillar of the work involves the rigorous mentorship of future chaplains and the cultivation of inclusive, compassionate care models, further informed by a background as an Outreach Coordinator for The Sharing Place. This specialized focus ensures that women in their most vulnerable moments are met with a sanctuary of understanding and expert clinical support. The long-term goal is to pioneer a gold standard for perinatal and maternal chaplaincy that serves as a model for hospitals nationwide.
Our Board of Trustees
The Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care Board of Trustees is an integral part of our effective operation as a non-profit charitable organization in our community, fulfilling our mission of providing compassionate care when serving ill-met and unmet needs in our community, with a deep responsibility to our donors.
The Institute for Advancing Spiritual Care Board members are our financial watchdogs, our ambassadors to the community, and some of our greatest supporters. Our members understand our programs and work to improve them through their participation, donations, and committee work. We are incredibly grateful for their efforts.