Good Friday: Local religious leaders offer worship service at Glendale Memorial Hospital

Dozens of hospital employees, patients and visitors gathered at Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital on Good Friday for a worship service offered by local religious leaders.

Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, of the Western Diocese Armenian Church, led the service, which commemorated the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.

“This will be a day for people who cannot physically be present at the church participating in church services,” Derderian said. “We are here to bring them our prayers.”

The event marked the second year that the hospital partnered with the Western Diocese to offer the religious service, according to Cassie McCarty, the hospital’s director of mission integration and spiritual care.

At the event, she also recognized Friday as the first evening of Passover.

“Spirituality is such an important part of patient care, family care and employee care,” said McCarty, who helped organize the event. “(Good Friday) is such a significant holiday for a lot of our patient population and employee population.”

One patient, who declined to be identified, said she stumbled upon the service by coincidence Friday while visiting the hospital to register for a procedure. After sitting through the service, she said she felt that there was nothing to fear because she was in good hands.

“This type of service is really spiritually uplifting for everyone,” McCarty said. “As you can see from the audience, it was very multiethnic, multireligious. I think it is in the spirit of human kindness and collaboration that everyone comes together.”