Drs. Neil & Elizabeth Skjoldal

Dr Neil Skjoldal is currently the chaplain specialist at Resurrection and Holy Family hospitals part of Ascension Health in Chicago. Dr Skjoldal received his PhD in theological studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield in 1995 and was a full -time professor at Trinity International University’s Miami, Florida campus. He was also involved in parish ministry, pastoring churches in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.  Eventually, a friend suggested chaplaincy as a good way to use the gifts God had given him. In chaplaincy, he found true fulfillment of his vocational calling. He began his chaplaincy work with hospice patients in Miami, before moving to Baptist Health South Florida, where he was able to complete board certification and to work with leadership of two of those systems hospitals. He was also able to complete a Master’s degree in Bioethics which led to positions on hospital’s ethics committees during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with palliative care patients and co-chair of the St. Alexius Medical Center ethics committee. Throughout his time in Chaplaincy, he has continued teaching at the Affiliate level with Trinity and now Moody. He was born in New Jersey; his father’s family immigrated from Norway in the early 1900s and his mother’s family from France and Hungary.

Dr Elizabeth Skjoldal is Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Moody Theological Seminary and the Director of the Moody Theological Seminary Counseling Center where she over sees a team of 10 counseling Interns and LCPC’s and LPC’s in providing counseling to clients in downtown Chicago. Dr Skjoldal was born in Cuba and one of her primary areas of interest is multicultural counseling, cultural humility and the provision of counseling to underserved populations. Another area of clinical interest for her is the treatment of trauma and chronic illnesses such as chronic pain and cancer. She received her M.S and PhD from the University of Miami. She has been the clinical director of a number of counseling centers including, Caring for Miami and the Care and Counseling Center of Baptist Hospital, Miami where she saw seen clients and offered supervision in both English and Spanish. Before that she was the supervising psychologist at the University of Miami Pain and Rehabilitation Center in the Department Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is licensed in both Florida and Illinois. Dr Skjoldal is a wife and mother of two adult daughters and has enjoyed teaching Sunday school in bilingual churches and speaking at conferences.