On Sunday, January 14, we will welcome a guest preacher, the Rev. Leon “ Toby” Schilling, Director of Pastoral Care Services for Samaritan Health System.
Toby is a graduate of SUNY Oswego with a bachelor of arts in psychology and of Union Theological Seminary, New York City, with a master of divinity. His thesis work at Union was done in the Department of Psychiatry and Religion and, after graduation, he completed six units of Clinical Pastoral Education. He is an ordained American Baptist minister and, prior to returning to Northern New York, was a hospital chaplain at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, and Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn. He has completed graduate work in counseling in addition to his master’s degree and is a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor in New York State (retired). Prior to his employment at Samaritan Medical Center, Toby worked at the former Mercy Hospital in Watertown for 23 years in the field of behavioral health and alcoholism both as a clinician and administrator. While there he developed and managed an inpatient alcoholism rehabilitation program and managed the inpatient behavioral health programs. When first joining Samaritan, he worked at the Walker Cancer Treatment Center and in the critical care areas of the hospital, providing counseling services to patients and their families. Toby has worked at Samaritan Medical Center for 24 years and, besides serving as Director of Pastoral Care Services, he also chairs the hospital’s Ethics Committee.
Toby is married and has two children and three grandchildren. His wife, Myrtie, is retired from teaching second grade in the Watertown City School System.
