While waiting for her recent video interview for Flaget Hospital, Sister Earline Hobbs sat ready before the rest of the group arrived. She said she preferred it that way. It gave her time to settle in and talk. What followed was a short, enlightening conversation about her life in ministry.
Her years at Flaget came after a long experience in education. She had been a teacher and principal, and later studied pastoral ministry at Loyola in Chicago. That formation shaped how she approached her work at the hospital. She did not see it as a shift away from ministry, but as a continuation of it.
“When I was part of the orientation for new employees, I tried to get them to think of their job as a ministry, not a job,” she said.
At Flaget, that perspective influenced how she engaged both staff and patients. Whether she was helping onboard employees or supporting daily operations, she approached each interaction as an opportunity to care for the whole person and respect human dignity in every encounter.
She said her understanding of God deepened over time, and that shaped her presence in the hospital. She described how earlier in life, her faith had been framed more by fear. Her studies at Loyola opened a different view.
“It seemed like before it was hell and damnation, but not about love. When I studied, I saw that God is a God of love and wants us to love everyone, regardless,” she said.
That shift informed how she worked with people at Flaget. Patients, families, and coworkers were not problems to solve but people to accompany. In a hospital setting, where fear and uncertainty are common, that approach mattered.
Her time in Belize also influenced her ministry. She worked in villages, helped teach children, and supported local faith communities. The conditions were simple. She had few resources and often had to adapt. That experience shaped how she responded to need, including in health care settings where flexibility and presence are essential.
She considered returning to Belize but chose to remain in Kentucky after her father died and her mother became ill. That decision grounded her ministry closer to home, including her time at Flaget.
Throughout the conversation, her focus stayed on the fact that ministry was not defined by a title or setting. It was a way of approaching each day. In education, in mission work, and at Flaget Hospital, she kept the same belief. Work, at its best, is an expression of care for others.