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- Undergraduate Education
- Bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
- Graduate Education – MDiv or Equivalent
- The qualifying degree is the academic foundation, demonstrating that applicants have completed a recognized graduate study program. The academic disciplines recognized under this standard educate their graduates with an emphasis on the spiritual, emotional, and/or social needs of persons and groups in their care.
- Graduate degrees that do not fall into the disciplines described above may be considered but should be evaluated according to the standards established in the BCCI Theological Education Equivalency program.
- All applicants must demonstrate graduate level study in three of four subject areas deemed essential to professional care of persons in a religious or philosophical institution. The courses may be included in the Qualifying Degree or can be completed outside of the qualifying degree. When graduate semester hours are combined, a minimum of 24 hours must be earned in the competency subjects. At least one course from each of three subject areas must be represented on a transcript. The four subject areas are: Spiritual Practices-Practical Ministry, History of a Religious or Philosophical Tradition, Sacred or Foundational Texts, World Religion-Philosophy.
- Courses in Spiritual Practices-Practical Ministry focus on the practical arts and skills of religious or spiritual care of persons or groups within the applicant’s religious or philosophical tradition. This broad-ranging subject area can include worship leadership, ritual care, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, religious education of adults or children, and social justice leadership. The BCCI reviewer will consider any course that teaches expertise in care to persons in spiritual or religious distress and any course that builds expertise in the promotion of spiritual or religious growth in persons or groups.
- Courses in History of a Religious or Philosophical Tradition ground the applicant in the tradition’s formative leaders, movements, and/or beliefs that give shape and meaning to the tradition across time.
- Courses in Sacred or Foundational Texts study the documents that serve as authoritative references for the structure and meaning of the applicant’s practices and beliefs. This subject area can also include the study of authoritative oral traditions that preserve and interpret the tradition’s practices and beliefs.
- Courses in World Religion-Philosophy may be graduate level survey courses studying multiple religions or philosophical traditions. Courses offering in-depth study of a religion or philosophical tradition outside of the broadly understood religion or tradition of the applicant’s identified belief system can also be accepted. For example, an applicant trained in a tradition identified with Christianity should have completed a course in a non-Christian religion like Islam or Buddhism.
- 4 units of approved CPE – mine comes from ACPE – Association for Clinical Pastoral Education
- Clinical Pastoral Education is interfaith professional education for ministry. CPE is to chaplains what residency is to doctors. It brings theological students and ministers of all faiths into supervised encounter with persons in crisis. Out of an intense involvement with persons in need, and the feedback from peers and teachers, students develop new awareness of themselves as persons and of the needs of those to whom they minister. They develop professional skills and function as part of an interdisciplinary team.
- Two chaplain clinical contact narratives are required. The narratives should demonstrate the applicant’s current level of functioning and provide descriptive examples of his or her professional competency. These narratives differ from the foci of many educational/CPE settings in that they are not to focus on the chaplain’s learning experience and personal growth. The chaplain is encouraged to relate encounters that suggest respect for diversity and difference (e.g., care for a patient from a different faith tradition), as per competency PPS3. Each narrative must explicitly demonstrate at least these three competencies: ITP2, PPS10, PPS11. Other competencies must also be demonstrated in the clinical contact and analysis.
- Primary Narrative
- Secondary Narrative
- All applicants must provide one letter of current endorsement or of good standing in accordance with your own spiritual/faith group, recognized by APC/BCCI, or the Department of Defense for work as a chaplain.
- BCCI does not accept endorsement from online-only religious groups.
- For a faith group to be recognized, they must affirm the APC’s Code of Ethics
Letters of Recommendation
- Letter # 1: A letter of recommendation from the institutional administrator to whom the applicant is responsible. The administrator must identify themselves as the applicant’s current supervisor.
- Letter # 2: A letter of recommendation from a professional chaplain. It must be from a board certified chaplain of APC/BCCI, ACPE, CASC, NACC, NAJC or NAVAC and the letter must document the credentials and credentialing organization of that chaplain.
- Letter # 3: A letter of recommendation from a certified/licensed peer professional in a discipline other than chaplaincy (e.g., doctor, nurse, social worker) with whom the applicant has a working relationship.
Work Experience
- A minimum of 2,000 hours of work or volunteer experience as a chaplain following the completion of the required CPE units. Work experience hours accrue in positions where a substantial part of work duties focus on care commonly provided by chaplains in specialized settings, such as health care, prisons, or corporate chaplaincy. Properly documented volunteer chaplain hours are acceptable. Work hours accrued in parochial ministry cannot be included.
- A Provisional Board Certified Chaplain has demonstrated professional competence by meeting all the board certified chaplain (BCC) eligibility requirements. However, The BCC candidate has not completed the 2,000 hours of work experience as a chaplain.
- Provide an autobiographical sketch that highlights the major events and themes of your life as they impact your practice of ministry. This autobiography is not strictly intended to demonstrate any particular competency, but to serve as a backdrop for the other material provided in the application.
- ITP1: Articulate an approach to spiritual care rooted in one’s spiritual tradition and integrated with a theory of spiritual care
- ITP2: Provide spiritual care that incorporates a working knowledge of an academic discipline that is not explicitly religious/ spiritual (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, history).
- ITP3: Incorporate the spiritual and emotional dimensions of human development into one’s practice of care
- ITP4: Incorporate a working knowledge of at least one ethical theory appropriate to one’s professional context
- ITP5 Articulate a conceptual understanding of group dynamics and organizational behavior.
- ITP6: Articulate how primary research and research literature inform the profession of chaplaincy and one’s spiritual care practice.
- PIC1: Identify one’s professional strengths and limitations in the provision of spiritual care.
- PIC2: Articulate ways in which one’s feelings, values, assumptions, culture, and social location affect professional practice
- PIC3: Attend to one’s own physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
- PIC4: Respects the physical, emotional, cultural, and spiritual boundaries of others.
- PIC5: Use appropriately one’s professional authority as a chaplain.
- PIC6: Advocate for the persons in one’s care
- PIC7: Function within the APC/ NACC/NAJC Code of Ethics.
- PPS1: Establish, deepen and conclude professional spiritual care relationships with sensitivity, openness, and respect
- PPS2: Provide effective spiritual support that contributes to the wellbeing of care recipients, including patients (or the relevant analogue in a non-healthcare setting), their families/friends, and staff.
- PPS3: Provide spiritual care that respects diversity, relative to differences in race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, etc
- PPS4: Triage and manage crises in the practice of spiritual care.
- PPS5: Provide spiritual care to persons experiencing loss and grief.
- PPS6: Provide religious/spiritual resources that are appropriate to given care recipients, their spiritualities/religions, their contexts, and their goals.
- PPS7: Develop, coordinate, and facilitate public/ semi-public liturgy appropriate to a range of settings and needs.
- PPS8: Facilitate care recipients’ own theological/spiritual/ philosophical reflection
- PPS9: Facilitate group processes in the provision of spiritual care.
- PPS10: Make and use spiritual assessments to inform chaplain interventions and contribute to interdisciplinary plans of care.
- PPS11: Document one’s spiritual care accurately, cautiously, and usefully and in the appropriate records.
- OL1: Promote the integration of spiritual care into the life and service of the institution in which one functions.
- OL2: Establish and maintain professional and interdisciplinary relationships
- OL3: Understand and function within the chaplain’s institutional culture and systems, including utilizing business best practices appropriate to one’s role in the organization
- OL4: Advocate for and facilitate ethical decision-making in one’s workplace
- OL5: Foster a collaborative relationship with community clergy and faith group leaders