A partnership between
More than eighty theological and rabbinical schools now offer degree programs related to chaplaincy, and the work of chaplains – increasingly called spiritual care providers – is expanding in a range of settings. This foundational data was compiled during the project Assessing and Reimagining Chaplaincy Education, also funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, from 2017 to 2019. Findings from that project were published in three papers: Cadge et al. (2019), “Training Chaplains and Spiritual Caregivers? The Emergence and Growth of Chaplaincy Programs in Theological Education“; Cadge et al. (2019), “Training Healthcare Chaplains: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow“; and Clevenger et al. (2019), “Education for Professional Chaplaincy in the US: Mapping Current Practice in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).”
Educating Effective Chaplains focuses on three tasks critical for preparing professional chaplains for effective ministry:
- The project synthesizes current scholarship and practitioner expertise about the nature of effective chaplaincy and evaluates the extent to which theological schools can and should support the development of effective chaplains.
- The project identifies specific skills and competences required for chaplaincy, both universally and in specific sectors (i.e. the military, healthcare, prisons, etc.), and analyzes how theological education currently supports the development of those skills and competencies.
- The project supports theological educators in strengthening their scholarship, their curricula, and their partnerships with clinical educators to better train future generations of chaplains in light of broader changes in American religious demographics.
This project’s participants and leadership team also contribute to the Lab’s presence within the American Academy of Religion, through the program unit Innovations in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care.
The textbook resulting from this project, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century, was launched via webinar on June 15, 2022. That event can be viewed here:
The textbook was also discussed at Boston University School of Theology on November 2, 2022. That event can be viewed here:
Additional Resources
- 4 interactive case studies here.
- You can find profiles of innovative educators and chaplains here.
- 6 videos from specific sectors on what hiring leaders in those sectors look for in prospective chaplains
- Resources for educators to use in the classroom can be found here.
- We maintain a current list of degree options here.
- A freely accessible bibliography on chaplaincy education, hosted on Zotero, is available here. (Click the folder “Chaplaincy Education” on the left side of the scree.)
- Our Field Guide series for aspiring chaplains can be viewed here, including registration for upcoming sessions as well viewing archived recordings.
- Sacred Practice, a collaboration between Union Theological Seminary and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, improves health (spiritual, mental, and physical) in our communities by increasing collaboration between health care leaders and spiritual leaders.
If you are considering starting a chaplaincy program at your institution, or revising one, contact us so we can share summary curricular materials with you and help get you started.
Check out our separate project Innovating Chaplaincy Education, funded by the Wabash Center, which features eight theological educators working together to revise chaplaincy-related syllabi. The Wabash Center project kicked off with a webinar that also closed the Summer 2020 gathering of the Educating Effective Chaplains project; you can view that webinar below and by clicking here.
Project Contributors
Bilal Ansari
Hartford International University for Religion and Peace
Jawad Bayat
Penn Medicine Princeton Health
Brenda Bennefield
Gammon Theological Seminary
Duane Bidwell
Claremont School of Theology
Wendy Cadge
Brandeis University
Letitia Campbell
Candler School of Theology
Melissa Carter
New York University
Carol Damm
Boston College
Carrie Doehring
Iliff School of Theology
David Fleenor
Mount Sinai Center for Spirituality
Victor Gabriel
University of the West
Kathy Gallivan
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Laurie Garrett-Cobbina
San Francisco Theological Seminary
Cheryl Giles
Harvard Divinity School
Katie Givens Kime
Odyssey Impact
Elisa Goldberg
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Dagmar Grefe
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Trace Haythorn
ACPE
Celene Ibrahim
Groton School
Allison Kestenbaum
UC San Diego Health
Heidi Kugler
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Dennis LoRusso
Georgia State University
Lars Mackenzie
Boston University
Pam McCarroll
Emmanuel College, University of Toronto
Barbara McClure
Brite Divinity School
Jan McCormack
Denver Seminary
Zachary Moon
Chicago Theological Seminary
Mary O’Neill
Boston Children’s Hospital
Su Yon Pak
Union Theological Seminary
Bill Payne
Ashland Theological Seminary
Shelly Rambo
Boston University School of Theology
Rochelle Robins
Academy for Jewish Religion
John Schmalzbauer
Missouri State University
Judith Schwanz
Nazarene Theological Seminary
Munir Shaikh
Bayan Claremont
Michael Skaggs
ACPE
Mychal Springer
NY-Presbyterian Hospital
Ronit Stahl
UC Berkeley
Tiffany Steinwert
Stanford University
Mary Martha Thiel
Hebrew SeniorLife
Danielle Tumminio
Seminary of the Southwest
Nathan White
Graduate School for Army Chaplain Corps
Taylor Winfield
Princeton University