Clinical pastoral education
Encyclopedia
Clinical pastoral education (CPE) is education
to teach pastoral care
to clergy
and others. CPE is the primary way of training hospital and hospice chaplains in the United States. CPE is both a multicultural and interfaith
experience that uses real-life ministry encounters of students to improve the ministry and pastoral care provided by caregivers of all different faith and cultural backgrounds. Clinical Pastoral Education had its beginnings in the early twentieth century. In 1925, Dr. Richard Cabot
, a physician and adjunct at Harvard Divinity School
, published an article in the Survey Graphic
suggesting that every candidate for the ministry receive clinical training for pastoral work similar to the clinical training offered to medical students. In the 1930s, the Rev. Anton Boisen
placed theological students in supervised contact with patients in mental hospitals. The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an accrediting organization for CPE programs.
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
to teach pastoral care
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
to clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
and others. CPE is the primary way of training hospital and hospice chaplains in the United States. CPE is both a multicultural and interfaith
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
experience that uses real-life ministry encounters of students to improve the ministry and pastoral care provided by caregivers of all different faith and cultural backgrounds. Clinical Pastoral Education had its beginnings in the early twentieth century. In 1925, Dr. Richard Cabot
Richard Clarke Cabot
Richard Clarke Cabot was an American physician who advanced clinical hematology, was an innovator in teaching methods, and was a pioneer in social work.-Family History:...
, a physician and adjunct at Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...
, published an article in the Survey Graphic
Survey Graphic
The Survey Graphic was a United States magazine launched in 1921. From 1921 to 1932, it was published as a supplement to The Survey and became a separate publication in 1933. The SG focused on sociological and political research and analysis of national and international issues...
suggesting that every candidate for the ministry receive clinical training for pastoral work similar to the clinical training offered to medical students. In the 1930s, the Rev. Anton Boisen
Anton Boisen
Anton Theophilus Boisen was widely regarded as a pioneering figure in the hospital chaplaincy and clinical pastoral education movements. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Boisen was the son of Hermann Balthsar Boisen and Elisabeth Louisa Wylie...
placed theological students in supervised contact with patients in mental hospitals. The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an accrediting organization for CPE programs.