Skip to main content

Newbold launches Clinical Pastoral Education course

A Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) course will be launched at Newbold this coming August in conjunction with the Adventist Chaplaincy Institute at the General Conference and the Director of Chaplaincy at the Trans-European Division.

Newbold announced it is now open for applications for the globally recognised CPE course, the preferred pathway for clergy to become certified chaplains in the United Kingdom. The course will run each summer over a period of four years as two-week residential intensives at Newbold, followed by 15 weeks of supervision. The first unit, led by Dr Ivan Omana, Associate Director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries at the General Conference, commences on 15 August 2022.

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been interested in having pastors serve as chaplains in different public institutions for a while,” said Dr Stephen Currow, Principal Lecturer in Pastoral Studies and Director of Field Education at Newbold. “There is a demand for certified chaplains, and the British Union Conference sees this as an opportunity to serve beyond the walls of the Church,” he explained.

“Primarily, we’re going to be looking for experienced pastors with a master’s degree,” said Dr Currow. “However,” he continued, “this is not a straight academic programme. It works on the premise that pastors need to be in touch with who they are and understand their impact on the people they work with. It is more about developing the capacity to engage with others than developing skills to do things. So, there is a lot of self-reflection and working out who you are, which is probably the most challenging part of it.”

As part of the course, pastors will do clinical placements in hospitals and carry out pastoral visitations at hospices and care homes. There is also the possibility of working in multi-professional teams in other clinical settings such as prisons, military, or education institutions.

“If we were to look at the content of the course, we’re certainly talking about holistic spiritual care with a patient-centred approach to ministry in a clinical context,” said Dr Currow. “You can do a unit of CPE, but to become a board-certified chaplain, you need to do the four units, and that’s what we’re aiming for. We are looking for a cohort of seven or eight people that will go through the whole four-year course and see it through to the end.

“This is our opportunity to be much more effective in pastoral care ministry. It allows us to minister beyond the Church’s walls, and the learning received will also enrich how communities perceive the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

Applications for the CPE course must be submitted to Newbold by 31 March 2022. Interviews for trainee positions will take place in April, and the successful applicants will be notified on 30 April.

For more information about the course and to request an application pack, please email [email protected].