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Our COURSES &
MAJORS
at a Glance
Saint James College Seminary
HOSPICE CHAPLAINCY Studies
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Our COURSES &
MAJORS
at a Glance
NTERESTING
FEATURES
America's only Certified Professional Chaplain training
program from a fully-chartered College-Seminary
Hospice Training requirements vary from place to place
Hospice Chaplains are unique and
require special training...

There are general requirements but, each Hospice program is
independent, and applies the Chaplaincy standards that fit the
specialized needs of the area being served.  (We will give you the
typical requirements, below....)

  • Hospice Chaplains typically work directly with
    patients who are acutely (and terminally) ill.  They work
    with staff who grieve when one of their beloved patients
    passes on.  They work with patient families.  And, of
    course, they must interact positively with Administration.

  • Prison chaplains tend to work with individual faith
    requirements.  Police and Fire Chaplains may conduct
    funeral ceremonies, do some counseling, and offer the
    convocation at banquets, retirement parties, and so forth.  
    Hospital Chaplains are often faced with immediate trauma,
    life-and-death emergency procedures, or praying with
    patients and their families just before surgery.
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A look what we offer in our Hospice Chaplain Curriculum
We provide a solid chaplaincy program but include many special Hospice-oriented
lessons that our students have requested.  While it is important for you to realize that
we are an independent interfaith, non-denominational, college seminary, we can not    
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Typical requirements to be
met by Hospice chaplain
applicants

•   Ordination  (We offer Ordination training)

•   2 years pastoral experience

•   Master of Divinity (M-Div) (or its
equivalent).  Being a fully-chartered not-for-
profit college seminary, we offer Divinity
Degree studies.

•   4-Units of CPE are typically requested,
although the actual number is determined by
your local Hospice (our Certified
Professional Chaplain program offers
graduates Four CPE Units with an approved
internship, practicum, or project  in your
community, or through our seminary).

    •   Most Hospice
    programs want their
    applicants to already
    be working in full-time
    paid chaplaincy
    position

•   Eligible for certification with professional
organization (Our American Chaplain
Training Institute was established to create a
set of nationally-consistent standards for
those who wish to be designated Certified
Professional Chaplains.  Our graduates not
only earn this certification but are also given
the opportunity for both continuing education
and Certified Professional Griefworker status.

•   Background, criminal, and credit checks
Practicum:  Not every student requires
these, but 4-CPE units may be earned if a
practicum (short internship) is completed
along with these lessons.  A seminary
faculty committee must approve project
proposals but, in general, they may involve
a brief period of volunteer experience,
shadowing a certified chaplain, or the
committee may accept some aspect of
your current ministerial / human services
work to fulfill this requirement.
We can tell you, however, that none of
our graduates has ever told us that
their training and certification were not
helpful to them.
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To give you a broad overview of our program...
Exploring our curriculum -- a very abbreviated glance:
health care
  • Differences between Hospice and Palliative
    Care
  • Section on Spiritual Assessment
  • Stakeholder expectations:  patients, family, boss
  • Chaplaincy and cultural diversity
  • Care plans - Interdisciplinary
  • Documentation and progress notes unique to
    Hospice
  • Networking in the community - lesson provided
    by our School of Social Work and Counseling
  • Recruitment, training, supervision of volunteers
  • Compliance issues
  • Coaching and Counseling
  • Funerals / Memorial Services
  • Worship services in facility, Communion
  • Healing and Other Ceremonies
  • Dealing with grieving staff, co-workers
  • Preparing for annual program evaluation

    The following is a very
    abbreviated list of additional
    lessons offered ... all designed to
    provide you with a broad
    overview of our program.  The
    actual curriculum is much more
    comprehensive

  • Comparative World Religions - from our divinity
    school
  • The Essential Art of Reflective Listening - from
    our School of Social Work and Counseling
  • Client Confidentiality
  • Situation Ethics
  • Grief Worker Modules 1-4 from our Certified
    Professional Griefworker program
  • Prayer 1:  The role of prayer at Hospice
  • Prayer 2:  When to, and when not to
  • Prayer 3:  How to, and how not to pray in a
    Hospice context, and with whom
  • Counseling Phases -- from our school of
    Social Work and Counseling