DESCRIPTION:

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a program offered under the auspices of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) that provides "experience-based theological education which combines the practice of pastoral care with qualified supervision and peer group reflection and which is grounded in person-centered approach to religious ministry." It is a 400-hour course which may be taken in three options: 1) ten weeks full-time (FE509); 2) twenty weeks half-time (FE510); or 3) thirty weeks part-time (FE511), usually in hospital settings, but also in prisons and congregations.

This course meets (a) the requirements of the Family Pastoral Care and Counseling (FPCC) concentration of the M.Div. and (b) denominational requirements for CPE. It also provides a means for all students to increase their skills in ministry to the sick and bereaved. Particular attention is given to Christian self-understanding around issues of meaning, theodicy, death, and dying.

Participation in this course entails the following process: Select a CPE site from the ACPE website (www.acpe.edu) or from the ACPE catalogue (see Field Education office). Apply for CPE online through the regional website (www.cpepacificregion.com) or by contacting the desired CPE site for an application. Interview with the CPE supervisor at the desired site. After acceptance, pay tuition to the CPE site and register at Fuller. After fulfilling all course requirements (usually 400 hours over ten or twenty weeks), submit an Advanced Standing Form to the Office of Field Education along with the site supervisor's evaluation.

1. Completion of an application with the CPE site according to their deadlines and procedures. This is usually six to nine months prior to the start of the internship.

2. Completion of all required site work--usually 400 hours.

3. Completion of an Advanced Standing Form and submission to the Office of Field Education, along with the site supervisor's evaluation, by the third week of the term following completion of the work.

4. Interview with the Field Education Director in the quarter after the internship for feedback on the internship.

No Fuller course prerequisites. The site and supervisor must be listed in the current ACPE catalog and be in good standing with the ACPE.

This internship fulfills the FE2 Field Education requirement for the M.Div. (MIN 7). It is required for the Family and Pastoral Care and Counseling Concentration of the M.Div. and for ordination by some denominations. It is offered pass/fail only. No Fuller tuition is charged. Although for billing purposes, this is a zero-unit class, for the purposes of loan deferment, the ten-week internship is considered the equivalent of full-time enrollment (16 units); the twenty-week internship (extended) is considered the equivalent of half-time enrollment (8 units); and the thirty-week internship is considered less than half-time (4 units). Students receive eight units of Advanced Standing upon completion of the full internship.

FINAL EXAMINATION:

None. Evaluation is conducted entirely by the ACPE supervisor with feedback from the student, peer group, and professional staff.