DESCRIPTION:

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a program offered under the auspices of the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) which 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 an intensive 400-hour course taken full-time (FE509) over ten weeks or part-time (FE510) over twenty weeks, usually in hospital settings, but also in prisons and some 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: (1) The student obtains a current Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) catalog from the Office of Field Education of Office of Career Services Job Room and selects a possible site. (2) The student calls of writes the site and obtains an application for the desired term(s), submits the application, and is interviewed by the site. (3) After receiving acceptance, the student pays tuition to the site and registers at Fuller. (4) After fulfilling all course requirements (usually 400 hours over ten or twenty weeks), the student obtains an Advanced Standing Form from the Office of Field Education and submits it, with the site supervisor's evaluation, to the Office of Field Education.

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 second course requirement in supervised field education experience in the M.Div. core requirement in Field Education (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 and course load, the ten-week internship is considered a full load (16 units) and the twenty-week internship (extended) is considered a half-load (8 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.