Are you considering an appointment as an
Endorsed Chaplain in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches?
If so, you are considering one of the most unique spiritual opportunities
for ministry available anywhere.

Click on the service logos below or scroll down to learn more about each service Chaplaincy ministry.

What is a Military or VA Chaplain?

In the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a chaplain is a priest who provides pastoral ministry to Christians and people in all walks of life. Some priests serve full-time as chaplains in the armed forces, whereas other parish priests have assumed additional responsibilities as chaplains at Veterans Administration hospitals, with local police forces, at prisons, and in hospitals. One of the most significant features of chaplaincy activity is ministry to individuals who are Sacramental, Evangelical, and Charismatic Christians, and the witness of our faith among all Americans.

In general, a “chaplain” is by formal definition typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church, or who are unable to attend church for various reasons such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties.

Armed Forces chaplains are highly-qualified priests who:
• Integrate the roles of clergy and commissioned officer
• Care for Christians while providing for the free exercise of religion by all personnel
• Understand the realities of military life.

Armed Forces (military) chaplains are commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, or Air Force; marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel are served by US Navy Chaplains.

Each branch of the military has Chaplains who serve in active duty or in the Reserves. You can also enter the Chaplain Candidate Program before graduating from seminary. This option provides money for your education and allows you to gain military experience a few weeks each summer. After graduation, you can either enter active duty or the Reserves. After 20 years of active duty, you can retire from the military and receive pay and benefits for the rest of your life. This money and experience could help you transition successfully to another ministry. After 20 years of Reserve duty, you will receive pay and benefits starting at retirement.

Benefits for Chaplains
• Tuition assistance for your theological education (Chaplain Candidate Program)
• Promotions and pay based upon rank and time in grade
• Retirement plan with no paycheck deductions
• 30 days of paid vacation (active duty)
• Medical and dental care for your family (active duty)
• Free on-base housing or allowance (active duty)
• Continuing education
 

The primary roles for Department of Veterans Affairs hospital chaplains are:

• Ensure that Veteran patients (both inpatient and outpatient) receive appropriate
...clinical pastoral care as desired or requested by the Veteran;
• To ensure that hospital, domiciliary and nursing home patients’ constitutional right...to free exercise of religion is protected. What this means is that it is the Veterans
...choice as to whether to meet with a chaplain or any religious person;
• To protect patients from having religion imposed on them. 
• It is always the Veterans choice.

On admission to the hospital a Veteran will be asked a simple screening question: “Are there religious practices or spiritual concerns you want the chaplain, their physician, and other health care team members to immediately know about?” Yes or No.  If the answer is “Yes” the chaplain will be notified to visit them.

If they are admitted to an area that is served by an interdisciplinary team of specialists. The chaplain will be a member of that team and ensure that your spiritual and/or pastoral care needs are met. Chaplains will generally visit them during their stay in the hospital.  If they do not desire to be visited they have only to indicate so.

Chaplain coverage is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, particularly in urgent situations or emergencies.

If they desire to contact a member of their local clergy, the chaplain can help you arrange that visit. Chapels and/or meditation rooms are available at all medical centers.  Religious or spiritual literature will be provided to you at your request.

Chaplains have a variety of roles as a member of the clinical team responsible for their care. Typical activities include:

Chaplain Supportive Spiritual Care
• Grief and loss care
• Risk Screening to identify factors that may affect your recovery
• Facilitation of spiritual issues related to tissue/organ donation
• Communication with your caregivers
• Facilitation of staff communication
• Conflict resolution among staff members, patients and family members
• Referral and linkage to internal and external resources
• Assistance with decision making and communication
• Staff and Family Support

Chaplains are Members of a Patient Care Team
• Participation in Medical Rounds and Patient Care Conferences
• Participation in Interdisciplinary Education
• Charting spiritual care interventions in medical charts

Chaplains Design and Lead Religious Ceremonies of Worship and Ritual
• Prayer, meditation and reading of holy texts
• Worship and observance of holy days
• Blessings and Sacraments to include the Anointing of the Sick
• Memorial Services and Funerals
• Holiday Observances

Chaplains Lead or Participate in Healthcare Ethics Programs
• Assisting patients and families in completing Advance Directives
• Clarifying value issues with patients, family members and staff within the medical...center
• Participating in Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards
• Consulting with Staff and Patients about ethical concerns
• Pointing to human value aspects of institutional policies and behaviors
• Conducting in-service education

Chaplains Educate the Healthcare Team and the Community on Religious & Spiritual Issues
• Interpreting and analyzing multi-faith and multi-cultural traditions as they impact...clinical services
• Making presentations concerning spirituality and health issues
• Train community religious representatives regarding the institutional procedures for...effective visitation
• Training and supervising volunteers from religious communities who can provide...spiritual care to the sick
• Conducting professional clinical education programs for seminarians, clergy and...religious leaders
• Develop congregational health ministries
• Educating students in the health care professions regarding the interface of religion and ...spirituality with medical care

Chaplains act as Mediators and Reconcilers for those who Need a Voice in the Healthcare System
• As advocates or “cultural brokers” between Institutions and patients, family members, ...and staff
• Clarifying and Interpreting institutional policies to patients, clergy and religious...organizations
• Offering patients, family members and staff an emotionally and spiritually ”safe”...professional from whom they can seek counsel or guidance
• Representing community issues and concerns to the organization

Chaplains may Serve as Contact Persons to Arrange Assessment for the Appropriateness and Coordination of Complementary Therapies to include:
• Guided Imagery
• Relaxation Therapy
• Music Therapy
• Healing Touch

Chaplains and their Certifying Organizations Encourage and Support Research Activities to Assess the Effectiveness of Providing Spiritual Care
• Developing spiritual assessment and spiritual risk screening tools
• Developing tools for benchmarking productivity and staffing patterns that seek to...increase patient and family satisfaction
• Conducting interdisciplinary research with investigators in allied fields publishing...results in medical, psychological and chaplaincy journals
• Promoting research in spiritual care at national conventions

Prison Chaplain Career Opportunities With The Bureau of Prisons

How To Become A Prison Chaplain was the focus of a question I was recently asked. While I have several friends who are Prison Chaplains, I was unaware of the chaplain career opportunities with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Serving as a Prison Chaplain is a possible career change for pastors that could be very fulfilling, especially for those wanting an alternative ministry career path. Another term defining this specific area of chaplaincy would be Correctional Chaplain.

Chaplain job opportunities appears right at the top of the list of correctional career opportunities for which the Bureau of Prisons say they are always accepting applications.

Professional Career Possibilities With The Bureau of Prisons

There are multiple Bureau of Prisons, "BOP", career opportunities covering a wide array of professions. The BOP "family" is described as a diverse, well-trained, and career-oriented team with the finest corrections professionals in the country.

Prison Chaplains will join the Bureau's approximately 35,000 highly-motivated individuals working in 114 correctional institutions across the country.

There is a wide range of occupations servicing the prison population, with correctional chaplains being much needed minister in the prison setting. You can explore the Bureau of Prisons web pages and see that a chaplain career in corrections with the Federal Bureau of Prisons is .

Again, note that Correctional Chaplains are at the top of key professionals for which the Bureau of Prisons are always accepting applications:

• Professional Prison Chaplain
• Prison Clinical Psychologist
• Correctional Officer
• Prison Dental Officer
• Prison Medical Officer
• Prison Nurse Practitioner
• Prison Physician Assistant
• Prison Registered Nurse

Qualifications of Correctional Prison Chaplains

Correctional Chaplains Educational Requirements:
1. Educationally the prison chaplain must have successfully completed an
....undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
2. In addition, have a Master of Divinity degree or the equivalent from an American....Theological School (ATS) accredited residential seminary or school of theology.

Ecclesiastical Requirements for a Prison Chaplain Career:
1. Ordination or membership in an ecclesiastically recognized religious institute of....vowed men or women;
2. Experience needed is at least 2 years of autonomous experience as a
....religious/spiritual leader in a parish or specialized ministry setting;
3. Necessary is a current ecclesiastical endorsement by the recognized endorsing body of ones faith tradition;
4. Demonstration of a willingness to provide and coordinate programs for inmates of
....all faiths;
5. Possess the necessary credentials and ability to provide worship services in his/her....faith tradition.

Yes, there are Prison Chaplain Employment Opportunities for the experienced, credentialed minister with an ecumenical spirit willing to serve the multiple faiths of the prison population.

For the Correctional Chaplain meeting the basic educational and ecclesiastical requirements, it seems that the Federal Bureau of Prisons can provide you with an opportunity to do challenging, spiritually satisfying work.

Further information concerning Prison Chaplain Opportunities can be found at
http://www.bop.gov/jobs/job_descriptions/chaplain.jsp.
 

Police Chaplains

Police Chaplains are comprised of professional clergy members who, depending on the municipality, volunteer their services to department employees, their families, and members of the community during times of crisis, sorrow, or conflict.

Depending on the municipality, Police Chaplains participate in ride-a longs and conduct station visits.  They are on-call 24 hours a day to assist police personnel with a variety of situations in the field such as death notifications, child deaths, lost or missing persons, and suicides.

Police Chaplains may also be requested to respond to major incidents and disasters such as plane crashes, multiple injury incidents, officer involved shootings and to assist with crisis intervention.  Police Chaplains donate several hundred hours to the community and department each year.
 

Specialization Chaplains

Specialized Chaplains are professionals trained to provide spiritual care in specialized settings like hospitals, retirement villages, meet with university students, serve in the workplace and other specialized settings that require endorsement.As an integral part of the endorsed chaplaincy team, CEEC chaplains provide ministry and short-term counseling during times of crisis and transition. Chaplains act as God's emergency responders to those who are trapped by the circumstances of life.

CEEC Endorsed Chaplains offer the following services.

Counseling Services
• Spiritual Counseling
• Grief Counseling
• Individual Counseling
• Pre-marital Counseling
• Marriage Counseling
• Family Counseling
• Grief Management Seminars
• Grief Support Group

Miscellaneous Services
• Speaking and worship services
• Funerals and/or Memorial services
• Weddings
• Infant dedications
• Baptisms
• General worship services
• Devotional resources
• Inspirational thoughts and lectures
• Music ministry
• Bible study
• Christmas caroling
• Prayer chain
• Community Resource Facilitation