AGLIPAY CENTRAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

#1 Nancamaliran West , Urdaneta City, 2428 Pangasinan, Philippines

Office Telefax: 075-568 7173
E-mail: acts@ifi.ph Webpage: http://ifi.ph

Center for Clinical Pastoral Education – Community and Ecumenical Based

10 Weeks/Full Unit CPE

Parish-Based CPE
Non-Traditional/Online AND F2F Supervision
300 hours clinical duties
100 hours pedagogical, didactic, group dynamics and sessions

OBJECTIVES OF CPE
(UNDER ACPE STANDARDS)

CPE provides theological and professional education using the clinical method of
learning in diverse contexts of ministry. ACPE (Association of Clinical Pastoral Education)
accredits two types of clinical pastoral education program: CPE (Level I/Level II) and
Supervisory CPE. ACPE accredited programs provide a progressive learning experience
through a two level curriculum. Level I curriculum outcomes must be satisfactory
addressed prior to admission to Level II. Completion of CPE (Level I & Level II) curriculum
is prerequisite for admission to Supervisory CPE.

Objectives of CPE (Level I and Level II)

Pastoral Formation:

 To develop students’ awareness of themselves as ministers and of the ways their

ministry affects persons.

 To develop students’ awareness of how their attitudes, values, assumptions,

strengths, and weaknesses affect their pastoral care.

 To develop students’ ability to engage and apply the support, confrontation and
clarification of the peer group for the integration of personal attributes and pastoral
functioning.

Pastoral Competence:

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 To develop students’ awareness and understanding of how persons, social
conditions, system, and structures affect their lives and the lives of others and how
to address effectively these issues through their ministry.

 To develop students’ skills in providing intensive and extensive pastoral care and
counseling to persons.

 To develop students’ ability to make effective use of their religious/spiritual

heritage, theological understanding, and knowledge of the behavioral sciences in
their pastoral care of persons and groups.

 To teach students the pastoral role in professional relationship and how to work
effectively as a pastoral members of a multidisciplinary team.

 To develop students’ capacity to use one’s pastoral and prophetic perspectives in

preaching, teaching, leadership, management, pastoral care and pastoral
counseling.

Pastoral Reflection:

 To develop students’ understanding and ability to apply the clinical method of

learning.

 To develop students’ abilities to use both individual and group supervision for
personal and professional growth, including the capacity to evaluate one’s ministry.

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 OUTCOMES

Standard Outcomes of CPE Level I

The curriculum for CPE Level I addresses the fundamental of pastoral formation,
pastoral competence and pastoral reflection through one or more program units.
Satisfactory achievement of Level I outcomes must be documented in the supervisor’s
evaluations.

At the conclusion CPE Level I is able to:

Pastoral Formation:

 Articulate the central themes of their religious heritage and the theological
understanding that informs their ministry.

 Identify and discuss major life events, relationship and cultural contexts that
influence personal identity as expressed in pastoral functioning.

 Initiate peer group and supervisory consultation and receive critique about one’s
ministry practice.

Pastoral Competence:

 Risks offering appropriate and timely critique.

 Recognize relational dynamics within group contexts.

 Demonstrate integration of conceptual understandings presented in the curriculum

into pastoral practice.

 Initiate helping relationships within and across diverse populations.

Pastoral Reflection:

 Use the clinical methods of learning to achieve their educational goals.

 Formulate clear and specific goals for continuing pastoral formation with reference
to personal strengths and weaknesses.

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Standard of Outcomes of CPE Level II

At the conclusion of CPE Level II (Advanced) students are able to:

Pastoral Formation

1. Articulate an understanding of the pastoral role that is congruent with their pastoral
and cultural values, basic assumptions and personhood.

Pastoral Competence

1. Provide pastoral ministry to diverse people, taking into consideration multiple

elements of cultural and ethnic differences, social conditions, systems, and justices
issues without imposing their own perspectives.

2. Demonstrate a range of pastoral skills, including listening/attending, emphatic

reflection, conflict resolution/confrontation, crisis management, and approrpiate use of
religious/spiritual resources.

3. Assess the strengths and needs of those served, grounded in theology and using an
understanding of the behavioral science.

4. Manage ministry and administrative function in terms of accountability, productivity

self- direction, and clear, accurate professional communication.

5. Demonstrate competent use of self in ministry and administrative function which

includes: emotional availability, cultural humanity, appropriate self-disclosure, positive
use of power and authority, a non-anxious and non judgmental presence, and clear and
responsible boundaries.

Pastoral Reflection

1. Establish collaboration and dialogue with peers, authorities and other professionals.

2. Demonstrate awareness of the Spiritual Care Collaborative Common Standards for

Professional Chaplaincy.

Written Requirements:

 Individual Learning Contract

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 7 Verbatim, the 7th verbatim is the Critical Incident Report (4-5 pages, double

spaced, 12 font)

 7 Weekly Reflection Paper ( 2-3 pages double spaced; 12 font)

 Theological Focus/Pastoral Theology Paper (3-5 pages; double spaced, 12 font)

 Spiritual Autobiography (6-8 pages; double spaced, 12 font)

 Midpoint Evaluation

 Final Evaluation

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING CONTRACT

Name: ____________________ Date:__________

1. Personal Goal
A. Ways I will address the goal:
B. How I will know I have made the progress:

2. Interpersonal Learning Goal

A. Ways I will address the goal:
B. How I will know I have made the progress:

3. Ministry Skills Goal

A. Ways I will address the goal:
B. How will I know I have made the progress:

GOALS MUST….
1. Be realistic
2. Be specific
3. Be time-limited
4. Be clinically and pastorally oriented
5. Be measurable, and
6. Reflect an understanding of the objectives of CPE.

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 THE VERBATIM

The verbatim presentations are critical to the process of CPE. It is a way to look
directly at your ability to provide pastoral care and to give you feedback for reflection.
Verbatim should about 4-5 pages in length. The data section will be couple of
paragraphs, the verbatim part will be concise but full detail of the dialogue between you
and the patient, and the reflection evaluation section should take the bulk of your
energy and time and will bring depth and insight to your ministry. You should have two
pages on the reflection/evaluation question listed.

For case presentations to the group you must provide a copy of your verbatim for each
student and each supervisor. Use the following format:

FORMAT
Heading:

Verbatim #:

Patient Initial or Pseudonym:

Place of Visit/Encounter:

Date:

Time/Length of Encounter:

Type: Initial, Follow-Up, Referral, Emergency, call, trauma, etc.

I. Learning Issues:
It is very important for you to identify these for the group and for yourself. This
paragraph should include these questions:
Why are you presenting this verbatim?
What questions does this verbatim raise for you?
How does this verbatim relate to your learning goals/contract/outcomes?
On what specifically do you want feedback from the group?
What are your growth edges in this encounter?

II. The Data

Introductory Information: (For purposes of confidentiality, do not use the person’s

actual name. Use a pseudonym or letters.) Provide the person’s age, gender,
circumstances, diagnosis, referral source, etc.

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Pre-visit Knowledge: What did you know, if anything, about this person, or the family
prior to this encounter?

Initial Observations: What were your initial observations at the beginning of the
encounter (room dark, airy, family members, smells, how the person looks, etc.)

III. Verbatim Data

Word by Word report. Write exactly how the conversation went between you
and the person/family. If this was a long conversation, you may summarize parts of the
conversation. However, you must write verbatim how the conversation began and
ended, and choose one part of the conversation that was most troubling, or in need of
process and write that part verbatim (exactly how it went or to the best of your recall
ability). You may put in parenthesis feelings or thoughts you had about what was said,
etc. Write in the following format:

C1: (C for Chaplain)

P1: (P for Patient/Person)
C2:
P2:
Etc:

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 Reflection/Evaluation

IV. Self- Evaluation (You must respond to this section)

Evaluate your ministry with this person/family.
How well did you do?
How might have you done better?
What feelings do you remember having immediately after the encounter?
What does this tell you about the encounter?
What would you do differently if you were to go back and visit the person?

V. Spiritual Assessment (You must respond to this question)

What is your assessment of this person’s spiritual needs?
What, if anything, is this person asking of you?
What happened in this encounter between you and the person?
What theological perspectives did this encounter raise?
Did this encounter raise any theological concerns/questions for you? Use
defined criteria through reading materials and lecture materials to apply
conceptual learning around theological criteria.

VI. Application of Conceptual Learning (You must respond to this question)

What conceptual learning do you apply to this encounter? Reading/speakers?
What behavioral or developmental issues did you observe and/or deal with.
You are encourage to attach a significant article, notes or information that
informs your practice or understanding of this encounter. Demonstrate
integration of theory and practice in these paragraphs.

Grade: (5/5)
1/5- Identified learning issues (I)
1/5- overall depth and content of verbatim (II, III, VII)
1/5-Self-Evaluation (IV)
1/5-Spiritual Assessment (V)
1/5-Conceptual Learning (VI)
5/5

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CRITICAL INCIDENT REPORT

Purpose: To have an appropriate format to report clinical work in order that it can be
critiqued by peers and supervisor in light of the individual trainee and the Chaplaincy
Department and Clinical Pastoral Education Program.

Format:

Critical Incident Report

Chaplain’s Name:

Date of Writing:

Location:

Date of Incident:

1. Who and Where?

Who is involved?
Background of events and relationships that led to this ‘incident.’
What was the physical and emotional setting in which this took place?

2. What Happened?
Narrate the incident itself as if you experienced and perceived it.

3. What made this incident critical to you?

4. Pastoral Assessment of the Incident

As relevant in terms of:
a. Psychological issues
b. Sociological issues
c. Theological issues

5. What did you learn from the incident?

6. Time Elapsed in the Incident

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JOURNAL/WEEKLY REFLECTION

PURPOSE: To assist the trainee in assessing the significance of the CPE experience in
relation to the learning goals and standards of the program.

POLICY: Each trainee will keep a journal, as a formal way to reflect on learning and
growth in CPE. This journal will provide material for the supervisory conference.

This report is intended to give you the opportunity to journal your learning for
each week. Accordingly, you are to write a summary of your learning in each of the
seminars as well as in your supervisory sessions.

Supervisory Session: How do you feel you used supervision this week? Do you hear and
respond to your concerns? What could you have done differently?

Verbatim Seminars: Write a paragraph or two on personal/pastoral learning as a result

of the verbatim discussion. Were you able to identify with and engage the presenter?

Interpersonal Seminars: Write a paragraph or two on how you experienced this

seminar. Were you able to engage your peers? If so, how? If not, why? Give a summary
of the basic concerns. What, if anything, did you learn about yourself?

Theological Integration Seminar: Write a paragraph or two on the basic theological

issue or concern. How did the theological discussion affect your own theology?

Didactic Seminar: Write a paragraph or two on what you learned from this seminar.
Was the presentation clear and informative?

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GUIDELINES FOR MIDPOINT AND FINAL EVALUATIONS
Evaluation is a dynamic process through which the individual student, his/her
peers, and the supervisor share conjointly their perceptions of the learning and growth
that has occurred. The intent of this process is to provide an opporunity for constructive
and integrative reflection on the various aspects of your learning experience, including
both personal and professional dimensions, so that you may arrive at a reliable
understanding of what and how you have learned, where you are now in your learning,
and an identification of your continuing learning needs.

Midpoint/Mid-Unit Assessment

1. Assess your learning in the light of your learning contract. Are there goals you want to
add or change?

2. Assess your relationship in the church/hospital with members, patients and families,
medical staff, church staff, support staff, your use of the clinical method of learning.

3. Assess your group using a metaphor of your choice. Write a story, song or poem,
placing yourself, your peers and supervisor within the metaphor. For a metaphor, you
might use a circus, shoes, animals, colors, elements, flowers, for example. Be creative
and remember that this is an educational assessment.

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Final/Unit Evaluation

1. Your general assessment of your unit of CPE. Where are you now in relation to
where you were personally and professionally when you began the unit. Indicate some
of the changes, if any, that you have experienced and recognized in yourself.

2. Relationship with Persons and Family Members. What have you learned about
yourself personally and professionally as a result of your contacts with patients/person-
in-need and family members? Include particular relationships that seemed significant
and indicate why?

3. Your relationship in the group seminars and with your peers. Give a general
assessment of your peer group learning experiences (verbatim, IPR, etc.) Describe your
learning relationship with each member of the peer group. Assess what you have
learned about yourself personally and professionally as a result of being in a relationship
with each. What theological issues surfaced as a result of each relationship?

4. Evaluate your experiences with the supervisor. What have you learned about your
relationship to, and your exercise of authority? How have you grown toward the
capacity to evaluate your own authority?

5. Relationship with Other professionals. Include an assessment of your contacts and

significant encounters with persons in other roles, e.g. nurses, physicians,
administrators, hospital staff, local clergy, other members of pastoral care department.
How did you make use of them? What did you learn about yourself personally and
professionally as a result of these contacts?

6. Relationships with Theology. What theological issues were significant for you during
this unit of CPE?

7. Conclusion. What insights, strengths and skills have you learned and developed as a
result of this CPE unit?

8. What metaphor, myth, psychological idea, biblical image or theological concept best
characterizes your experience with CPE?

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THEOLOGICAL FOCUS/PASTORAL THEOLOGY PAPER

A theological paper is written on a topic selected by the student in consultation

with the supervisor. Topics should relate to the theological heart of some issue
experience in CPE ministry. The paper should be academic and clinical, written with your
authority and voice, and demonstrate an integration with your reading reflections and
hospital ministry. The three to five pages will be presented in writing and orally to your
peers and supervisor for critique. A supporting bibliography is required.

RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

This paper is the story of your spiritual journey. It provides you with an
opportunity to examine the impact of your personal religious life on you and your
history. Sharing it with your peers and supervisor affords you the chance to gain
understanding perspective.

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Outline for Taking a Religious Autobiography
(The Supervision of Pastoral Care, David E. Steere, editor, pp.127-128)

Context, Setting
Where were you born, and who were the persons in your family of origin?
What were the religious and social class identifications of your family?
Have they changed?
What did your family teach you (in word and deed) about being religious?
How are you different from that?

Characters
Who are/were the persons who have been most influential in your religious
development? How were they influential?
Who is your favorite biblical character?
Have there been writers or figures in history that are important to your
understanding of faith?
What is your favorite biblical or religious story?
What is your favorite hymn or religious song?
What is your favorite scripture or religious writing?

Plot
Have you had experiences that were turning points in your relationship to
God? Describe them as best as you can.
Describe the time in your life you felt closest to God.
Describe the time in your life you felt farthest from God.
Describe how you feel about God at this time in your life.
What religious practices are important to you? Why?
If you could change your past, how would you do it?
If you could change yourself now, how would you do it?
What does the future look like to you?

Themes
How would you describe sin(s)?
When you are most discouraged, what renews your hope?
Why do some people suffer more than others?
Do you think much about death? How do you feel about dying?
Is there a purpose or plan for human life? How do you understand that?
What things do you not understand about God or your faith?
What religious symbols are most important to you? Why?

Tone
How does God feel about you and why?
When you think about God, what do you feel?
What blessings were given to you by those who brought you up?

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 What curses were conferred upon you by those who brought you up?

BOOK/READING REPORT

Name:___________________________________________
Book Title: _______________________________________

1. Give a summary of what the book is all about, including the author’s background and
purpose in writing this book.

2. What did the author say that significantly reinforced some of your present belief,
values and understanding?

3. What did the author say which you most strongly disagree?
4. How did the reading of the book speak to, or not speak to, your specific learning
needs?

5. How could you use what you read in your practice of ministry?

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