NEWS: "Buddhist White Paper" Passes at A.P.C. Conference

At this year’s annual conference of the Association of Professional Chaplains (A.P.C.), “Our Rising Presence: 60 Years of Compassion, Commitment, and Consistence,” held May 6th-10th in Atlanta, GA, a white paper authored by Chaplain Doug Vardell (with the contribution of board certified Buddhist chaplains David Zuniga, Bill Bartlett, Mark Power, Carlyle Coash, Trudi Hirsch, Dhammasiri Kekanadura, and Talon Windtalker) was accepted de facto without a vote by the A.P.C.’s Commission on Certification.

This white paper has important implications for the education of would-be Buddhist chaplains. Before we can understand those implications, though, we need some context.


The A.P.C. is a 60-year-old, national, not-for-profit, multifaith professional association established to “certify and serve its membership and to promote professional chaplaincy.” The A.P.C. has over 4,000 members, representing over 150 different faith groups.

Among the commitments of the A.P.C. is the commitment to cultivate “a high standard of excellence in pastoral care by establishing standards for professional competency; and by encouraging the continuing education and support of chaplains providing pastoral care in specialized settings.”

There are five membership categories within the A.P.C. These levels are based on specific standards, competencies, and levels of experience. These categories are:

  • Board Certified Chaplain (B.C.C.)
  • Provisional Certified Chaplain
  • Associate Chaplain
  • Affiliate
  • Student Affiliate

Of board certified chaplains, the A.P.C. writes:

    A Board Certified Chaplain has demonstrated professional excellence as a chaplain, has completed eligibility requirements, has been recommended by an Area Certification Committee, approved by the Commission on Certification and ratified by the A.P.C. Board of Directors.

Board certification with the A.P.C. is a boon to a chaplain in that it broadens her opportunities for employment. A chaplain may find employment without board certification, but the majority of employers require board certification or eligibility.

The eligibility requirements are as follows:

  1. a B.A. plus a theological education at the graduate professional level, which involves a minimum of 72 semester hours or 108 quarter hours of credit taken at an accredited school
  2. 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.)
  3. documentation of one year (2,000 hours) full time chaplaincy experience completed after the candidate’s residency
  4. ordination or commissioning to function in a ministry of pastoral care
  5. ecclesiastical endorsement


The first of the A.P.C.’s eligibility requirements for board certification, 72 semester hours or 108 quarter hours of theological education at the graduate level, is traditionally met with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree. At present only one university offers a M.Div. specifically tailored to meet such a requirement for aspiring Buddhist chaplains: Naropa University, my beloved graduate alma mater.

Two other accredited institutions with Buddhist roots, the Graduate Theological Union’s Institute of Buddhist Studies and the University of the West, are working to create tracks within their M.A. and doctoral degree programs, respectively, for those students interested in chaplaincy.

Although they do exist, the sparseness of these programs creates a considerable obstacle for Buddhists seeking board certification with the A.P.C. Furthermore, as Vardell articulates it:

    Buddhist education and training varies widely between schools (denominations) of Buddhism, and even within schools, between lineages and teachers…Variations pertinent to the A.P.C.’s Commission on Certification range from an anti-intellectualism that favors monastic spiritual experience over academic study, to westernized degree programs.

Enter the white paper.


“Equivalency Issues for Buddhist Candidates for Board Certification with the Association of Professional Chaplains: A White Paper” was originally addressed to the A.P.C.’s Theological Equivalency Committee, which is charged with evaluating the education of candidates who have not earned the requisite 72 semester hours or 108 quarter hours in theological/pastoral studies at the graduate level. The Committee had requested that the six aforementioned board certified Buddhist chaplains work with Vardell, a board certified chaplain and member of the Commission on Certification, to make recommendations regarding how to evaluate Buddhist chaplains seeking board certification who have not earned such an education. Vardell explains:
    The purpose of the White Paper is to address the fact that most Buddhist candidates will not have earned an accredited M.Div. or 72 [semester] graduate credits. The requirement of 72 credits serves the A.P.C. well, and should not be ignored for the sake of inclusiveness. Precisely because religious traditions vary so widely in their training practices, setting a clear single standard serves the cause of professional chaplaincy and facilitates the certification process.

Vardell and the Buddhist chaplains ultimately made seven recommendations in the white paper:

    RECOMMENDATION #1
    • A Master of Divinity degree is traditionally understood to cover nine areas. These areas will remain the standard for evaluating a candidate’s education. They are:
      • sacred literature
      • theology/philosophy
      • ritual/liturgy
      • religious history
      • comparative religions
      • religious education
      • institutional organization and administration
      • pastoral care and counseling
      • spiritual formation

    RECOMMENDATION #2

    • Ask board certified Buddhist chaplains to evaluate graduate programs that might fulfill the requirement of 72 credit hours or 108 quarter hours. This includes Naropa University and other schools that offer a Buddhist theological education, as well as graduate programs in Buddhist Studies and Religious Studies. Evaluation is deemed necessary because certain programs might not cover some of the nine areas outlined in Recommendation #1. An M.A. in Religious Studies or Buddhist Studies, for example, will probably not cover all nine areas.

    RECOMMENDATION #3

    • The six chaplains agree that the graduate theology requirement could be met outside of the academy, in formal or improvised Buddhist training programs. Of course, this would have to be carefully and specifically documented. A candidate would have to complete 7,200 hours of this education (1 credit = 100 hours), and would need to provide the following:
      • a detailed description of mentored training related to the nine subject areas
      • an explanation of educational goals and outcomes
      • careful estimates of time spent in “class,” practice, interviews, etc.
      • a list of sacred literature studied
      • a description of the teacher and a list of qualifications
      • printed materials from the religious community that detail the candidate’s activities
      • a validation of the candidate’s documentation by the teacher, and, when appropriate, their evaluation of the candidate

    RECOMMENDATION #4

    • Except in exceptional circumstances, the candidate must possess a B.A. degree. It is argued that a B.A. not only offers the candidate a breadth of cultural awareness, but also sets a standard of professionalism for chaplains and “maintains a basic level of transparency in the certification process,” as the Theological Equivalency Committee and the candidate’s Certification Committee cannot be expected to determine whether or not the candidate has gained the skills a B.A. offers. Not only are these committee members not professional educators, but evaluating this sort of thing places an undue burden on them.

    RECOMMENDATION #5

    • It is argued that meditation and chanting can, in some traditions, be considered educational. When properly documented, this may count toward the candidate’s 7,200 hour requirement. Characteristics of educational chanting and meditation can include:
      • supervision and specific instruction by the teacher
      • goals in a learning context, as in gaining meditative skill or developing insight around a subject within Buddhist philosophy
      • when progress is evaluated (e.g. progress through a set of koans)

    RECOMMENDATION #6

    • Vardell puts this recommendation succinctly, writing:

        Ask the B.C.C. Buddhist chaplains to create a compendium of the variety of educational retreats utilized for training, and provide this information to the members of the Theological Equivalency Committee.

    RECOMMENDATION #7

    • Again, Vardell is pithy here:

        Limit the amount of hours of meditation and chanting acceptable to the equivalency’s 72-credit total. For example, the Commission currently accepts up to three extra units of C.P.E. for 15 credits toward the 72-credit total. Similarly, meditation and chanting could be limited to 15 credits, which is approximately 20% of the 72-credit total, a reasonable percentage.


In an e-mail to the Buddhist Chaplaincy Yahoo! Group announcing the acceptance of the white paper by the A.P.C.’s Commission on Certification, Vardell explained the course of discussion on two potential additions to the white paper:
    The attention of the Commission on Certification was directed to two specific questions about additions to the White Paper:
      1. accepting hours or pages of privately read dharma books and dharma tapes
      2. accepting hours of time with a Buddhist therapist.

    I raised these questions because for the Continuing Ed. requirement for maintaining B.C.C. status, chaplains may include private reading and hours in therapy. So I asked, could candidates for B.C.C. also include these as part of their 72-credit requirement?

    The Commission decided against both, explaining the following:

      1. private reading without accountability is going away–the A.P.C. will begin moving toward requiring validation that something was learned, through a self-test for example
      2. therapy tends toward spiritual clarity and maturity essential for a good chaplain, but differing from the content required for the 72-credit education requirement.


Although the white paper doesn’t do much for those who have met the 72 credit hour requirement in the academy, I think its acceptance by the A.P.C.’s Commission on Certification represents an important step in dialogue with the A.P.C. about Buddhist chaplains and our infrastructural obstacles to board certification.

Best of all, though, it invites more Buddhists into professional chaplaincy.

This is great news.