FROM THE MAILBAG: Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Programs in the U.S.

by Danny Fisher

[This post has been updated as of 9:00 a.m. PST on 5.4.09. Thanks to Andrew Merz for the correction.]

Today’s mailbag question comes from reader and sometime commenter Secundra Beasley, who wants to know more about Buddhist chaplaincy training programs in the United States. I’ve blogged about various programs in the past, and there are links to (I think) all of them to the right. But I haven’t ever explained what they do and don’t do in one post before, though, so it seemed like a good idea to address this in our “From the Mailbag” section. Please feel free to leave comments, further questions, quibbles, or your own recommendations below. (And if you know about a Buddhist chaplaincy training program that I haven’t mentioned, please tell us about it.)

DEAR DANNY: Would you post the list of places that offer Buddhist chaplaincy training programs in the United States? — SECUNDRA

DEAR SECUNDRA: That’s a big question with lots of pieces. Professional chaplains are generally certified by whatever organization serves and supports spiritual care work in their particular area. (Healthcare and hospice chaplains are certified by the Association for Professional Chaplains, police chaplains by the International Conference of Police Chaplains, military chaplains by the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, and so on.) All of these organizations have their own standards and competencies. For all intents and purposes, we could think of board certification with the A.P.C. as the “gold standard” for professional chaplains. They require:

  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 C.P.E. residency
  4. ordination or commissioning to function in a ministry of pastoral care
  5. ecclesiastical endorsement
In terms of number one, there exist three institutions offering graduate-level training programs for Buddhists with a view to a career in professional chaplaincy: Naropa University, the Institute of Buddhist Studies, University of the West (there’s still time to apply–applications are due July 1st!), and Harvard Divinity School. Our friend Andrew Merz notes that in the HDS’s MDiv program, students can “focus on any faith tradition studied at the school, and there is a nice little community of Buddhist MDivs developing, with a curriculum specific to their needs.” (In particular, the Buddhist Arts of Ministry courses have been designed to serve these students.)

As far as C.P.E. training units are concerned, there are a few that offer special sensitivity to Buddhist practitioners: Rev. Trudi J. Hirsch, a Zen priest, is an A.C.P.E. supervisor at The Healthcare Chaplaincy; Naropa University and the Samaritan Counseling & Education Center of the Pikes Peak Region in Colorado Springs, CO, have developed a C.P.E. training with a special emphasis on contemplative practice; past interviewee Ven. Thom Kilts is a supervisor at the John Muir Medical Center‘s Concord, MA, campus; Bryan Ferry, who is ordained through Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing, is an A.C.P.E. supervisory candidate in the Spiritual Care Department at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; and Julie Harada Lee serves as a supervisor at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA. [Thank you to Bryan Ferry for his assistance with this section.]

In terms of ordination or commissioning to function in a ministry of pastoral care, it seems that (at the moment) only the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training is designed to end with participants being ordained–in this case, as either “lay chaplains” or “Zen Buddhist chaplain priests.”

Now, as far as non-professional training is concerned, there are also a couple of options. For those interested in investigating chaplaincy or developing some skills necessary to be a volunteer, there are the Sati Center Training in Buddhist Chaplaincy and the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program. Both programs state clearly that they will not qualify participants for full-time jobs as chaplains, but that their trainings “can serve as preparation and discernment for people considering a career in professional chaplaincy.” — DANNY

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NEXT TIME: The lineage of Buddhist military chaplains. (Honest to goodness this time!)