Continuing Education Requirements
Continuing Education (CE) helps our chaplains and pastors stay equipped and inspired to provide excellent care. Our chaplain members must obtain a minimum of 25 hours every year. Our pastor members must complete a minimum of 50 hours per year. In both cases, we encourage our members to go beyond the minimums and grow in their ministry and craft of chaplaincy and pastoral work. We encourage you to shoot for 100 hours each year! As a disciple of Christ, our chaplains are lifelong learners who must be committed to the hard work of study.
ONLY THE OPTIONS LISTED BELOW WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THE MINIMUM CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Please see Frequently Asked Questions below for more details.
Paid Sources for Continuing Education
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Earn 25 hours of CE by attending our annual Spiritual Care Conference—a valuable opportunity for learning, fellowship, and professional growth. We encourage all members to attend every year, as your schedule and finances permit.
Earn varying hours of CE per course. Our own Chaplains Academy has a growing number of qualified courses to fulfill your CE requirements. These are designed with you in mind. More are being added. Reasonably priced excellent education, including Certification Courses and Degree Programs.
Earn 100 hours of CE per course. CPE offers a transformative, 16-week program equipping chaplains and pastoral counselors with essential skills for ministry. Each course offers personalized Christian Life Coaching, and training rooted in a biblical worldview. May qualify for seminary credit!
Earn 27 hours of CE. CISM-GRIN program, in partnership with Lake CISM, this fully online, ICISF-accredited course equips chaplains with essential crisis intervention skills and is recognized by the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.
Earn varying hours of CE per course. In collaboration with the ICCI, our members enjoy significant discounts off all courses. Choose from coaching foundational courses, specialties such as marriage or resilience coaching, and many others. Any ICCI course is approved for appropriate credit.
Earning 1 hour of CE per 30 pages read. A great addition to your library, this Hope for the Heart resource covers 50-topics in a 10-volume set of biblical wisdom. Each volume offers life-giving counsel from God’s Word. Perfect for pastors, chaplains, counselors, ministry leaders, and anyone who wants to learn what the Bible says about real life issues.
Earning 25 hours of CE for attending, the Hope for the Heart offers a premier conference for Christians who are called to care, coach, minister, and counsel with God’s Word. We recommend this conference and they recommend ours in a mutual collaboration.
Earn 25 hours of CE. Foundations of Care is a course offering of Hope for the Heart, a valued partner. This course is an 11-session video training course giving you complete insight to provide effective care and counsel with God’s Word. Available in self-study and group study formats. Considering taking this with your ministry team!
Earn 3 hours of CE per course. Hope for the Heart has created short video courses to teach through their Keys for Living Books. These are professionally informed, Biblically rooted, and address real life issues faced by everyone you minister to, including yourself! These will help you offer hope in every challenge.
Earn 100 hours of CE. Consider the Colson Fellows is a deep faith-based training to equip our members with practical tools, biblical
insights, and strategies for addressing today’s cultural challenges with a Biblical Worldview. Our members receive a 25% tuition discount. Our members are highly encouraged to take this course, offered only once each year.
Earn 10 hours of CE per each credit course. We strongly encourage our members to pursue higher education and obtain that Associates,
Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral Degree. For each 1 credit course you will earn 10 hours of CE. This applies to any program involving Ministry, Spiritual Formation, Divinity, Theology, or Pastoral Care and Counseling. Consider working with one of our university or seminary Partners and find out how you can earn credit from our CPE program!
Earn 360 hours of CE over 5 Semesters in our 36 Credit Doctoral Degree in Pastoral Supervision. This is required training for members who wish to join our teaching team. A must for executive pastors and pastoral care department supervisors. Successful graduates earn our CPE Supervisor Educator and Certified Master Christian Life Coach credentials. This will prepare you to supervise, mentor, and coach those you are responsible for.
Degree Collaborations
Partners We Recommend!
Earn 10 hours of CE for each 1 credit course you complete. We are thrilled to partner with a growing number of Universities and Seminaries who share our Kingdom purpose and Gospel focus. Each of these wonderful institutions offer a degree that is coordinated and in collaboration with our ministry to train effective Chaplains, Pastors, and Spiritual care ministers. Why not pursue that degree you always wanted? Perhaps now is the time to get started.
ASSOCIATES DEGREE IN MINISTRY - CHAPLAIN FOCUS
Earn an Associate's of Ministry with Chaplain focus. Fully online. Accepting our basic courses for 3 credits toward the degree. They will transfer credit in for our Basics of Chaplaincy, Grief Certification, and Prison Ministry at 1 credit each.
MASTERS OF DIVINITY - CHAPLAIN FOCUS
BACHELORS DEGREE IN LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY
Offering a Bachelors Degree and Masters of Divinity program. With ministry, leadership, and Chaplaincy as a focus, our collaboration provides a unique opportunity for our members to earn advanced degrees. We are collaborating with them to develop options within their BA program including certification in Christian leadership.
If you complete four units of Clinical Pastoral Education with us, they will transfer 24 hours of credit toward your Masters of Divinity, a 72 hour degree. A unique opportunity to earn an MDiv Chaplaincy that includes CPE from a Biblical Perspective.
MASTERS OF ARTS IN MINISTRY - CHAPLAIN FOCUS
A degree designed for those with Bible college undergraduate degrees who want graduate level theology and ministry training. This 36-hour degree has an 18-hour core of Bible and Theology plus 18-hour chaplain concentration that includes three of our CPE Courses at 6 credits each.
Half of this degree is earned by taking thee CPE courses with Christian Chaplains & Coaching.
ASSOCIATES DEGREE IN CHAPLAINCY
BACHELORS DEGREE IN CHAPLAINCY
In collaboration with Seapointe, our members can earn their associates degree or bachelors degree in chaplaincy and get significant credit from Clinical Pastoral Education.
CPE from Christian Chaplains & Coaching provides 6 credits per unit as accepted into the program. Check with Seapointe for details.
MASTERS DEGREES
BACHELORS DEGREES
With programs in Chaplaincy, Christian Leadership, & Divinity for $3,125 or less, Christian Leaders Institute seeks to offer an accessible opportunity for those called into ministry to be launched with deep biblical knowledge, vibrant godliness, and strong and empowered ministry skills. Participation in our CPE courses will earn credit toward a degree.
CPE courses from Christian Chaplains & Coaching provide 6 credits per course toward your degree.
MASTERS OF ARTS IN CHAPLAINCY
Leverage your CPE program to earn a Masters Degree in Chaplaincy that includes 2 CPE Courses from Christian Chaplains & Coaching. The CPE you earn from us will offer 12 hours of credit toward this 48-credit hour degree in a mostly online format.
Free Sources for Continuing Education
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Earn up to 10 hours of CE. We offer ten meetings per year with excellent topics and speakers. These are recorded and posted on our YouTube channel and can be watched after the meeting. By attending the meeting or watching the recording you can take 1 hour of CE. This provides up to 10 hours per year absolutely free! Watch your email for invitations to attend.
Earn 1 hour of CE per each 30 pages. Just choose any of the books on our approved reading list and earn 2 minutes of CE for each page. Simply read 3 or 4 books in a year and you will earn your 25 hours of CE. The list is being updated regularly with many great books to choose from. Check out our list. Please use the link provided and Amazon will donate money to us! Read a book, earn CE! How easy is that?
Earn 3 hours of CE per booklet. Thanks to our collaboration with Hope for the Heart, each month we add a new Keys for Living book to our members resources page. These books are free to our Chaplains only. Enjoy such topics as Caregiving, Forgiveness, Anxiety, Anger, Boundaries, and more. Available in our "Members Only Resource" section. Check back often and take advantage of this. And consider purchasing extra copies to study with your team. Read, learn, apply, get free CE!
Earn varying amount of CE. In collaboration with Kingswood University we can offer twelve excellent mini-courses absolutely free. Learn about the over-arching message of the Old and New Testament, Self-Care, How to Have Difficult Conversations, Spiritual Disciplines, and much more. These professionally done, college level courses are highly informative.
Earn 15 hours of CE. Attend their conference or serve as clergy to claim your credit. The first time you serve as Clergy for any Kairos weekend, your training will count 15 hours of CE. You can do this only once. If you attend the Kairos annual conference, we will honor 15 hours of CE for your attendance and participation.
Earn 15 hours of CE. Simply attend and participate in the Correctional Ministries Chaplain Association annual conference to claim your free CE. We love this organization and have supported them these past several years. If you are involved in prison or jail ministry, consider joining the CMCA.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IF I DO NOT COMPLETE MY APPROVED 25 HOURS OF CE BY DECEMBER 1ST?
We understand that unforeseen circumstances may delay the completion of your CE hours. If you are unable to meet the December 1 deadline, you are still expected to submit your renewal form along with an explanation to request a 90-day extension. During this time, we will assist you in identifying ways to complete your hours. However, failure to fulfill the requirements within the extension period may result in the revocation of your chaplain credentials.
WHAT BOOKS CAN I READ AND ALSO EARN CE FOR DOING SO?
Only books found on our approved list are accepted. You may always feel free to recommend a book. We are looking to add more. However, because our time is limited, we may ask you for a book review so that it can be considered. We strongly encourage you to explore our approved and recommended reading list, thoughtfully designed to enrich your practice and guide you in the art of Pastoral care. View the approved books by CLICKING HERE
HOW DO I CALCULATE CE FOR READING AN APPROVED BOOK?
Each page of a book provides 2 minutes of CE. To calculate the total hours, multiply the number of pages by 2, then divide by 60. For example, a 150-page book would be calculated as follows: 150 × 2 = 300 minutes, which equals 5 CE hours.
CAN I EARN CE FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT APPROVED AND ON THIS PAGE?
Generally speaking, you can't. Please do take any and all courses you are interested in. We expect our members to strive for 100 hours per year or more. But our Chaplains must obtain 25 hours, and Pastors 50 hours of CE exclusively from our approved courses. Please let us guide your education to meet the minimum requirements. If you have an idea for a course or program, and it could be offered nationwide in an online format, let us know! We are open to your suggestions.
HOW DO I CLAIM CE FOR COLLEGE COURSES AND WHICH ONES QUALIFY?
Courses from any college, university, or seminary that aligns with our Statement of Faith can be counted toward your CE. The focus must be on theology, ministry, chaplaincy, spiritual development, counseling, or pastoral care. These can be standalone courses or part of a degree program. Any required course in an accepted degree counts for credit. To earn CE credit, simply submit a copy of your unofficial transcript or certificate of completion. A 1-credit college course equals 10 CE hours, and so on. We highly recommend that you collaborate with institutions found on the list above.
WHEN AND HOW DO I REPORT MY CE EACH YEAR?
Each year, we will send you a renewal form by email on or after October 15th. This form must be completed and submitted by December 1st. It includes a section for you to claim your CE credits. Please follow the instructions on the form carefully. Do not submit your CE records before receiving this form, as we will not track them for you. Be sure to keep a personal record of all CE activities throughout the year and report them when you submit the form.