Saint James College
can help you
learn to become a Chaplain!

Chaplain's Course among our most popular programs !
Of all the courses we offer, the Chaplain’s Certification Program is among the fastest-growing. On 9-11, we found out how desperately we needed trained people to stand with victims, both the general public, fire, police, and Emergency Responders, as well as nursing and medical personnel. The need was great on the day of the terrorist attacks, but was even more acute in the weeks that followed.

Chaplains have always been needed, of course, but that moment of national tragedy put a spotlight on a critically-needed but often little-understood form of public mini ministry.

What is a Chaplain ?
Chaplaincy is a type of ministry that generally specializes in working in conjunction with various institutions. These can include hospitals, police and fire departments, prisons, hospice program, and even within parish churches.

Chaplains are often "Crisis First-Responder" Ministers!
Chaplains tend to be called to assist in crisis situation, such as when a law enforcement officer is wounded, or when a private citizen is involved in a serious accident and the family is in fearful disbelief.

Other settings where Chaplains work:
Chaplains also work in less-acute but still-serious settings such as providing services to terminal Hospice patients and their families. And, also working with incarcerated citizens. (The U.S. Dept. of Justice reported in May, 2006 that one in every 136 Americans is currently behind bars, and 62% of them haven’t even been convicted of any crime! Prison chaplaincy is a rapidly-growing area of ministry!)

What is required to become a chaplain?
This is not an easily-answered question since each state and unique jurisdiction within states has their own rules. Generally, though, to become a chaplain, a Certification is required or at least helpful. Presenting a Diploma/Certificate shows that you have studied the concept of The Chaplain Service and that you have demonstrated proficiency in basic spiritual intervention. You will also be able to show that you have a clear understanding as what Chaplains do as “Emotional and Spiritual First Responders.” Many Chaplains, but not all, are ordained ministers.

Our parent organization, The Love Church Worldwide interfaith denomination offers comprehensive online ordination studies for spiritual professionals. Click this link to visit Parent organization's Home Page --
The Love Church

Questions about preaching and counseling :
Will I be able to preach my form of religion or counsel people? The purpose of the Chaplaincy service is to “stand with people” who are suffering and to provide strength, calmness, spiritual sustenance…to be with people in their time of need as a support. Except in some church settings, Chaplains are not preachers. Nor are they counselors. Our job isn’t to provide psychotherapy to help people change…it’s to provide support so that they can survive a bad situation. Many Chaplains act as a resource for getting people connected with other community services, such as rehabs, AA meetings, the Red Cross, Hospice, etc.

Will Saint James College or The Love Church certification guarantee me a job ?
Again, each state, county, town, and agency has its own rules. Our certification is an indicator that you have studied the basics of Chaplaincy and have successfully completed our program. Each jurisdiction has its own requirements. (Mostly, however, it seems to be left up to the organization, the county, the fire department, the police agency, or the hospital system that uses chaplains. Many do require ordination as a minister, but this is not universal.) There is a national credentialing agency you may wish to consult, the American Chaplain’s Association.

How long will I have to study to receive my Chaplain’s Certificate? Depending on how much ministerial, counseling, or professional experience you have, the program can run from one month to six months. It also depends on whether or not you're going to participate in our Online Ordination study program. It's faster to take both courses of study together than separately at different times. (See “Credit for Real-Life Experience” section, below.)

Once certified, can I open my own business ?
A qualified "yes" to this question. Generally, Chaplains tend to be hired full or part-time by an institution such as a hospital or a public safety department. However, if you wish to open an office that provides chaplaincy services to these institutions or others, there would seem to be no obvious reason why you couldn't do this. We've heard of chaplains who have opened chaplaincy ministry offices in some areas of the country. Certainly, if you are ordained as a minister, you would be free to open your own office as a minister specializing in chaplaincy services. In this case, you might want to obtain a state charter or to register under your community's "fictious names" program as an actual small church

Cost of the Chaplaincy study program :
$250 is the cost for the course of study, and the cost is $500 if you wish to engage in ordination studies at the same time. Our ordination program is taught by our parent organization, the non-denominational, inter-faith, Love Church Worldwide communion.
Click here to visit the Online Ordination Information page:
On-line Ordination Studies

If you choose to obtain both the chaplaincy certification and to study for ordination together, you could enter our "Fast Track" Program since many of the classes required by one would be covered by the other. Taking these two study programs at the same time is much faster than taking them separately at different times. We are also able to award associates, bachelors, and masters degrees in Chaplaincy Counseling, if you wish.

Credit for Real-Life experience .
Our government charter permits us to grant up to 50% of the required hours based on your Real Life experience. So, if you have been in ministry, counseling, or some other emergency provider field for some time, you may be required to take relatively few hours of coursework

We accept all previous academic credits:
All previous seminar, workshop, college / university credits will be accepted: Previous studies in the general human services field will be accepted by Saint James College and its parent organization, the inter-faith, non-denominational, Love Church Worldwide communion. Unlike most colleges and universities, we will automatically accept all workshop, continuing education, and academic credits that you have earned previously. Most schools require that you re-take large numbers of courses when you enroll in their programs, particularly if your credit hours were earned several years ago. This, of course, brings in tidy amounts of extra income for them. But, with Saint James College and The Love Church, we do not use requiring you to re-take classes as a profit center.

What courses will I be taking?
Each Chaplain Certification program will be unique, depending on what experience, education, and skills, you bring to the program. But, typical classes include:

• MODULE 1: A Brief History of you, your life to date, professional status, your ministry (or how God has used you to help others so far), and what you hope to accomplish in the years after you receive your Chaplain’s Certification. Many of our chaplaincy students are volunteers, for example, firefighters. In that case, please tell us a bit about your background in this field and how you feel you can be of even greater service as a Chaplain.

• MODULE 2, Lesson 1: Our Chaplain’s Certification ordination program presumes that you have an idea as what you’ll be doing once you complete your studies. However, this is a rapidly-growing and very complex field with many different “types” of chaplains….
  --A Chaplain is a minister, often ordained.
  --A Chaplain is generally not involved in teaching or in preaching, and typically isn’t involved in trying to save people or convert them. (Although evangelical church Chaplains will feel called to do this as natural expression of their faith.)
  -- A Chaplain’s main responsibility is to “stand with” those in need, to support them.

• MODULE 2, Lesson 2: CHAPLAINS AS “SPIRITUAL FIRST RESPONDERS.” In this lesson, we'll explore the various types of Chaplains currently operating. While there are exceptions…
  Chaplains tend to be ministers who operate in the Secular Community.
  DEFINITION: A simple, practical definition of a Chaplain may be worded like this: “A trained spiritual leader whose specialty is ministry in institutions and whose service usually involves lending support in a crisis, and is normally of short-term duration.”

• MODULE 3: COMPARATIVE WORLD RELIGIONS. In today’s world, you’ll probably be dealing from time-to-time with people who practice faiths other than Christian. You need at least a basic understanding of the spiritual worlds in which other people live. Our world is rapidly becoming blended with multiple religions and houses of worship, appearing in community after community. You are no longer likely to work in an exclusively Christian or Jewish or Buddhist environment. In order to function effectively in today’s rapidly-growing multi-faith environment, you need to have at least a basic knowledge of the key world religions you’re likely to encounter.

• MODULE 4: As a Chaplain, you’ll serve people from many faiths, but Christianity will likely be most-frequent. This Module looks at the Positive aspects of Christ’s teaching. People in crisis need positivity!

• MODULE 5, Lesson 1: There is, in our view, no greater lesson that we can teach than the Art of Listening. Whether or not you elect to do pastoral counseling, suffering people will seek you out. The worst, absolutely the worst, thing you can do is to interject your ideas, beliefs, “cures,” and moral or ethical standards into the suffering person’s “Story.” We must get out of the way…become a “safe presence,” and let them talk!

• MODULE 5, Lesson 2: There is a thing called “giving advice” and there is also something called “sharing your opinion.” Listening is none of these. Listening puts the Speaker in the spotlight, not you. Experts maintain that most people are probably listened-to this way as little as ten minutes or less per week. If you’ll listen using the techniques taught in this lesson, you’ll be giving an extraordinary gift!

• MODULE 6: – As a Chaplain, you have many options in which to practice your trade: Law Enforcement, Fire Department, Union, manufacturing, Medical / Hospice…and even in a conventional church setting. Many churches today use a contingent of Chaplains to support both parish Service and Outreach ministries. Generally, this form of Chaplaincy is a lay ministry and is comprised of trained unpaid volunteers. In this lesson, we'll answer the question: WHAT DOES A “CHURCH CHAPLAIN” DO?

  

• MODULE 7 – Whether you are a Chaplain, parish minister, nurse, doctor, psychologist, social worker, attorney – or just a friend – you must be trustworthy when it comes to information that you are given. A Chaplain must not reveal either sources, or specific information that we learn from our patients or clients. This is called Patient Confidentiality. And, also, Client Privilege. And, if you're acting as a Chaplain in a medical facility, you will also be required to follow federal HIPPA confidentiality rules.

• MODULE 8, Lesson 1: Griefwork: Part of the skill you’ll need at that time is knowing what TO say. Another skill you’ll need, and perhaps the most important one, is knowing what NOT to say. WHAT IS GRIEF, EXACTLY? The concept of Grief as defined by the online Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is: a “deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement.“ Grief far supersedes any dictionary definition, though. A widow in one of our sessions once said, “At first I was afraid that I was going to die, too. Then, I was afraid that I wasn’t going to….”

• MODULE 9: Practical Chaplaincy. A Do's and Don'ts Guide to ...telephone calls to clients / parishoners ... visits in facilities and institutions ... home visits ... and all-important record-keeping

• MODULE 10, Lesson 1: DO YOU KNOW WHAT PRAYER IS? At a recent meeting of faculty and staff the following question was raised: “Do you have a clear understanding as to what ‘prayer’ is?” Since we’re ordained ministers and/or professional-level people working in the main offices of a church denomination, the answers were what you would expect: “Sure!” “Yes!” “Of course”! BUT, WHEN WE ASKED FOR A DEFINITION…. When we asked for clarification, however, everyone had a different answer, or a different spin on the same answer. And, we are “prayer professionals!” Chaplains must understand prayer techniques because we do so much of it!

• MODULE 10, Lesson 2: Here, the new Chaplain will gain a basic understanding of Healing prayers, not to provide examples of specific healing ceremonies, which are addressed elsewhere. At one time or another, we have all prayed healing prayers, whether the prayers were that a loved one recover from an injury or illness, for our bad headache to go away, or even for the healing of a sick or injured animal. But, for the Chaplain confronted daily with people who are suffering, frightened, and in pain, healing prayer techniques are a must!

• MODULE 11: Practical "Scripts" for opening and conducting a Chaplaincy visit; a look at the first words spoken, the listening as a "safe, sacred vessel" to the problem, to moving into prayer (if the client wishes prayer at all), to assuring the person that you will pray for them later, after your session.

• MODULE 12: Ongoing, non-crisis, Chaplains's work. Chaplains are often called to be members of Crisis Management Committees, SWAT Crisis Response Teams, spiritual training and counseling programs, family assistance programs, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP's) and, often to speak in dinners, conferences, and banquets (or at least to attend and offer the invocation). Chaplains also may have pleasantly-unique duties such as remembering former clients' birthdays or the anniversaries of their personal tragedies, and to call on those occasions to offer support.