ABOUT US

About ACPE Ireland

ABOUT US

ACPE (Ireland) Ltd is a multi-faith educational organization whose role it is to direct and administer courses in Clinical Pastoral Education in Ireland, and to certify Supervisors experienced in the CPE methodology. The training courses ensure that students are trained to provide excellence in the provision of spiritual care and to meet the required standards for certification as laid down by the Healthcare Chaplaincy Board (HCB) and the Chaplaincy Accreditation Board (CAB).

PURPOSE AND MISSION

To educate people of faith in the assessment and delivery of Spiritual Care appropriate to a multi-cultural Ireland, in a supervised experiential setting.

To enhance competencies, professionalism and excellence in spiritual accompaniment, education and research.

Values

  • to promote inclusivity and cultural humility
  • to foster integrity, respect, compassion and empathy
  • to continuously enhance self-awareness and spiritual growth
  • to create a safe educational environment through experiential learning
  • to develop collegiality and collaboration with aligned organizations.


METHODOLOGY

The methodology of the clinical pastoral courses is rooted in the adult education and experiential learning approach. The method can be simplified in the “action-reflection-action” loop, which aims at provoking transformational learning. This goes beyond just content knowledge acquisition and factual data but it is a process where a student/individual can review their life experience and ministry engaging in critical thinking and reflection. Through appropriate use of giving and receiving feedback from the supervisor and among peers (peer supervision), individuals gain insights and explore more effective ways to approach subsequent experiences and encounters (both personal and pastoral).

As the course prepares to provide spiritual care, there is an emphasis on the integration of the student’s theology and own personal spirituality when attending to the person they are ministering to.


WHAT IS CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION?

1.Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a method of pastoral theological education that prepares individuals for ministry

2. Pastoral ministry is a free response to God's call in and through the community to commit oneself in love to serve others. The communal dimension of the response means that the call to ministry is heard within the Faith Community, is sustained by that Community, and is to serve the mission of the Faith Community. There is no private, individualistic ministry.

3. Pastoral ministry is also a profession. The individual called to ministry makes a commitment to acquire expert knowledge and skills and to serve human needs with good moral character. The positive meaning of being professional connotes a specialised competence, a commitment to excellence, integrity, selfless dedication to serve the community, and to holding trust, "because people's experience of God is so closely tied to their experience of us, we shall want to fulfill our vocation by maintaining professional standards". ( Gula, R. M. 1996. Ethics in Pastoral Ministry, Paulist Press)- from ACPEI Code of Ethics.

Clinical Pastoral Education is a method of reflecting on actual ministry in which a Supervisor together with a group of Students formally agree together to reflect critically on the Student’s ministry as a means of growing in self-awareness, professional competence, theological understanding and Christian commitment.


CPE provides a learning situation in continuing education for all those who wish to minister or are ministering to people in need so that as ministers they may develop an awareness of the psychological, theological and spiritual concerns of people. In addition, it also helps Students to become more aware of the dignity and potential of those to whom they are ministering.


CPE confronts the Students with the human predicament. It supplies the milieu for the Students to know themselves better as persons, to better understand themselves in the role of minister and to integrate their theology more meaningfully into their life and ministry.



Share by: