Spiritual Care Management and Leadership Certificate

September 2025 - May 2026

The Transforming Chaplaincy Certificate Program in Spiritual Care Management and Leadership (SCML), a distinctive educational offering at Rush University College of Health Sciences, is an exceptional resource for those aspiring to lead spiritual care programs in healthcare.

Led by experts, it integrates classroom learning, real-world case studies, and experiential activities to equip participants with the skills needed for effective leadership amidst the complexities of healthcare spiritual care. Emphasizing a comprehensive curriculum that covers everything from emotional intelligence to strategic thinking and innovation, this program is designed for current and aspiring spiritual care leaders seeking to enhance their capabilities and impact.

Participants will join a supportive community, engage in reflective practices, and apply what they learn to real-world challenges, preparing them to lead with agility and compassion in the evolving healthcare landscape.

Upcoming Education
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Research Literacy 101
August 20 - September 17

Since 2019, Transforming Chaplaincy (TC) has offered Research Literacy 101 to support chaplains learning how to locate, evaluate, and summarize the evidence related to their practice. Join co-instructors and TC research fellow alums, Petra Sprik, PhD candidate, and Paul Galchutt, TC's Assistant Director of Engagement. We look forward to getting to know you through the next offering of this course.

25 continuing education hours are available through course completion. Early bird pricing ($250) ends on July 20.

Our Next Webinar

The Impact of Chaplaincy Departments on Hospital Patient Experience Scores
Tuesday, July 29, 12-1 PM (CDT)

Chaplaincy departments may help improve patient experience and support staff well-being in hospitals. However, there is limited empirical research confirming their organizational impact for acute care settings. This study analyzed national data, from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey and CMS HCAHPS, for adult acute care hospitals from 2015 to 2019. The authors, lead by TC research fellow alum, Kelsey White, sought to determine whether patient experience scores differed between hospitals with and without chaplaincy departments. Findings showed that hospitals with chaplaincy departments had higher overall/global ratings and patients were more likely to recommend the hospital as compared to hospitals without departments. The team took both organizational and environmental factors into consideration in their analyses. To register.

Dr. White will be joined by this event's respondent, Mr. Ildemaro Gonzalez, System Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, Rush University System for Health.

Recent Publication

Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education—A Specialized CPE Program

Congratulations, Rev. Angelika Zollfrank, MDiv, BCC, ACPE, Chaplain, Clinical Pastoral Educator, and Certified Healthcare Ethics Consultant (HEC-C) at McLean Hospital in the Boston area. Angelika is also the co-convener of Transforming Chaplaincy's, Chaplaincy and Mental Healthcare Network.

This article describes the design and implementation of a Specialized Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program which addresses the need for mental health competencies in religious leaders and chaplains. The Mental Health CPE Program includes traditional and novel CPE elements. Insights are provided into the origins of CPE, a description of the implementation in a free-standing psychiatric hospital, and observed developmental changes of program participants. Graduates’ anecdotal feedback about their learning experience and its impact on their leadership in chaplaincy and in religious communities is included. Additionally, we report on areas for future development and further study of the effectiveness of Mental Health CPE. Open access article.

Zollfrank, A. A., Kaufman, C. C., & Rosmarin, D. H. (2025). Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education—A Specialized CPE Program. Religions, 16(7), 886. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070886

Supporting Partnership Opportunities

If you are interested in discussing supporting partnership opportunities with Transforming Chaplaincy, please contact Cate Beaulieu-Desjardins, TC's Assistant Director of Research Development, at caitlin_m_desjardins@rush.edu.

To Support Transforming Chaplaincy

Thank you for engaging with Transforming Chaplaincy as we work together to advance spiritual care through research. We value your support, whether you are a part of one of our research networks, attend webinars, or are on a research team. Please also consider contributing financially by clicking the button below.

Missed a Webinar?

If you were not available to tune into a Transforming Chaplaincy (TC) live broadcast or perhaps you want to see a specific webinar again, check out TC's YouTube channel. Many of you (1.53K) are already TC YouTube channel subscribers and know how this works. When you subscribe, you receive a notification that a new recording is ready for your viewing along with 110+ of our videos. Thank you for whenever you engage TC's content to advance spiritual care through research. Transforming Chaplaincy’s YouTube channel.

Opportunities with the George Washington Institute of Spirituality and Health (GWish)

Advancing Spiritual Care in Everyday Clinical Practice

As part of the GWish Project, they are inviting their second cohort of clinician/chaplain pairs to develop and conduct demonstration projects consisting of interprofessional spiritual care clinical models that can be tested in multiple health settings. Click below to learn more about how to become a GWish Scholar.

Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) - September 11-12

The ISPEC™ course is designed around the Generalist-Specialist model of professional spiritual care, in which clinicians (generalists) collaborate with spiritual care specialists (e.g., board-certified chaplains). The ability to integrate spiritual care into health settings as a standard part of whole person care necessarily involves a collaborative effort by clinicians and chaplains working together to provide spiritual care to patients and families.

Conference Opportunity:
Out of the Depths’. Contours of Spiritual Care in a Wounded World

October 5-9 | ICPCC–ECPCC Conference Call | Nijmegen, Netherlands

Out of the Depths famously refers to the biography of Anton Boisen, instigator of the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Movement some one hundred years ago, a movement that has now spread out at centers all over the world. At these locations, professionals in pastoral and spiritual care are being trained and coached to explore their inner world at the service of their spiritual work with patients and clients at various care and church settings. At this centennial, it is good to take stock of the nature of their work. This regards the themes and issues of the patients they address; their counselling methods and techniques; and their training, formation, and supervision practices in pastoral care and education. For More Information: https://www.raadkpv.nl/berichten_volledig&item=13​

​Transforming Chaplaincy: Advancing Spiritual Care Through Research​
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​Vision: We envision a future when chaplaincy is formed, informed, and transformed by evidence-based practice
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​Mission: The mission of Transforming Chaplaincy is to promote evidence-based spiritual care and integrate research into professional practice and education by fostering a culture of inquiry

Our mailing address is:​
Transforming Chaplaincy
Rush University Medical Center
Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values
1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago, IL 60612