APC Fall Symposium
Healthcare Chaplaincy -
State of the Science

Thursday, October 30, 9 AM-4PM (CT)

We're doing it again! The Healthcare Chaplaincy - State of the Science will be offered once more (just in a slightly condensed version from the in-person event, June 12, 2025) as the Association of Professional Chaplains Fall Online Symposium, Thursday, October 30, 9 AM - 4 PM (Central Time).

Get all your research CEs in one day.

Upcoming Short Courses

Masterclass for Chaplain Clinical Note Writing: An Evidence-Based Curriculum

Tuesday, November 18, 12-4 PM (CT) via Zoom

One of the most important responsibilities and tasks for each healthcare chaplain is to communicate through the clinical note. This four-hour short course integrates the available evidence base toward what is taught and practiced for this course. We will discuss how best to approach this work, what are the ideal ways to design for engagement, what content best communicates chaplaincy scope, and what language best describes the circumstances of the clinical encounter.

Registration will open soon. Watch for another email or follow Transforming Chaplaincy on LinkedIn.

Webinars

The Congregational Care Network: Effects of a Healthcare/Congregational Partnership on Loneliness and Healthcare Utilization

Tuesday, September 23, 1-2 PM (CDT)

Being isolated, being lonely, are challenges to the human spirit that have significant impact upon a person’s health, especially if that person is older and has a chronic illness. The Spiritual Care Department of Indiana University Health Systems partners with congregations to connect our patients who are older and isolated with trained volunteers, called connectors, who offer companionship and support during times of illness. Launched in 2020 with 10 congregations in the Indy Metro region, Congregational Care Network (CCN) now collaborates with more than 40 congregations of diverse faith traditions across the IU Health footprint.

We look to build a truly integrated spiritual care model, with chaplaincy services at the bedside, in the outpatient setting, and extending into community care through CCN.

Join Jay Foster and Dr. Lexy Torke as they discuss their recent open access publication about this work. They will be joined by Dr. Ellen Idler as the respondent.

Fatalism and Self-Efficacy: The Role of Psychosocial Factors, Religion, and Spirituality on Population Health

Monday, Oct 6, 12 - 1 PM (CT)

Healthcare systems, community organizations, and governmental agencies are increasingly turning to the importance of improving population health – the health outcomes of a group or community of individuals. As a result, the importance of taking a multidimensional approach that incorporates social, environmental, economic, psychological and behavioral factors influencing health has become critical. This talk will discuss the role of two psychosocial factors – fatalism and self-efficacy – on health outcomes and how interventions that incorporate religion and spirituality have the potential to improve population health and well-being.

Mental Health Clinical Pastoral Education – A Specialized CPE Program

Tuesday, October 21, 1-2 PM (CT)

One hundred years after Boisen offered the first CPE unit in a psychiatric hospital Angelika Zollfrank will describe one of the few remaining CPE programs in a mental health context. The program addresses the need for mental health competencies in religious leaders and chaplains. The presentation will include graduates’ feedback about the impact of this CPE program on their leadership in chaplaincy and in religious communities. Angelika’s CPE program was described in a paper recently published in Religions. (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. OPEN ACCESS.)
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Dr. Unruh will join as the respondent.

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 (1.58K) 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.

Empowering Research in Spirituality
Friday, October 3, 10 AM - 4 PM (ET)

Empowering Research in Spirituality is a one-day virtual conference offering practical insights and tools to strengthen your ability to engage with and apply research in your ministry context as we focus on developing research competency in spiritual care and psychospiritual therapy. We will also hear from researchers and clinicians from across Canada exploring research related to Trauma Informed Supervision, Charting Practice, Forgiveness, End of Life Care and more as they share about their research and dialogue about integration and opportunities.

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