CHAPLAIN CANDIDATE PROGRAM The military services offer opportunities for graduate students to examine certain professional branches as a potential career. Seminarians preparing for the ministry can enter the chaplain candidate program to explore the military chaplaincy. Chaplain Candidates are commissioned officers in the military Reserves. As aRead more →
RETENTION Once an applicant has been granted ecclesiastical endorsement, they must comply with certain requirements annually in order to retain their ecclesiastical endorsement: FA 13 35 Continuation of Ecclesiastical Endorsement—When the ACM Committee grants ecclesiastical endorsement, that endorsement is valid for up to two years while theRead more →
ECCLESIASTICAL ENDORSEMENT DEFINED Ecclesiastical endorsement is the Church's affirmation that a person is seeking or serving in chaplaincy and has presented evidence of their calling and training for that ministry. It signifies the applicant: (1) is an experienced minister in regular standing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church;Read more →
GUIDELINES MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND AGREEMENT All chaplains are pastors, but not every pastor is called to be a chaplain. Chaplains are like medical doctors who specialize in certain fields of medicine. Chaplains minister in special settings: campus, community, corrections, healthcare and military institutions and organizations. However,Read more →
APPLICATION PROCESS Each division establishes an application process for ecclesiastical endorsement and other professional certifications. Applicants must satisfactorily complete the application process for the division in which they desire to serve, even if they have been previously endorsed in another division. The application process usually consists ofRead more →
The Seventh-day Adventist Church grants several categories of ecclesiastical endorsement: supervisory chaplain (health care only), chaplain (all), associate chaplain (health care only) and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) resident, intern or supervisor-in-training (health care only). Clergy who volunteer their services as chaplains must meet all the standards andRead more →
REQUIREMENTS Applicants must be members in regular standing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A Master of Divinity degree is the recommended level of professional training, although in certain situations other graduate study in theology, religion or pastoral care is sometimes acceptable. If an applicant’s undergraduate degree wasRead more →
All chaplains are pastors, though not all pastors are called to be chaplains. Just as medical doctors require graduate school and licensing before they can practice medicine, pastors require professional training and credentialing. To become a specialist in any medical field requires advanced professional training, residency andRead more →