CONTEXTUAL EDUCATION

The experience of supervised clinical ministry provides an opportunity to practice the art of pastoral care while converting experience into learning in direct, integrated ways. Certain LSTC degree programs require or highly recommend candidates complete a unit of supervised clinical ministry. The normative program to fulfill this unit is Clinical Pastoral Education at an ACPE Center accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. For more information on what CPE is along with how to apply to a Center and which Centers are accredited, go to www.acpe.edu.

URBAN CPE CONSORTIUM, INC.

Who is the Urban CPE Consortium?

Urban CPE Consortium, Inc. is a fully accredited ACPE Center for Clinical Pastoral Education. The Consortium is a unique partnership of 11 urban sites and four theological schools committed to CPE education with a focus on urban/public ministry that includes the pastoral and prophetic dimensions of ministry. The urban sites are listed below as the possible ministry placement sites during your CPE Unit. The Theological School partners are: LSTC, Chicago Theological Seminary, Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola, North Park Theological Seminary.

Urban CPE Consortium, Inc. is a not-for-profit entity with ByLaws, Board, Officers and Committees. A full Student Manual is provided during orientation of each Urban CPE Unit.

What CPE Units are offered?

The Consortium offers three CPE Units:

• Extended: September through March or April
• Winter/Spring: January to April/mid-May
• Summer: June to August

The difference in Units is the time required per week. (e.g. in the Extended Unit the weekly requirements are 10-12 hours at the ministry site and 3.5 hours in direct CPE work, and one hour every other week for individual clinical supervision. The Winter/Spring Unit has 16-19 hours on site and 5.5 to six hours of direct CPE work. The summer Unit is full time.)

Urban CPE Ministry

One of the unique perspectives of Urban CPE is the people of God with whom you minister and from and with whom you learn and change. The focus is care and compassionate response with the most vulnerable populations and advocacy and prophetic ministry for personal and social transformation.

Urban CPE encounters persons at the times of social crisis and a hospital-based CPE program encounters individuals at a time of physical crisis. Within this focus, Urban CPE goals are those of CPE: personal and pastoral formation, pastoral competency and skill building, pastoral and theological reflection.

To achieve these goals, some of the uniqueness of Urban CPE is in the inclusion of social analysis/theological reflection process and community-organizing skills from one’s faith perspective. The overall focus for growth and learning is putting faith in action.

Urban CPE Ministry Sites

The 11 urban agencies/sites of the partnership are also the sites for the CPE Unit. Some of the populations represented by these sites are those challenged with homelessness, addictions, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, lack of affordable housing, health care, and living wage, youth-at-risk, gangs, community organizing for fair housing and racial equality. At each of the sites there is a site mentor/supervisor to assist and to be available for the CPE student. The urban sites are: AMITA Health Bonaventure House, Bethany Methodist Retirement and Hospital Communities, Ingalls Hospice and Home Care, Little Brothers: Friends of the Elderly, NorthShore University HealthSystem/Evanston Hospital, The Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, Revive Center for Housing and Healing, SoJourner Truth House, St. Joseph Village of Chicago, Taller de José (a Spanish speaking agency), The Night Ministry.

Process for Admissions

1. Complete application PDF/Word and send to:
   Urban CPE Consortium
   Attn: Barbara Sheehan
   1668 W. Ogden Ave., Chicago, IL 60612.
   Phone: 312.997.2222, ext. 226
   E-mail: info@urbancpe.org
2. Engage in admission interview.
3. After acceptance into the Urban CPE Unit, and at a given time period, interview at one of the above listed ministry sites for mutual agreement of placement.
4. Get started and engage fully.
5. Admission interviews for summer begin in October or November of the previous year; for the extended in February of the same year; for Winter/Spring in October of the previous year.

Application Fee

$35.00 (pay to “Urban CPE Consortium, Inc.”)

Tuition

$600.00 for Consortium members; $850 for non-members. (LSTC is a member. Tuition payment is to be completed by the end of the CPE Unit.)

Forms

MIC Site Application: PDF

General Timeline for Applying: PDF

Supervisor Final Evaluation: PDF

Internship for Word and Sacrament Candidate

Internship Timeline for Applying: PDF

To apply for LSTC intern, click on this link and you will be directed to the ELCA Candidacy Resources page then click on the tab Congregations and download Congregation Application for an Intern. Save the document to your computer before beginning to fill it out:  https://www.elca.org/Resources/Candidacy

To complete Supervisor and Lay Committee Internship Evaluations, click on this link and you will be directed to the ELCA Candidacy Resources page then click on the tab Internship & Seminary and download the appropriate evaluation from the boxes in gold.  Save the document to your computer before beginning to fill it out: https://www.elca.org/Resources/Candidacy

Internship for Word and Service Candidate

For all documents pertaining to Word and Service Candidates (Site Application, Learning Contract, Supervisor and Lay Committee Evaluations), click on this link and you will be directed to the ELCA Candidacy Resources page then click on the tab Internship & Seminary and download the appropriate file from the boxes in blue.  Save the document to your computer before beginning to fill it out: https://www.elca.org/Resources/Candidacy