Certifications

Becoming a Board Certified Chaplain (BCC), Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain or Pastoral Counselor (BCPC) with the Association of Certified Christian Chaplains indicates your dedication to the highest professional standards and ethics. ACCC certified and endorsed professionals have demonstrated their devotion to continuing professional development and a devotion to the spiritual health of those they care for.

Board Certified Chaplain (BCC)

*PLEASE NOTE, NEW GUIDELINES TO COMPLY WITH THE VA.*

The board-certified Chaplain is a professional that is employed in the Veteran’s Administration or settings that require full board certification and in keeping with qualifications as developed by BCCI.  These include hospitals, military, hospices, long-term care, corrections, first responder organizations and corporate settings.

Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain (BECC)

The board-endorsed Clinical Chaplain is a professional that serves in settings that do not require U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs standards.  Such Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplains provide care in civilian settings including hospitals, hospices, long-term care, corrections, first responder organizations and corporate settings.

Board Certified Pastoral Counselor (BCPC)

The board-certified Pastoral Counselor is primarily a CPE trained pastor serving in a congregational setting as a pastor. Their primary area of responsibility is the local church.  This certification follows the qualifications as put forth in the Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain designation above.  An additional 2,000 documented hours are required for those Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplains seeking to be dual certified with the BCPC credential.

Board Certified Associate Chaplain (BCAC)

The Associate category is for those seeking professional chaplaincy certification but do not yet meet the other requirements for that status. The Associate level still requires all qualifications of the BECC certification including four (4) units of CPE and, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree. The applicant may be lacking one of the other requirements (e.g. M.Div, ecclesiastical endorsement, or ordination/licensure/consecration). Once an associate completes the requirements they are automatically granted full board certification.

Certified Chaplain Assistant (CCA)

The Chaplain’s Assistant category is for those lacking the higher education component of full certification. To meet this category the applicant is required to complete all the other requirements for certification but is lacking a higher education degree. A high school diploma with some college credit is required.


Application Procedure


Here is a video outlining our process

Proceed to the Application page and follow the directions there to submit your application. 

Please note, after you fill out the application and pay your application and interview fee, you must submit your documentation via one of the two links. We no longer are accepting partial documentation submissions.

BCC Documentation Submission link

BECC, BCAC, BCPC Documentation Submission link


Qualifications for Board Certified Chaplain

To receive Board Certification Chaplain credentials with ACCC, you must meet the following requirements:

Cost – $520 (Application/Exam)
$200 per year + 50 CEUs

• Documentation of at least 4 CPE Units, 3 must be from a U.S. Department of Education Accredited institution (please note, we initially only accepted 4 units from U.S. Department of Education Accredited institutions, but revised this policy on 7/8/21 to be more in line with other VA approved chaplaincy organizations). The only two CPE institutions that are accredited by the DoE are the Institute of Clinical Pastoral Training (ICPT), and the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE).


Qualifications for Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain

To receive Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain credentials with ACCC, you must meet the following requirements:

Cost – $420 (Application/Exam)
$100 per year + 50 CEUs

All documentation must be submitted, in its entirety, at the following link BECC, BCAC, BCPC Documentation Submission link