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).
- An ecclesiastical endorsement from a U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs approved endorser. Find a list of approved endorsers, here.
- 2 recent verbatim case studies that demonstrate your use of active listening and responding skills. Click here for sample case study.
- Education standards of not less than a Masters of Divinity, or graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or credentials from a foreign institution which have been evaluated by an affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) and which are equivalent to education requirements obtained in the United States.
- Written essays including Spiritual Autobiography, Theology of Chaplaincy, Professional Authority of the Chaplain, Professional Ethics, an Chaplain Core Competencies. To see the submission form with the format for these writings, click here BCC Documentation Submission link.
- Completed and passed(70% or higher) online Chaplain Core Competencies test. Access provided in the emailed receipt. 25 questions randomly selected from a question pool of 50. Can be taken as many times as needed.
- Must pass an interview which tests knowledge of self, patient assessment, “patient-centeredness” and includes a simulated role play which demonstrates the ability of the interviewee to follow core chaplaincy tenets including following the information presented, probing of emotions, relationships and experiences as part of one’s sacred story and the avoidance of the fix-it reflex. Additionally, one must demonstrate the ability to provide care to all people, regardless of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or any other deeply held tradition within one’s own sacred space.
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
- Documentation of existing CPE Units (4 required for BCC) from a COMISS Network organization. For a full list, visit http://www.comissnetwork.org/.
- An ecclesiastical endorsement from a Christian denomination’s endorsing board.
- 2 recent verbatim case studies that demonstrate your use of active listening and responding skills. Click here for sample case study.
- Education standards of not less than a Masters of Divinity, or graduate-level theological degree from a college, university or theological school accredited by a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or credentials from a foreign institution which have been evaluated by an affiliate agency of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) and which are equivalent to education requirements obtained in the United States.
- A theological reflection that demonstrates your thoughts of Chaplaincy or Pastoral Counseling in light of your faith.
- A brief autobiography outlining your journey through your faith.
- If you answered “Yes” to a felony conviction, please provide a full explanation.
- Completed and passed(70% or higher) online Chaplain Core Competencies test. Access provided in the emailed receipt. 25 questions randomly selected from a question pool of 50. Can be taken as many times as needed.
- Must pass an interview which tests knowledge of self, patient assessment, “patient-centeredness” and includes a simulated role play which demonstrates the ability of the interviewee to follow core chaplaincy tenets including following the information presented, probing of emotions, relationships and experiences as part of one’s sacred story and the avoidance of the fix-it reflex. Additionally, one must demonstrate the ability to provide care to all people, regardless of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or any other deeply held tradition within one’s own sacred space.
All documentation must be submitted, in its entirety, at the following link BECC, BCAC, BCPC Documentation Submission link
