Pastoral Care Education Programs

When you're ready to improve your pastoral caregiving skills, especially within a clinical setting, choose from several opportunities within the OU Health Pastoral Care department.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Clinical Pastoral Education is a graduate and post-graduate internship in pastoral care. As adult experiential education, CPE combines weekly pastoral care services along with small-group, classroom reflection. The goal of clinical pastoral education is to create increasing competence, and therefore confidence, in the student’s ministry of pastoral care. This competence is facilitated as students share specific incidences of pastoral care with one another through a verbatim format (written recall of the conversation in detail) and receive feedback and constructive critique. Theory in the field of pastoral care, theology, and counseling, is also read and discussed. It is the repetitive, weekly, action-reflection method that produces amazing growth across time.

Stephen Ministry in Healthcare

A recognized lay and community ministry among mainstream denominations, Stephen Ministries trains volunteers for ministry in many areas. Using the Stephen Ministries template, which has been active since 1975, Chaplain leaders at University of Oklahoma Medical Center are now pioneering a new health care specific ministry program. The training helps to provide practical ministry skills, especially in the area of hospital visitation, to clergy and lay ministers statewide.

Crisis Care Education

Let us help you learn to better help those you serve when crisis experience comes their - and your - way. Enroll in our part-time education program for clergy and other pastoral care providers. Click here to learn more.

Involvement with Camp Cavett

The Pastoral Care Department is deeply connected to Camp Cavett, a program that provides outreach experiences free of charge to chronically ill and physically challenged children. Each year, Camp Cavett is held at Cross Point Camp near Kingston, OK, at Lake Texoma.

The camp accommodates 150 children, between ages 10 and 18, living with cancer, hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, sickle cell, diabetes, spina bifida, gastrointestinal and other chronic diseases. At Camp Cavett, these children are able to set their illnesses aside and have an enjoyable experience that builds character, self-esteem and self-confidence through the activities in which they take part and in the fellowship they enjoy with other children. The Camp Cavett program is a 501(c)3 charity.

For more information, call the pastoral care team at (405) 271-5758 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.