The culture and ecology of The Journal of Pastoral Care Publications Inc. (JPCP) is made up of individuals and organizations who are continually working to improve and innovate their practices of care. Membership in JPCP is open to professional associations and cognate organizations in the pastoral/spiritual care, counseling, and education movements.
How It Works
The Journal of Pastoral Care Publications Inc. is a not-for-profit agency founded by several of the professional associations in the fields of pastoral care, counseling, and education. Several Member Associations appoint JPCP’s Board of Managers and provide about 20% of JPCP Inc’s annual operating budget of $70,000 through member assessments.
The rest of JPCP Inc’s budget is derived from subscriptions, advertising, book sales, and other revenue from service provision, and from support from the pastoral care and counseling community.
Current Member Associations
Agreement by an organization to provide each of its members with online access to The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling shall ordinarily be a requirement of membership of such organization in JPCP Inc. Pastoral/Spiritual Care, Counseling, and/or Education organizations that do not have a professional membership base may become members of the Corporation based on criteria to be established by the Board of Managers from time to time. All member organizations shall have the same rights.
JPCP does NOT have access to the personal information of JPC&C subscribers or of the members of JPCP’s Member Associations.
Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE)
ACPE is a professional association committed to advancing experience-based theological education for seminarians, clergy and lay persons of diverse cultures, ethnic groups and faith traditions. We establish standards, certify supervisors and accredit programs and centers in varied settings. ACPE programs promote the integration of personal history, faith tradition and the behavioral sciences in the practice of spiritual care.
The Canadian Association for Spiritual Care/ Association canadienne de soins spirituels (CASC/ACSS)
CASC/ACSS is a national multifaith organization which is committed to the professional education, certification and support of people involved in pastoral care and pastoral counselling. We provide educational programs for lay persons and clergy who are preparing to become chaplains, pastoral counsellors, ministers, priests, or community based pastoral care workers. We also provide education and certification for supervisors and specialists. CASC/ACSS is concerned with a holistic approach to health care and personal development with a special focus on spiritual and religious care.
Center for Spiritual Care and PastoralFormation (CSCPF)
CSCPF is an international community of Chaplains, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisors, teachers, pastors, psychotherapists, pastoral counselors and spiritual directors. We specialize in accrediting learning centers that educate Professional Chaplains and teach CPE, and we certify individuals for professional chaplaincy and spiritual care. In addition to traditional institution-based CPE, we also provide community-based, distance learning CPE and spiritual formation programs.
Coalition of Spirit-filled Churches (CSC)
CSC is an incorporated, non-profit “religious endorsing body” ministry for a coalition of independent churches and groups of churches from Pentecostal, Renewal, and Charismatic traditions who have united for the exclusive purposes of the credentialing and promotion of Spirit-filled clergy and lay caregivers for pastoral care in specialized settings. These settings include, but are not limited to: the US Armed Forces; Veterans Affairs and civilian healthcare facilities; federal, state, and local correctional facilities; federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies; public and private schools; the workplace; and professional pastoral counseling practices.
National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC)
NACC advocates for the profession of spiritual care and educates, certifies, and supports chaplains, clinical pastoral educators, and all members who continue the healing ministry of Jesus in the name of the Church. NACC is a light of hope, whose members are persistently advocating for those dedicated to the spiritual care of people experiencing pain, vulnerability, joy, and hope.
Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC)
NAJC, founded in 1989 as the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, strives to enhance the skills of Jewish Chaplains in order that they might provide quality Jewish religious and spiritual care. The NAJC is at the forefront of promoting the highest standard of professional training and practice for Jewish Chaplains.
National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains (NIBIC)
Business-Industrial Chaplaincy:
- • Is an interdenominational, ecumenical counseling ministry to people in business and industry, responding to individual and family needs, as well as work-life concerns such as job stress and career.
- • Is not a denominational promotion scheme, a preaching platform, a defense of paternalism, a labor or management tool, or competition for community services or agencies.
- • Is a preventive, as well as problem-solving, ministry and reaches out with concern to all people.
- • Is a carefully structured ministry of pastoral care conducted by carefully selected and trained ministers, working within the boundaries of cooperative and supportive business or industry.
The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy Inc. (CPSP)
The College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy is a theologically based covenant community, dedicated to “Recovery of Soul.” CPSP offers Accredited Training and Credentialing in Pastoral Counseling, Pastoral Psychotherapy, Clinical Chaplaincy, and Pastoral Supervision.
International Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling
The International Council came into existence in 1979 at the first International Congress of reflective practitioners of Pastoral Care and Counselling held in Edinburgh, Scotland. There had been gatherings from as early as 1972 of various European and American practitioners but Edinburgh 1979, where over four hundred people from all the continents gathered, was a watershed for Pastoral Care and counselling akin to the ecumenical mission and church meetings of 1910 and 1937.
ICPCC represents a truly international, ecumenical and proactive movement of women and men desiring to respond to current needs and situations faced by real life people in the world through the skills and mediations of pastoral care and counselling.
The Council serves as a ‘web-like’ network of people to:
- • help promote the reflective practice of Pastoral Care and Counselling throughout the world.
- • inform, educate and inspire practitioners of Pastoral Care and Counselling in every place.
- • enable practitioners to be in touch with each other and to learn from good practice wherever it occurs.
- • to oversee the running of “International Congresses” every four years.
Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counseling
The Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling (SIPCC) is a community of counsellors, pastors, supervisors, teachers, scholars, s and other pastoral caregivers committed to enrich the field of pastoral studies and pastoral practices. The purpose of the Society is to equip persons for pastoral care and counselling in the midst of diverse cultural contexts. Coming from a Christian background SIPCC engages in dialogue with other faiths and religions aiming at justice, peace and the integrity of creation. International Seminars on Pastoral Care and Counselling started in 1986, from which roots SIPCC was founded as a registered tax free association in 1995 to provide a forum for the voices of women and men from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds in order to foster intercultural understanding of issues related to contemporary ways of doing pastoral care and counselling in practice and theory. Members come from many different countries, religious backgrounds and cultures. Membership is open to all persons and institutions sharing similar concerns and goals.
The Society for Pastoral Theology
SPT publishes the Journal of Pastoral Theology to:
- • further the understanding of pastoral theology as a theological discipline and to clarify the nature of the discipline;
- • maintain a view of pastoral theology as a constructive theology that emerges from the exercise of caring relationships, with attention both to present lived experience and to knowledge derived from the past.;
- • provide an intentional forum for the voices of diverse persons, women and men, of many cultural and ethnic backgrounds;
- • foster multi-cultural understandings of issues in the discipline;
- • promote and encourage multi-discipline and multi-cultural research in the field of pastoral theology;
- • provide resources for those who teach and those who study, through recording current research and assessing the relevant literature;
- • provide for the construction of sound theological principles for guidance and critique of practices of pastoral and spiritual care;
- • and work creatively, through synthesis and construction, to define th frontiers and parameters of the discipline.
Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion
A research institute dedicated to the non-partisan scientific study of religion using bio-cultural techniques. IBCSR also provides a research review newsletter that we highly recommend.
Association of Professional Chaplains
With commitment to interfaith ministry and the professional practice of chaplaincy care, the Association of Professional Chaplains serves chaplains in all types of health and human service settings. Our more than 5,000 member chaplains and affiliates are involved in chaplaincy care of all persons, respecting their diverse cultures and beliefs. As a national, not-for-profit professional association, APC advocates for quality chaplaincy care of all persons in health care facilities, correctional institutions, long term care units, rehabilitation centers, hospice, the military and other specialized settings.
Other Professional Organizations
Listing on this page does not intend to imply that an association or agency has an administrative connection with JPCP Inc. Rather, the list is provided for the convenience of visitors to this website – so that they can know of some of the other organizations/agencies that are engaged in the practice of pastoral/spiritual care, counseling, and education.
The Common Standards, now known as the Competencies for Certification in Spiritual Care, have been updated by ACPE, APC, CASC/ACSS, NACC & NAJC. You can find the updated list of Competencies HERE.
