My Dear friends

Clinical Pastoral Education was started in 1925 when Reverend Anton Boisen began placing theological students in the Worchester State Hospital. Boisen believed placing theology students, what Boisen called “Theologs” into hospitals would significantly improve the care of the patients. This was the beginning of Spiritual Care as a adjunct care milieu.

In 1932 Dr. Helen Flanders Dunbar, a former research assistant to Reverend Boisen, formed the Institute Council for Clinical Training in New York City. By the 1950s there were four major groups offering Clinical Pastoral Education. They were the Council for Clinical Training, Institute for Pastoral Care, the Lutheran Advisory Council, and the Southern Baptist Association of Clinical Pastoral Education,

In October of 1967, after several years of joint discussions and planning, the four groups merged into the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. Today, the ACPE has grown to 3,300 members and established 380 Accredited CPE Centers. Over 118 theological institutions hold membership in the ACPE.

The mission is to train theological students into trained Spiritual Care providers. Clinical Pastoral Education is no longer limited to hospitals but have evolved into hospices and other non profit settings.

We are now seeking to bring CPE to Puerto Rico. The Adventist Church has joined with the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP) in an attempt to bring CPE to Puerto Rico. However, this effort has not been very successful.

What Are We Doing?

We are seeking to offer a community educational event which will introduce CPE to the hospitals, hospices, and nonprofits on the island. In addition, we want to encourage these partners to offer Clinical Pastoral Education to theology students here in Puerto Rico.

We Need Your Help

We are trying to raise $10,000 to sponsor this community event. We are bringing representatives of the ACPE to the island. In addition, we will have a representative of the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training with us.

This event is scheduled for April 29, 2026, at the Fort Buchanan Conference Center. This will be a Free event for attendees. It is intended to be an educational event to help bring Spiritual Care to Puerto Rico.