The chaplains at Self Regional are clergy of different faiths who have received extensive training in providing ministry in the healthcare setting. Respect for spiritual or religious preference of patients and families are a key principle in our practice.
Chaplains reach across faith group boundaries and do not proselytize. They have a working knowledge of healthcare and understand the impact illness can have on the emotional and spiritual lives of patients and their loved ones. Chaplains encourage and support patients, families and healthcare professionals to draw on their own religious and spiritual resources to maintain hope, uphold human dignity, and address questions of meaning in the face of crisis or chronic suffering.
Chaplaincy Services We Provide:
A Chaplain is on call and available to patients and their loved ones 24 hours a day by dialing 864-725-5801.
- Spiritual support and counseling
- Grief ministry
- Build on the resources of one’s faith
- Help in examination of questions regarding faith, belief and doubt
- Crisis intervention
- Participating in family conferences
- Assist with life support and other ethical issues
- Rounding on all hospital units
- Responding to referrals
- Pre-op visits
- Response to all code blue, rapid response, and trauma calls
- Sacraments of Communion and Baptism
- Special blessings
- End-of-life rituals
- Memorial services
- Marriages
- Consultations
- Ethics consult
- Facilitation of spirituality and grief groups
- Seminars/in-service presentations on subjects such as grief, spiritual resources for healing, spiritual assessment, death and dying, theological reflection, caring for the caregiver, bereavement ministry
- Clinical Pastoral Education is offered to Clergy and Seminarians (see below)
The Chapel
The hospital chapel is located on the first floor near the main entrance, just past the Main Lobby elevators. The chapel is open 24 hours a day for meditation, prayer or quiet reflection.
Chapel Services
- Interfaith Chapel Services are held weekly on Wednesdays at 1 pm. All hospital staff, patients, and visitors are invited to attend. These 15-30 minute services, which are are led by our Staff Chaplains and Clinical Pastoral Education Students, are held to offer support, comfort, and hope in times of crises.
- Quarterly Memorial Services
- Special services as requested
Prayer Requests
If you would like to submit a prayer request to the chaplaincy staff, please place it in the Private Prayer Box located on the resource table in the chapel. Prayers are read during our morning staff meeting. Prayer requests may also be submitted directly to (864)725-5801.
Devotional Literature
Scriptures and devotional literature from a variety of traditions are available upon request from the Chaplaincy Office.
The History and Impact of Spiritual Care at Self Regional
Chaplaincy as a formal vocation traces its roots back many centuries ago, when clergy were assigned to care for soldiers, hospitals, and universities. Over the years, the role of chaplains has continually expanded into diverse settings—military, prisons, private corporations, healthcare, and educational institutions—serving people in times of crisis and transition. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) emerged in the United States in the 1920s through the pioneering work of Anton Boisen, a minister who believed that theological students needed to learn from direct encounters with human suffering rather than solely from books. Boisen, often called the “father of CPE,” brought together theological reflection and supervised ministry in hospitals, where students could integrate faith with psychology and the behavioral sciences. This experiential model of training spread widely in the mid-20th century, shaping modern chaplaincy into a professional discipline that emphasizes spiritual care, personal growth, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the capacity to accompany people of all faiths—or none—through life’s deepest struggles.
The first full time Chaplain at Self Regional was Reverend Dr. William “Bill” Eubanks. Upon his retirement, he encouraged hospital leadership to make Self Regional a CPE Training Center. Reverend Dr. Earl Troglin was hired as a Certified CPE Educator, and Self hosted its first CPE class as an Accredited Training Center in 1990. The students at this time were not full-time hospital employees; rather they were local clergy who attended CPE classes in the evenings and assisted with weekend and overnight on-calls (referred to as Extended Units). Reverend Troglin served as director and CPE Educator until his retirement in 2005, when Reverend Dr. Stephen Lemons took over the program. Reverend Lemons transitioned the department from teaching Extended Students to having a Residency program, where CPE Students work as full time hospital employees, spending three quarters of their time in clinical care and one quarter in class. After Reverend Lemons’ departure, the CPE program has been overseen by Reverend Leslie Young-Ward, Reverend Dr. John Thomas, and now Reverend Craig Stevens. Over 150 clergy from the community and across the country have served and learned at Self Regional as CPE Students over the past 35 years. Throughout this time, they and our Staff Chaplains have provided spiritual and emotional support to countless Self Regional patients and their loved ones who are in times of crisis.
Clinical Pastoral Education
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is an intensive experiential educational program for those interested in developing their clinical skills. Key areas for learning include integrating theology into pastoral practice, formation as a religious leader, and self-reflection and knowledge. CPE can be an excellent tool for discernment, self-care and renewal. Self Regional Healthcare provides a great environment for CPE students to work in.
CPE programs within Self Regional Healthcare are rooted in a vision of care that arises from an understanding of human beings as whole persons within relationships to God, themselves, their families and the society in which they live. The CPE programs are designed to encourage personal growth in a professional ministry. Students have the opportunity to develop their resources for theological integration, pastoral reflection, pastoral formation and pastoral competence.
The Self Regional Healthcare CPE Center is accredited by The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP).
Educational Method
CPE is a method of theological education that examines care in an acute setting. The student begins by contracting with a supervisor for learning based on their individual goals. Individual supervision, small group discussion and interdisciplinary dialogue are major program resources. These resources assist students to deepen their appreciation of the human predicament and to recognize the resources for ministry that reside in their unique life histories, spiritual pilgrimages and ministry experience. The emphasis is on converting experience into learning. The peer-learning group contributes to enriched reflection upon pastoral experience and to that quality of community, which supports professional growth. In tum, this enriched reflection leads to the integration of person, pastoral role, belief and knowledge. CPE calls upon students to be with people in times of crisis and loss. They learn to assess the needs and resources people have for wholeness and well-being and to encourage healing and wholeness in themselves and those for whom they care.
CPE units offered
We offer CPE as a year long residency (paid) and as single unit internships and externships (unpaid). Single unit internships are 10-12 weeks, full time, with weekly on calls. Single unit externships are 6 months, two days per week, with bi-weekly on calls. Both internships and externships will comprise of at least 100 education hours and 300 clinical hours. Our center does not charge a tuition fee or require book purchases for any CPE classes.
Year-long CPE residency
This program provides advanced clinical training in spiritual care and prepares clergy for careers in pastoral caregiving and chaplaincy. This comprehensive program requires a full, 40-hour work week, including overnight on-call shifts. Prerequisites typically include completion of one unit of CPE and a graduate theological degree. Equivalencies may be offered based on experience on a case-by-case basis. This program includes: four units CPSP accredited Clinical Pastoral Education, a stipend, paid time off, and full Self Regional Team Member benefits. First and second year residencies are offered.
Application Procedure
- Applications are accepted year-round, with rolling enrollment
- Complete the CPE Application and return to spiritualcare@selfregional.org
- Once a completed application packet is received, eligible students may be contacted to schedule an admissions interview
Contact
The Spiritual Care & Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Department
Email us at spiritualcare@selfregional.org
(864) 725-4158