Do I Qualify?
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.
MDiv and 4 CPE units required
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 below. An additional 2,000 documented hours are required for those Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplains seeking to be dual certified with the BCPC credential.
​ MDiv and 4 CPE units required.
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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.
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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.