APPLICATION FOR NAVAC BOARD CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN
A person making application for Board Certified Chaplain must meet the requirements of a Certified Clinical Chaplain as prerequisite. In addition, a total of 4 units of ACPE accredited CPE are required. Evaluation before a peer review board is also required.
Qualifications for BCC:
1. Possession of a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from an institution recognized by the Department of Education.
2. Completion of four units of Clinical Pastoral Education from a training organization accredited by the United States Department of Education.
3. Current Ecclesiastical Endorsement from an endorsing body recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
4. Three years of full-time professional ministry experience.
A. Professional ministry experience is paid work in any ministry context, i.e., Spiritual Director / Counselor, Chaplain, Pastor, etc…
B. Part time work is calculated to a three-year equivalency, i.e., if you work half time for six years that is a three-year equivalent.
C. Of those three years, 2 years must be in the role of a professional chaplain.
D. Full-time GS-9 VA Staff Chaplains who have completed their 1-year probationary period may apply for BCC.
E. Chaplains who have completed a full-year VA-sponsored Chaplain Fellowship may apply for BCC. (This is not a 2nd year of a CPE residency.)
5. Yes______ /No______: I have completed at least 5 hours in reading in any of the following: Published research findings, professional chaplain journals, and other Chaplain care articles.
6. Completion of the entire application package.
7. Completion of an interview by a peer review panel to ascertain competency in Pastoral, Personal and Professional areas.
A. You must first become a Professional Chaplain Member before your BCC application will be processed. If you are not a member of NAVAC you will need to fill out the Professional Chaplain Member application and remit with appropriate fees.
B. The application for Board Certification is sent to the Chairman of the Board of Directors along with a $100.00 one-time, non-refundable application fee.
C. Once your application is complete send it to Chairman of the Certification Committee. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that your application is complete. Please do not send bits and pieces of the application. Send the entire application as one package.
D. A convener is selected, who then selects three Board Certified Chaplains and up to three persons from other disciplines to serve in the interview process, known as the “peer review”.
i. Dues paying chaplains from APC, NCVACC, NACC, VA Black Chaplains, VA Jewish Chaplains, and CPE Educators may be invited to assist in panels.
ii. Only the NAVAC BCC members of such panels are voting members of the panel.
E. If the interview process is positive, the convener will notify the Chair of Certification. The Chair then notifies the Board of Directors who vote on the recommendation. Only the Board of Directors can approve a recommendation for Board Certified Chaplain.
F. If the interview is negative, the Interview Panel notifies the Chair of the Certification Committee that certification is not recommended or that they recommend deferral. If a deferral is recommended, they may require the candidate to complete additional work before making a positive recommendation. If their recommendation is to not confer BCC status, the candidate will be given time to appeal that decision.
G. You MAY send in your Professional Clinical Member Application at the same time as your BCC application.
REQUESTING RECIPROCITY / EQUIVALENT CERTIFICATION WITH NAVAC
We do offer reciprocity and equivalent certifications. Fill out only the contact information, educational information and endorsement information. Send that along with the $100 fee and documentation showing that you are currently BCC with that organization. As always you must also be a Professional Clinical Member of NAVAC.
We also offer equivalency for ACPE Educators. If you are a full ACPE Educator fill out the contact information, educational information and endorsement information. Send that along with proof that you are currently an ACPE Supervisor, a copy of Ecclesiastical Endorsement, and the $100 application fee. As always you must also be a Professional Clinical Member of NAVAC.
APPLICATION FOR NAVAC BOARD CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This is the first page of your BCC Application.
Please do not submit any original documents. Send Only Singled-Sided, 8 ½ x 11 size paper.
Please do not staple or place in a binder.
1. PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name:
Title:
Faith Group:
Home Mailing Address:
Work phone:
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
Fax:
E-mail address:
NAVAC Member: Yes/No If you are not a member of NAVAC you will need to fill out the Professional Clinical Member application and include $30.00 application fee.
Employer: Position:
2. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
College Name:
Degree: Date:
Seminary Name:
Degree: Date:
3. ENDORSEMENT
Endorsing Agency:
Name of Endorser:
Date of Endorsement:
Include a copy of your endorsement
4. PROVIDE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YOUR FAITH JOURNEY. (Not to exceed two typewritten pages. Please use a common business / professional 12-point font such as Courier, Arial or Times New Roman)
5. INCLUDE A CURRENT RESUME. (not to exceed five typewritten pages)
6. SUBMIT COMPETENCIES AS PER APPLICATION.
7. PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF PARTICIPATION IN CONTINUING EDUCATION RELATED TO CHAPLAINCY.
8. PROVIDE AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF THE SETTING IN WHICH YOU NOW SERVE.
9. PROVIDE CURRENT VERBATIMS (experiences within the last three months)
10. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AND CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION
EVALUATIONS:
A. Provide a current letter of ecclesiastical endorsement.
B. Provide a letter from the Supervisor of Chaplains at the VA where you are employed.
C. Provide two letters of recommendation from currently active NAVAC Board Certified
Chaplains or chaplains certified from organizations with whom NAVAC has reciprocal certification.
D. Provide CPE evaluations or equivalency.
E. Provide documentation of 4 units of CPE or equivalency.
F. Provide a current verbatim (from an experience within the last three months).
Clinical Pastoral Education Equivalency
Only ACPE CPE is accepted as fulfilling the requirements for CPE training. Therefore, of the four units of CPE required for Board Certification, three of those units must be ACPE CPE.
Only one unit of the 4-unit CPE requirement may be requested as an equivalency. For an equivalency experience to be accepted for one unit of CPE the equivalent training must contain the following components:
A. A minimum of 400 hours of supervised clinical work with real living human documents.
B. A didactic component that caused the candidate to reflect upon the integration of one’s personal story and their understanding of the behavioral sciences and theology.
C. A group supervision of their work.
D. A regular opportunity for peer group / interpersonal relationships, development, and critique.
Time Frame for Certification:
As NAVAC Certification Committee members are generally full-time VA Professional Chaplains, please expect that the certification process may take as long as 30 days for CCC applications and 90 days for BCC applicants once the completed application packets are received.
Send the completed Checklist and application with all attachments.
To Submit your application, please scan you BCC application into a PDF file and email it to:
Chaplain David Lefavor
NAVAC Certification Committee Chairman
Send the $100 application fee to:
NAVAC
P.O. Box 1631
Newport News, VA 23601
Please note that:
NAVAC is a private organization that serves the certification needs of VA Chaplains and those interested in VA Chaplaincy. As such, we are not an extension of the VA though we follow many of the guidelines used by the VA. It is our goal to provide you with a collegial process to meet your certification needs. Any disagreements with NAVAC decisions should be handled directly with NAVAC.
If you have other questions, or need clarification please contact Chaplain Lefavor at: NAVACBCC@gmail.com.