Utah's reputation as a monochromatic kind of place for faith falls flat at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salt Lake City, where a new chaplaincy training program includes students from Buddhist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Latter-day Saint and Roman Catholic traditions.

The program, which began in September, provides accredited training in Clinical Pastoral Education approved by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy Inc.

Chaplain Mark Allison, who recently returned from a tour of duty with the military in Afghanistan, left his chaplaincy post at University Hospital to lead the new program at the VA. Traditional CPE programs usually exclude working professionals, because they require full-time schooling during the day, but the VA program is designed to allow flexibility for those who work full time, Allison said.

Class work is held two mornings each week, and students also complete a minimum number of clinical hours per week inside the VA complex, with rotating assignments to best meet patient needs.

Clinical placements include church or parish ministries, hospitals, rescue missions, the military, hospice, prison, elder-care facilities and law enforcement. Presenters include medical personnel, clinical psychologists, social workers and clinical chaplains.

The focus of the program is development of competent compassion and ministry skills so chaplains are prepared to minister to "the sick, hurting, dying, searching, alienated, reconciling, needy people and those who care for them," Allison said.

James Floyd, director of of the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, said it's not just students who benefit by earning their certification.

Veterans and their families "have their spiritual needs addressed by competent and compassionate chaplains," he said. "The hospital benefits by providing around-the-clock chaplain services, and the chaplain trainees benefit by receiving valuable supervised clinical pastoral experience and education, which he or she will later take back to their community and church."

For more information, contact Allison by phone at 801-582-1565, ext. 1587, or by e-mail at mark.allison@va.gov.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com