Church Ministry Office
Pastoral Health Care Education

Three levels of theological education along with three levels of specialized skill training are available for this ministry of Pastoral Health Care. The "Foundations in Ministry" course, Certificate programs through either Christ the King Seminary or the Diocesan Office of Church Ministry, and the seminary's Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry are the three levels of theological training for this ministry. For information in regard to the appropriate level, please call Kathleen Heffern at 847-5531.

The following are the three levels of specialized skill training:

Level I
Title: Skills in Visiting: Friendly and Pastoral
Presenter: Sister Margaret Dougherty, DC and Sisters Hospital Team
Dates: Upon Request
Time: 7-9:30 p.m.
Cost: $80 (Scholarships available)
Contact: Kathleen Heffern
Tel: 847-5531
E-mail: kheffern@buffalodiocese.org.

Level II
Title: Pastoral Institute Program
The St. Jude Center offers the Pastoral Institute Program as preparation for both parish ministry to the sick and the ministry of pastoral care in a hospital or nursing home setting. Students are guided through twenty-one weeks of study offered two days a week over a ten-hour period. In addition to the didactic program, the student is assigned a hospital unit in order to provide pastoral care to patients, family and staff. This would be in a supervised environment. An evaluation process is part of the program and a certificate is awarded upon successful completion.
Presenter: Rev. Richard H. Augustyn
Dates: January 2007 – June 2007
Time: Mondays & Wednesdays, 6-9 p.m.
Cost: $275
Contact : Rev. Richard H. Augustyn
Tel: 859-2864

Title: Diocesan Pastoral Institute Advanced Program
For those who have taken the initial training program offered through the St. Jude Center, this program focuses on ministry in mental health, oncology, counseling skills and theology.
Dates: September - December, 2006
Contact : Rev. Richard H. Augustyn
Tel: 859-2864 or 882-2987

Title: The Pastoral Care Visitors Training Program
This 22-week program designed to prepare persons for ministry in a hospital, nursing home, or in the faith community consists of two parts - a lecture series on Monday evenings and a clinical experience on Monday afternoons or on Wednesday evenings. The participants will visit patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute as well as be introduced to the multidisciplinary approach to patient care. The clinical experience will be done under the supervision of a qualified chaplain. Upon completion of the 22-week program, the participants will receive a certificate of completion from Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Presenters: Beth Lenegan, Ph.D., Rev. Jack Mattimore, SJ, Rev. Richard Kaylor, Sara Schultz, MA, Health Care Team
Location: Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Date/Time: 22 weeks, Sept, 2006 – Mondays & Wednesdays, 6 – 9 p.m.
Cost: $225
Contact: Dr. Beth Lenegan
Tel: 845-8051

Title: The Pastoral Care Lecture Series
This 22-week series is open to all interested persons who would like to update themselves on health care issues and pastoral care. Classes will be held on Monday evenings for three hours and topics will include: Call to Ministry, Pastoral Counseling, Medical Ethics, Loss, Mourning and Grief, Pediatric Patient and Child as Caregiver, Family Systems and Forms of Prayer. Upon completion of the 22-week lecture series, the participants will receive a certificate of completion from Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Presenters: Beth Lenegan, Ph.D., Rev. Jack Mattimore, SJ, Rev. Richard Kaylor, Sara Schultz, MA, Health Care Team
Location: Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Date/Time: 22 weeks, Mondays, beginning Sept. 11, 2006, 6 – 9 p.m.
Cost: $175
Contact: Dr. Beth Lenegan
Tel: 845-8051

Level III

Title: Clinical Pastoral Education: Levels One, Two and Supervisory Training
The Catholic Health System provides Clinical Pastoral Education in a variety of settings. CPE is theological and professional education for ministry. Open to theological students, clergy, laypersons and members of religious orders, the program offers opportunities to grow in areas of pastoral reflection, pastoral formation and pastoral competence.

A unit of CPE consists of at least 400 hours of supervised training. Sixty to seventy percent of that time is spent in direct ministry to people. Thirty to forty percent of the time is spent in group interaction through verbatim seminars, theoretical presentations and interpersonal relationship groups. Included also is individual supervision with a certified supervisor or a supervisor-in-training. The focus is reflection on ministry. This methodology provides the process that "forms and informs" interns as they move towards becoming chaplains and pastoral ministers.

Sisters Hospital offers two different programs: a health-care-based program that operates out of Sisters Hospital and an inner-city based program. The learning process is the same for both programs. In the health-care program the settings for ministry are hospitals, nursing homes, the homes of patients and Benedict House. The ministry settings for the community based program are soup kitchens, refugee re-settlement programs, prisons, rehab houses for persons who have been imprisoned or addicted and other community-based places of service.

Presenters: Sr. Margaret Dougherty DC, Sr. Janet Bielmann RSM, and Dr. Tyler Dudley
Date: Fall Unit: Sept. 4, 2006 - Dec. 15, 2006 (25 hrs. per week)
Time: Three Group Times Available: One full day per/wk; 2 half days/wk; or 2 evenings per/wk.
Cost: $1000
Contact: Melody Rutherford
Tel: 716-862-1374