CSCPF is a Community of Communities.  All of our activities and functions are conducted in various types of communities & councils which are all interrelated, responsive and accountable to one another.

CSCPF provides professional certification, life-long professional development, professional and personal support through its  Practitioner Communities. CSCPF is also an organization that provides professional education through its Learning Centers and Serving Sites.  

We believe that the core values of CSCPF are best embodied and expressed within Practitioner Communities. These small groups are ideally constituted of 4 to 12 individuals who create and maintain a shared depth of history, knowledge and trust with one another. Every member of CSCPF must be actively affiliated with a Practitioner Community. Only CSCPF members may be certified, vote, or participate on certification and ethics review boards.

This core value of maintaining small relational groups within CSCPF is the responsibility of the Practitioner Community.  A Practitioner Community may vary in size. The recommended minimum size of a Practitioner Community is four individuals.  Practitioner Communities which have more than 10 members are recommended to form multiple, smaller "Support Communities" of 4 to 10 members to foster the depth of relational interaction and provide adequate time for each member to present clinical cases and receive support, feedback and accountability. Thus a Practitioner Community could be constituted of one small group of 4-10 individuals or it could be a larger group of up to 40 individuals comprised of multiple small groups.

All matters of certification readiness, certification review and re-certification are conducted within Practitioner Communities according to the Certification Standards of CSCPF. Practitioner Communities are responsible to ensure each certified member remains in good standing according the Standards of CSCPF.                                                                                        

Practitioner Communities have voice and vote in the governance matters of CSCPF through their Practitioner Community Liaisons and individual members who serve on Functional Area Teams and/or the Program and Fiduciary Councils. 

Learning Centers offer clinical pastoral education/formation at various levels of certification. Learning Centers must be accredited by CSCPF. The annual CSCPF membership fees for Learning Centers include accreditation (or renewal of accreditation, if you are already accredited).

  

Pastoral Psychotherapy/Counseling Centers are under the direction a CSCPF certified Supervisor. Each Pastoral Psychotherapy/Counseling Center provides specific education, formation, teaching and mentoring programs to those individuals who meet specific entry requirements.  Each Pastoral Psychotherapy/Counseling Center is responsible to the Accreditation Team for their program's compliance with standards and accreditation.  

Serving Sites are clinical placement sites (such as: hospitals, hospices, agencies etc) where interns, residents and other individuals conduct their clinical service. Any type of ministry site is acceptable.  Participation is voluntary and initiated by the ministry site.  Serving Sites are recognized after they are reviewed by local Learning Centers and Practitioner Communities and ratified by the Program Council.

Each Serving Site, embedded or contracted, offer its trainees a site to practice the skills of pastoral and spiritual care. The Learning-Formation Supervisor must clearly identify the unique identity of the Center (e.g., parish-based; rescue mission, correctional facility, military family life-training centers, stand-alone, etc.,) and how it addresses the standards and objectives of CSCPF and the Learning-Formation Center.