Clinical Pastoral Orientation (CPO) is a program designed for laypersons or ministers who don’t have time for CPE. It can also be done to get a taste for CPE. Additionally, it is set up to work more comfortably into a the normal (semester or quarter) schedule of a bible school or seminary.

In January, the BOT of CPSP-Philippines agreed to add CPO to the certification and accreditation standards. While this is still in progress, the following document provides  some insight into the standards being proposed.

CPO is presently being done at Zamboanga Peninsula Medical Center, and Bukal Life Care in Baguio City will have one starting on June 19.

Click here to view the Rough Draft of the Standards:  CPO Program

June 5-July 7.  Brent Hospital.  Zamboanga City.  CPE Intensive.  Supervisor Cal Sodoy.

June 19.  Start of Clinical Pastoral Orientation at PBTS in Baguio City. Duration 15 weeks, meeting on Mondays. (Another CPO group is presently underway in Zamboanga at the Zamboanga Peninsula Medical Center, led by Chaplain Buac.)

Mid-August. Mary Johnston Hospital. Tondo, Manila.  CPE Extended. Supervisor/SIT:  Dr. Sim Dang-Awan Jr., and Chaplain Victor Layug.

Mid-August.  Bukal Life Care. Baguio City. CPE Extended. Supervisor: TBD.

July 17-August 25.  Brokeshire Memorial Hospital. Davao City. CPE Intensive. Supervisor Cal Sodoy.

September 19-22.  Jakarta Indonesia.  2017 Asia Pacific Pastoral Care and Counseling Convention.  http://2017apac-pcc-con.org/

October 9-November 17. Capiz Emmanuel Hospital. Roxas City.  CPE Intensive. Supervisor Cal Sodoy.

April 24-25, 2017, we held a great conference on the grounds of Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (PBTS). The conference was a partnership between CPSP-Philippines, CPSP, PBTS, and Bukal Life Care. This was the “2nd Dayot and Dickens Pastoral Care Conference.”

The main speaker is Dr. Doug Dickens, a CPSP-certified Diplomate Supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education/Training. He has mentoring relationship with CPSP-Philippines. The topic was “The Beatitudes: Diagnosis and Healing from the Inside Out.” The topic looks at the Beatitudes as a form of pastoral diagnosis… not in terms of pathology, but in terms of holistic wellness. With 220 participants, we had a wonderful time, and look forward more gatherings like this in the future.

Dr. Dickens with CPSP-Philippines SITs, John Mark Bagalan and Violeta Canoy

Group Picture of the participants at PBTS Amphitheater

We are having our CPSP-Philippines Seminar April 24th and 25th. It is led by CPSP Diplomate, Dr. Doug Dickens. We hope you will join. It is a great deal, and an awesome opportunity to learn and grow.

However, that week, there are three big seminars going on. So if you are interested one, or two, or three, please click on the post below from Bukal Life Care for details about the opportunities.

THREE BIG SEMINARS CLICK HERE

A quote from a blog by Dan Salyers (You can read the entire post HERE)

Bonhoeffer writes, “From the Christian point of view there is no special problem about Christmas in a prison cell. For many people in this building it will probably be a more sincere and genuine occasion than in places where nothing but the name is kept. That misery, suffering, poverty, loneliness, helplessness, and guilt mean something quite different in the eyes of God… that Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn-these are things that a prisoner can understand better than other people” (Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison,  166).

This passage strikes me because I’ve never considered how the Christmas story can resonate with individuals who have no home, family, or safe haven to go to at Christmas time. Not just for prisoners, but for the homeless and the lonely people in the world, the Christmas story has a special message for all of them: Christ entered this world in a similar circumstance. Joseph and Mary were travelling and trying to find a space for Jesus to be born. The only space left was in a stable area. The humility of Christ’s birth speaks to those whose existence can only be described as “humble.”

Bonhoeffer, as a prisoner, knew isolation and loneliness at Christmas. He though, unlike so many, had a loving family who came to see him when they were permitted and who missed him at Christmastime in their home. How many of his fellow prisoners felt a much deeper loneliness and isolation than he did because they had no such support? How many prisoners incarcerated today feel a similar loneliness and isolation, especially at the holidays?

Whether surrounded by friends and family, or alone, we pray that this Holiday Season, and New Years will be a time of healing and renewal… both for you and for those who feel alone and forgotten.