News

The University of Chicago Divinity School now offers a certificate in chaplaincy, available to all current Master of Divinity students. Modeled after UChicago’s interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy (GPHAP) certificate, the chaplaincy certification provides a pathway for MDiv students to engage in the study, practice, and research of chaplaincy, leveraging the University’s rich academic resources in religion, policy, social work, and healthcare.  

“This certificate builds on the Divinity School’s longstanding strength at the intersection of serious scholarship and lived practice,” said Cynthia Gano Lindner, director of Ministry Studies and clinical faculty for preaching and pastoral care at the Divinity School. “By drawing on the University’s interdisciplinary resources, it equips our MDiv students to engage chaplaincy with both intellectual depth and a well-formed pastoral presence in a wide range of institutional settings.”

Building on existing training and fieldwork at Swift Hall and across Chicago, the certificate offers opportunities for additional coursework, seminars, workshops, and internships to strengthen students’ competence in chaplaincy and their ability to contribute to cross-functional teams in health care, education, the military, and other institutional settings.

The Divinity School and the University of Chicago Medical Center have been actively involved in the conception and evolution of the fields of spiritual care and chaplaincy for decades, from seminal research on death and dying in the 1970s, to pioneering work in religion and psychological studies in the 1980s and 1990s. The resources of a world-renowned research university provide students with a particularly generative environment for engaging in chaplaincy education and research across a range of disciplines.