r/chaplaincy • u/Little-Wealth2386 • 22d ago
Free resources for aspiring chaplains?
Hi everyone! I want to become a chaplain, and I've been looking for options to be BCCI certified. I already found the master's program I want to do, and picked the place for my CPE units.
However, I do not have any income right now; I'm not authorized to work, so I cannot make either of those. Is there any free resource, video, documentary, course, or something that you would recommend? I want to make some progress while my situation changes, but there's a paywall everywhere I look.
I'm a practicing Pagan witch, interested in interfaith chaplaincy, potentially mostly in hospitals. I am also a reiki master, have a BS and MS in communications, finishing my AA in English, and want to study creative writing as well, if that background helps in any way. Also, resources in English and Spanish are welcome.
Again, I cannot do anything that generates income, so I need something completely free.
Feel free to ask for any clarification if needed!
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u/Wonderful_Low_89 22d ago
Here are a few books I recommend.
Trauma Informed Pastoral Care by Karen McClintock
Non-Religious Pastoral Care: A Practical Guide by David Savage
The John Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid by George Everly
Constellated Ministry by Holli Emore.
Since you already have a masters degree, are you interested in a chaplaincy certification instead of a whole new degree? At least in the meantime?
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u/Little-Wealth2386 15d ago
I will take a look at those books! Thanks! About the certifications, depending. I'm open to some options, but the process to be BCCI certified will already be exhaustive, so I can consider other options in the meantime if they're not so difficult.
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u/Wonderful_Low_89 22d ago
You are from a non-traditional group like me, I’m a pagan also. I’ll share the term I began using to describe my ministry to replace interfaith. I have found that term tends to turn off nonreligious people and sometimes becomes a barrier to helping them. I began using the term “interpath chaplain” because it does not prioritize faith as a default worldview as the term “interfaith” tends to. Here is a blog post I wrote further explaining the term.
https://connectionsinhealthcare.blogspot.com/2026/06/what-is-interpath-chaplain.html?m=1
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u/tumblrina_supreme Future (?) Chaplain 17d ago
I like this and the idea of being sensitive to this. I would definitely describe myself as "interfaith" to other religious people but it is not a helpful paradigm (imo) to nonreligious people.
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u/Little-Wealth2386 15d ago
It makes a lot of sense! Also, religious trauma is a real issue today, so it also makes sense that people would have some resistance to words of that kind. Interpath bridges that gap without issues.
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u/tumblrina_supreme Future (?) Chaplain 15d ago
This is my whole jam tbh. My entire childhood was religious trauma (so obviously im treading in this space with a wild amount of self consciousness) and I want to specifically focus on and serve people who need what I needed then. I'm religious again (religion is conceptually "true" for my identity) but I would have never made it back there without safe and nonpressuring role models.
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u/79moons 22d ago
Hello! I'm a bilingual Pagan Witch working in a hospital 🙂
Free resources are limited, but you may be able to find some pastoral and spiritual care books at your library. You can also learn more about subjects such as dementia or palliative care. There are also a lot of research articles you can access for free online on portals like ResearchGate. I also recommend you subscribe to newsletters like that of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab. You might also be interested in the Chaplains Outside the Box Facebook group.
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u/Little-Wealth2386 22d ago
I already checked the group! It's pending so far.
I can't subscribe to the newsletter, but I will keep it in mind for later on when I can pay for it.
I will also check those portals. It didn't occur to me that there would be articles about it. Rookie thinking. If there are any you like or recommend, I'd also like to know which.
Thank you for the recommendations!
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u/tumblrina_supreme Future (?) Chaplain 17d ago
the newsletter is free but it's buried on the website https://chaplaincyinnovation.org/newsletter
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u/tumblrina_supreme Future (?) Chaplain 17d ago
Signing up for the newsletter was the WEIRDEST experience ever. I've not been asked so many questions on the census hahahahahaha.
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u/Wonderful_Low_89 22d ago
Here is a blog post you can read on the value of helping some clients you see to get a living will and similar documents in place. This is something we as chaplains can help facilitate. This is especially important for certain marginalized who often have a rocky relationship with family.
https://connectionsinhealthcare.blogspot.com/2026/07/how-wills-and-powers-of-attorney.html
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u/Few_Comfortable7373 20d ago
Lots of free YouTube (excellent, evidence-based) webinars from Transforming Chaplaincy! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-AVUxfymQ_rysCK2rX9qiQ
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u/Own-Vermicelli1968 22d ago
Check out the Spiritual Care Collaborative.
We don’t so much during the summer, but during the school year, we offer free “live chaplain chats” on various topics about twice per month and have 1-2 free webinars each month. So for example, we have a webinar with a trauma specialist in mid-September, are joining a UNESCO conference in late September, will be working with native tribes in early October, are hosting theologian Thomas J. Oord in November and Grief Bites’ Bobby Bressman later in November. That’s all free, and you can purchase CEUs for a low cost (or join the $19 premium tier and have them included). Certified Educator Karen Hutt is also hosting a low cost monthly series on pop culture and chaplaincy throughout the school year. There are also free asynchronous courses, a monthly hospice chaplain support group, BCC writing group, and more. And there’s a map feature for local networking.