Mission Leadership Residency and Clinical Pastoral Education

Nurturing future Mission Leaders with education and mentorship

As a faith-based healthcare system founded on Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health understands the vital role chaplains play in living out our mission to inspire health, wholeness and hope. Our Mission Leadership Residency Program combines Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) with mentoring to prepare future Mission Leaders who make a difference in our hospitals and clinics every day.

The six-year program provides employment, tuition support and mentorship to individuals as they complete Clinical Pastoral Education and a Master of Divinity degree. Mission Leadership residents also gain first-hand experience throughout the program as a chaplain at one or more of 23 sites throughout California, Hawaii and Oregon.

Year 1: Complete Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) units as a full-time, resident chaplain with benefits at Adventist Health Portland, with tuition and CPE expense paid by Adventist Health. Learn more about Adventist Health Portland’s CPE program.

Years 2-4: Complete a Master of Divinity (MDiv) as a full-time student with all program costs sponsored by Adventist Health, while continuing to serve as a part-time chaplain at an Adventist Health site.

Years 5-6: Provide leadership and spiritual care as a staff chaplain at an Adventist Health facility, ending your experience with recommendation for ordination upon successful completion of all requirements.

Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree in theology, religious studies or an equivalent pre-seminary degree from a Seventh-day Adventist college or university or completion of your degree before the start of the residency program in July.

2022 Process Timeline:

  • September – October: application open and on-campus recruitment and interviews begin
  • November 1: Application deadline
  • November – December: Intern selection and residency final round interviews
  • July 2023: Chaplain residents begin the CPE program

Learn More
Interested and qualified candidates can email a resume to Sam Leonor, mission and spiritual care executive, at leonorse@ah.org.


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