Clinical Pastoral Education

Typical hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Each resident also participates in the Pastoral Services on‑call rotation. Total time for classes, clinical work, and homework is about 45 hours per week, making the program incompatible with significant outside employment or activities.

Education:

First-year residency applicants must have either:

• A bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) from a U.S. Department of Education or CHEA‑recognized accredited institution plus at least one graduate‑level course in a subject related to ministry or theology, or

• A three‑year Master of Divinity (or equivalent) from a USDE‑ or CHEA‑recognized accredited institution.

Second-year residency applicants must have:

• A three‑year Master of Divinity (or equivalent) from a USDE‑ or CHEA‑recognized accredited institution.

CPE Requirement:

First-year residency applicants:

• Completion of at least one unit of CPE from ACPE, CPEI, or CPSP.

Second-year residency applicants:

• Completion of at least four units of CPE from ACPE, CPEI, or CPSP.

All applicants must submit a completed application available online through the ACPE website.

Application page guidelines (single‑spaced):

• Reasonably full account of your life: 3–5 pages

• Spiritual growth and development: 3–5 pages

• Description of your work: 1–2 pages

• Account of a helping incident or verbatim: 2–15 pages

• Impressions of CPE: 1–2 pages

Applicants must also submit copies of their final evaluations from previous CPE units, including both their CPE Educator’s evaluation and their own self‑evaluation.

Admission is competitive. After reviewing the application, selected candidates may be invited to an interview to assess their readiness and fit for this intensive learning process.

Application Deadline: February 28 (late applications will be considered if openings are still available)

Application Submission:

Email completed application to PastoralServices@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

Or, send to

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Pastoral Services, H118
P. O. Box 850
Hershey, PA 17033

There are no application fees or tuition costs for this program.

Chaplain Kenneth Linder was born and raised in a northeast suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. After working for nine years as a mechanical engineer, he left his engineering career and earned an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was ordained by the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination in 2005. He was the senior pastor of a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, from 2003 to 2009. He did his residency and completed Certified Educator CPE training from 2009 to 2014 at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He worked as the Program Director of CPE at the Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Richmond, Virginia from 2015 to 2026. While there, he launched a new CPE program and grew it to include internships, residencies, and Certified Educator CPE. He began working as CPE Manager at Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center in February 2026. He is a board certified chaplain with the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplains (NAVAC).

“My relationship with my CPE educator [Ken] is one of the most peaceful, supportive, and genuinely healing educational relationships I've ever experienced, ranking among the most meaningful of my professional formation alongside my time at Mayo Clinic. His steady presence, availability, and open-door approach created an environment of trust and safety that made it easy to bring not just clinical questions, but also deeper spiritual, theological, and personal reflections. Through individual supervision, I became aware of blind spots and areas for growth that I wouldn't have easily seen on my own. This relationship stands out as one of the cornerstones of my CPE residency. I came to experience this as one of the most significant contributions to my growth as a spiritual care provider.”

- George Alan, Chaplain Resident, Academic Year 2025-26

"Learning the role of a chaplain at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is both an intense and rewarding experience. Unlike many CPE sites, the program offers a remarkable variety of opportunities to develop pastoral care skills. In a single shift, you may support the family of a trauma patient, sit with parents facing a new cancer diagnosis for their child, or simply listen as someone processes difficult emotions in the middle of the night.

The program also teaches you how to care for caregivers, including medical providers who are often overlooked when it comes to emotional and spiritual support. Through a high level of immersion and responsibility, interns develop confidence, strong pastoral care skills, and the ability to be an integral part of a healthcare team providing whole-person care."

- Kurt Nielsen, Chaplain Intern, Academic Year 2024-25

The Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center CPE Program is accredited to offer CPE (Levels I/II) and Certified Educator CPE by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.

For details, contact:

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30328
(404) 320-1472
www.acpe.edu
ACPE CPE is Trademarked by the ACPE.