CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. A. Arthur Schmidt, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will become president of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc. (ACPE). He will serve two years as ACPE president-elect before serving as president in 2004 and 2005.
Schmidt, 62, is coordinator of mission services and work-life quality, Franciscan Health System, Tacoma and Federal Way, Wash., and chaplain and superintendent of clinical pastoral education, St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma. He was named ACPE president-elect Nov. 14.
"The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education is the premier provider of clinical pastoral education in the United States and certainly among our seminarians," said the Rev. Donald A. Stiger, ELCA director for specialized pastoral care and associate director for candidacy. "It's an interfaith association that is committed to persons learning and growing in the art of pastoral and spiritual care in clinical settings," such as health care institutions, prisons and hospices, he said.
Clinical pastoral education is a requirement for seminarians preparing to become ELCA pastors, said Stiger, and those preparing for a full-time ministry in specialized pastoral care usually take a year-long residency in clinical pastoral education. He said it's significant to have an ELCA pastor as ACPE president-elect.
Born in Parma, Idaho, Schmidt is a graduate of Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He completed his clinical pastoral education at the California Institution for Women, Chino, and at Presbyterian Medical Center, Denver, and was certified in 1974 to supervise clinical pastoral education. He earned his doctorate in 1991 from the Graduate Theological Foundation, Donaldson, Ind.
Ordained in 1965 by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), Schmidt served as missionary-at-large for the LCMS Southern California District, Riverside, Calif. He was pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Riverside, and chaplain for Santa Monica Hospital, Santa Monica, Calif., before serving as chaplain and supervisor of clinical pastoral education at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, Purdy, Wash. In 1980 he became chaplain and supervisor of clinical pastoral education for St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma.
In his 30 years as a member of ACPE, Schmidt has chaired the organization's professional ethics commission and its Pacific region board. He served on the ACPE board of representatives and general assembly, and personnel and development committees, as well as the Pacific region accreditation and development committees.
Among Schmidt's honors are The Bishop's Award of the ELCA Southwestern Washington Synod. He served on the synod's formation committee while the ELCA was organizing in the 1980s.
Schmidt and his wife Margaret Ann, a marriage and family therapist, are parents of five children. -- -- --
The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., maintains a home page at http://www.acpe.edu/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
