Field Education resources (Manual and Evaluation Forms) may be found here.

The Department of Field Education facilitates and oversees a series of courses and programs involving the practice of ministry and reflection on both the practice and the context. Our hope is that the integration of practice with study will produce church leaders who pray and think theologically about their ministry.

During the junior year, seminarians are encouraged to visit a variety of churches among the more than sixty parish field sites in the greater Washington area available each year. Experienced, trained supervisors, who minister out of a diversity of liturgical and theological traditions, serve in a variety of church settings: urban, suburban, rural; church-plants, multi-cultural congregations, historic churches; no staff and multi-staff. Through a process of reflecting on the visits with the director of field education and interviewing with supervisors, seminarians negotiate a field placement of twelve hours a week which begins in September of the middle year.

Other possible field sites include education, health, and prison institutions where a seminarian may take the role of chaplain. Positions in non-Episcopalian church institutions may also be negotiated.

Satisfactory completion of nine credits (three semesters) of concurrent field education is the norm for M.Div. seminarians, and most seminarians experience deeper involvement and learning by remaining in the same placement for two years. The seminarian-site contract is negotiated annually, however, and seminarians are encouraged to seek the site and supervisor which best provide experience and reflection related to their learning goals. 

Learning in field education which is concurrent with academic courses is achieved at several levels. Most obvious are the practical skills of ministry — the "how to" learning. Growth in personal and professional identity is crucial — the deeper discovery of "who I am." The integration of their study of the Christian heritage and their practice of ministry occurs when the seminarian reflects theologically on events in ministry — "How is God active in all this?"

Field education colloquy is a weekly small group reflection seminar designed to facilitate learning on each of these levels with one’s peers. Accounts of actual events in which the seminarian has been involved become the basis of reflective learning, as seven or eight seminarians meet with three mentors: a faculty member, a lay person, and a parish priest, in both semesters of the middle year. Colloquy is a key opportunity to learn on the integrative level. Also, in the middle and senior years, each seminarian in field education normally has the opportunity to reflect weekly with an individual supervisor and monthly with a lay committee, comprised of parish members who are committed to assisting in the formation process.

Written evaluations completed by both seminarian and supervisor at the end of each semester become the basis of a grade (satisfactory, conditional, unsatisfactory) assigned by the director of field education.

To help defray the expenses of participation in the field education program, seminarians are offered grants from the Seminary. These grants are made possible by contributions to the field education program from participating field sites plus income from a special field education fund of the Seminary. Seminarians may not receive direct payment for services from a field site.

A manual more fully describing field education at the Seminary has been prepared for distribution to seminarians, supervisors, and lay committees.

Seminarians in the Master in Divinity often elect to devote the summer following the junior year to an eleven-to-twelve week program in Clinical Pastoral Education. While not required for the degree, CPE may be required by the student's diocese. For many students it serves an important role in ministerial formation. Certified supervisors in accredited hospitals, mental health facilities, correctional institutions, and nursing homes across the nation offer clinical education facilitating pastoral formation and personal growth. Seminarians learn from their ministry through reflection, discussion, and evaluation with other students and their supervisor. Three hours of academic credit is given for satisfactory completion of CPE. 

The Field Education Department facilitates applications, admission interviews, and placement of seminarians, but each center supervisor selects the group of trainees at that site. CPE centers are located in the greater Washington area and throughout the United States. CPE programs are full-time during the five weekdays, with occasional weekend duties. Seminarians are responsible for financing the summer’s training. The CPE tuition fee is paid to the Seminary on April 1 and is uniform for all seminarians (see Financial Information). Some CPE centers provide room and/or board, some offer stipends; most provide only the training.

The director of field education may supervise several seminarians each semester in field-related independent study, in addition to the required twelve hours. Academic credit is given.

A faculty-approved internship of nine to fifteen months, usually following the middle year, involves full-time work under trained supervision. If the sponsor is an academic institution and the program involves regular seminars, assigned readings, and papers, some academic credit may be given. Internships may be arranged in parishes, urban social work, cross-cultural settings, Clinical Pastoral Education, or overseas. 

Students remain enrolled in the Seminary and return for their subsequent studies without further admissions procedures. Single students in local internships may live in a seminary dormitory. Financial arrangements vary greatly and specific programs should be investigated to determine the student’s financial obligations and/or benefits. Internships which do not carry academic credit are recorded on the student’s transcript as "Additional Training Received" if a description of the work and written satisfactory evaluations are submitted.

Description of Courses
Mr. Hadler, Dr. Jones

FALL SEMESTER

FE 1 Field Education and Colloquy
Required of middlers in the M.Div. program, field education is a twelve-hour per week commitment in an approved field education training site under supervision. Colloquies meet once a week for two hours beginning in the second quarter of the fall semester and continuing through the spring semester. Each group will consist of approximately six or seven students and two mentors drawn from the faculty, active clergy, lay persons, and senior seminarians. Their purpose is to develop a collegial group in which to explore and reflect theologically on their experiences, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about their ministries.
Mr. Hadler and others.

FE 3 Field Education
A twelve-hour per week commitment in an approved field education training site under supervision. Seniors most often remain in their middle year training site but may seek a different training experience for their senior year. 
Mr. Hadler and others.

FE 401 Reading and Research in Independent Studies Related to Field Work
Admission only by permission of instructor who must approve the student’s study proposal prior to registration. (Limited enrollment.) 
Mr. Hadler

FE/MWR 41 Cross Cultural Reflection Seminar
This course is designed to follow immediately after return from a cross cultural immersion or internship. It provides a setting in which returnees can reflect on their experience of ministry in another cultural setting and their reentry into their own culture. Using readings and events, the returnees begin to translate their experience for application in their own church and culture. (1.5 credit hours.) 
Dr. Jones

SPRING SEMESTER

FE 2 Field Education and Colloquy
Continuation of FE 1. (See description under fall semester.) 
Mr. Hadler and others.

FE 4 Field Education
Continuation of FE 3. (See description under fall semester.) 
Mr. Hadler and others.

FE/MWR 41 Cross Cultural Reflection Seminar
(See description under fall semester)

FE 401 Reading and Research in Independent Studies Related to Field Work
(See description under fall semester.)

SUMMER SEMESTER

CPE 1 Clinical Pastoral Education
One quarter (ten-twelve weeks) in an accredited program of CPE. This is normally taken in the summer following the junior year. See VTS Catalogue article, "Education in the Field." (Three credit hours.)