This Skill Set in pastoral and spiritual care is designed for people with a heart to help in places like hospitals, churches and healthcare facilities.

We’ll teach you the skills and knowledge you need to get started in volunteer or paid work in pastoral and spiritual care — whether or not you have field experience. This course blends classroom, online teaching, supervision, and online assessment so you can easily fit study around your life.

Taught by trainers with extensive experience in pastoral and spiritual care, this Skill Set is designed to meet the complex challenges of offering this care in contemporary Australia.

It covers key components of the nationally recognised VET qualifications and offers a pathway into other VET pastoral courses.

This skill set focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to safely and ethically provide pastoral care in different contexts, and the interpersonal and self-reflection skills required to do so. The course involves direct training in the practical skills of providing pastoral and spiritual care, as well as participation in ‘verbatim reflections’, extensive self-reflection, and activities done in the context of work placement.

The course covers the following nationally recognised VET Units of Competency:

Those who successfully complete the relevant training and assessment for each unit of competency will be eligible for the nationally accredited CHCSS00085 Pastoral and Spiritual Care skill set.

Bonus Unit of Competency

Students who complete the CHCSS00085 Pastoral and Spiritual Care Skill Set at St Mark’s will also qualify for an additional unit of competency, which will be delivered during training:

This competency is designed for community services and health workers who play a proactive role in identifying and meeting their legal and ethical responsibilities. Completing this competency will give students the skills and knowledge to work within legal and ethical frameworks that apply to their individual job roles.

In this unit, you will learn how to:

  • identify and respond to legal requirements
  • identify and meet ethical responsibilities
  • contribute to workplace improvements.

Assessment for this skill set includes a range of practical and written tasks. It involves simulated practice of difficult interpersonal interactions and receiving critical feedback from supervisors and peers.

It also includes logs of time spent in self-reflection. Students must also provide third-party verification of workplace activity and other details of the course.

The skill set is taught through two, 2-day intensives (4 days total), at least three meetings with an appropriate supervisor, plus accompanying online work and assessment tasks. Skill set  completion requires a minimum work placement of 100 hours.

The course normally takes at least 3 months to complete all components.

Canberra cohort

INTENSIVES

  • Friday 1 & Saturday 12 April
  • Friday 13 & Saturday 14 May

Wagga cohort

INTENSIVES

  • Friday 14 and Saturday 15 Oct
  • Friday 25 and Saturday 26 Nov

The course is taught through two 2-day intensives (4 days total), plus at least three meetings with an appropriate supervisor, accompanying online work and assessment tasks.

CANBERRA CAMPUS

15 Blackall Street, BARTON  ACT 2600

WAGGA WAGGA CAMPUS

31 Fernleigh Road, Turvey Park, WAGGA WAGGA

The course is taught through two 2-day intensives (4 days total), plus at least three meetings with an appropriate supervisor, accompanying online work and assessment tasks.

Canberra cohort

INTENSIVES

  • Friday 1 & Saturday 2 April
  • Friday 13 & Saturday 14 May

Wagga cohort

INTENSIVES

  • Friday 14 and Saturday 15 Oct
  • Friday 25 and Saturday 26 Nov

Last date of application 

  • Canberra cohort: Friday 25 March 2022
  • Wagga cohort: Friday 30 September 2022

The cost of the course is $1600. This does not include the costs of arranging supervision, which vary.

Candidates must be able to

  • communicate well, both verbally and in writing, in English;
  • provide a letter from an appropriate person (e.g. supervisor, chaplain, minister of religion) stating that they are an appropriate person to pursue training in pastoral care, and confirming that they will have the opportunity to use the skills they are learning in a work or community context. (One of the assessment requirements of this course is that candidates have 100 hours of time spent in a relevant work context, so we need to know that this will be possible.)
  • arrange, and if needs be, pay for supervision, in consultation with St Mark’s trainers;
  • undertake self-reflection activities and receive constructively critical feedback.

If English is not your first language, you may need to complete a language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) indicator test prior to enrolment.

You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, New Zealand citizen, or hold a permanent humanitarian visa to study at St Mark’s.

The four units of competency provide credit towards a range of qualifications in the CHC Community Services Training Package, including the nationally recognised qualification CHC42315 Certificate IV in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care.

Lead Course Trainer

Jo Manouk

Jo Manouk is an Ordained Baptist minister who has over 20 years of experience working in pastoral ministries in both church and community settings.

Jo is currently working as a pastoral care coordinator for a faith-based not-for-profit organisation. She is also a clinical counsellor who has many years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families.