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St. Mary's Seminary & University

CONNECT: Faith, Health & Medicine

All Ecumenical Institute programs now available wherever you are. Attend classes in person on our beautiful campus in Baltimore, or online through synchronous Zoom.

“CONNECT helped me grow in faith, courage, and fortitude to serve others in my daily ministry as a hospital chaplain.” – Sandra L. Michocki, MBA, MA, BCC, CONNECT 2014

CONNECT is a cohort-based program for health professionals, chaplains, ministry students, and anyone interested in the intersection of faith and health, of caring and curing.

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Certificate Program

CONNECT can be taken as a 12 credit masters certificate (accredited), at a cost of $5,700 ($475/credit, including fees). Payment options and scholarship assistance are available.

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Continuing Education (CE)

CONNECT provides 100 hours of Continuing Education (CE) for Chaplains and Spiritual Care providers, at a cost of $2,000 ($200/CE). Payment options available.

Questions? Contact our Admissions department

Program Description

CONNECT is a rigorous program of study that connects faith and medicine through the study of Scripture, science, theology, ethics and world religions.

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Modules and Practicum

CONNECT includes five sequential modules plus a practicum that together build understanding and competency:

Text and Tradition: Health, Healing, and Human Flourishing in the Biblical Narrative (3 credits)
Students will understand the central vision of human health and flourishing in Scripture, highlighting the most relevant texts, practices, and topics, and will be able to assess how others (patients, fellow congregants, clients, clinicians) are relating Scripture to their health situations.

Science Looks at Faith: The “Faith & Health” Movement (1 credit)
Students will critically describe and evaluate connections between faith and health that have been proposed
historically and in contemporary “faith and health” studies, becoming competent to critically assess claims that faith helps or hinders health and healing.

I and Thou – The Imperative of Relationships (1 credit)
Students will explain the importance of relationship in healing, both from individual and communal perspectives, becoming competent to demonstrate healthy relational skills, including respectful interaction, active listening, and caring presence.

Practicum – Faith & Health in Action (2 credits, required only for Certificate students)
Medicine and Morality: The Shape of Curing and Caring in The Christian Tradition (3 credits)
Students will understand how the Christian moral tradition has traditionally understood the “good of the body” (i.e., health) and subsequently influenced the historical practice of so‐called “western” medicine, becoming competent to evaluate the moral conflicts that often arise between the Christian tradition and modern medical practice.

What People Believe Matters – World Religions’ Views on Health and Illness (2 credits)
Students will identify the beliefs, prayers, and rituals surrounding illness and dying in major world religions, noting similarities and differences between those of Christianity and of non‐Christian traditions, and the spiritual practices that each religion encourages for health and flourishing, becoming competent to recognize the importance of these beliefs and practices, and to respond to them with humility, openness, and hospitality.

CONNECT helped me process and blend together a lifetime of medical practice and faith. -Peter Belitsos, M.D., CONNECT 2017