Clinical Pastoral Education

Welcome to the website for the parish and community program for Clinical Pastoral Education of the St. Matthews Pastoral Counseling Center. This program is fully accredited by:

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30328, www.acpe.edu.

Here you can find information about our programs, personnel, policies, and related forms. You can also locate additional information concerning our former students, Professional Advisory Committee, our history and mission.

Programs

We offer three “in units” each calendar year with structured meetings on Monday.  ACPE uses the phrase “in units” to mean that different levels of students are in the same unit.  This is a hybrid program with in-person and synchronous, Zoom options. The spring unit runs from the last week of January until the second week of May, the summer from the first week of June until the fourth week of August, and the fall from the second week of September until the third week of December. We are accredited to offer Clinical Educator Education.

Your ministry position will become your clinical placement. We do not offer stipends for your ministry employment. Employed clergy and other spiritual caregivers/professionals can take CPE at SMPCC and not leave their churches or places of community ministry.

Personnel

G. Wade Rowatt, Ph.D., ACPE Certified Educator is Director for Clinical Pastoral Education. He has supervised CPE since 1972.  He earned a B. S. in mathematics and computing from Southern Illinois University, an M. Div., and Th.M., from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Psychology of Religion with Wayne Oates at SBTS.  Rowatt served in pastoral ministry for two years in Florida prior to beginning his doctoral studies in Louisville.  He began teaching at SBTS immediately after earning his Ph.D. and also served several administrative posts including Associate Dean of the School of Theology and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program. After leaving Southern, he became director of SMPCC.  During his teaching years, Rowatt studied on sabbatical leave for one year with Howard Clinebell at Claremont Seminary, with the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry at Norton Hospital in Louisville, and then was a Fellow in Religion and Psychiatry at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, a sabbatical leave year that led to a part-time, consulting and teaching post he filled with distinction.  He was a pastor for five years, a staff chaplain for two years, and a pastoral counselor for 38 years. Over his career, Rowatt has served as guest lecturer or adjunct professor for several seminaries and was, until 2020 affiliated with the summer curriculum at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. He is a retired Emeritus Professor of Pastoral Care at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. He was a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Louisville, School of Medicine.  He is a retired clinical member of the American Association for Marriage

Rev. Adriana P. Cavina, D.Min, BCC, ACPE Certified Educator, a native of Italy, has lived in the US for the last 26 years. She holds a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, a Master of Divinity from the Waldensian Theological Seminary in Rome and two more Masters Degrees from the University of Pisa in Italy. She is also a graduate of the “Art of Spiritual Direction” from Kino Institute in Phoenix and is a member of Spiritual Directors International. She is a trained counseling specialist with The GriefRecovery® Institute. She has studied the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition with Helen Palmer.

After working in the fields of education and counseling for many years, Adriana received ordination to ministry in 1989 by the Italian Baptist Union. After nine years of parish ministry in Italy, she found her perfect match in Clinical Pastoral Education and moved to the US. Adriana has worked in hospitals in Arizona and North Carolina. She is an APC Board Certified Chaplain and an ACPE Certified Educator. 

Adriana has extensive practice in spiritual direction, in supervision of pastoral ministers, and in the training of chaplains for professional certification; she has lectured extensively and held workshops in the fields of grief and loss, soul care, spiritual formation, meditation and spiritual practices, the Enneagram, and inter-spirituality.

Her two children and three grandchildren live in Italy and Portugal.

Rev. Dr. Matt Andrews began as a Certified Educator Candidate with St. Matthews in July 2023. Alongside this educational training, he serves as the senior pastor at Irondale United Methodist Church in Irondale, AL. Having begun pastoral ministry in 2009, Matt has served in multiple congregational, academic, and clinical settings in Alabama, California, and Texas. Matt holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Emory University, a Master of Divinity degree from Baylor University, and has completed six units of clinical pastoral education. Matt is married to his best friend and love of his life, Emily, who teaches music and worship at Samford University, Matt and Emily’s alma mater. They share three beautiful children together–Elliot, Olivia, and Henry.

Policies

Admission Policy:  Admission to this program is based on the standards as published by ACPE. A copy of these standards is available in the SMPCC office, from the educators, or at www.acpe.edu. The Parish Program shall not discriminate against any individual for reasons of race, gender, age, faith group, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.  However, all accepted students must be physically able to perform the duties of their clinical assignments and parish or community ministry positions. Applications are processed as received with all sections completed prior to the beginning of each unit. Students will be contacted to schedule a CPE admissions interview with one of the CEs/CECs.  Students will be notified of acceptance within a week of the interview.

Placement Policy: Each student is expected to have his/her/their own job in a ministry position (parish or community of faith position, preferably for pay) serving at least 25 hours per week in ministry.  Some assistance can be offered in finding ministry positions for those who are seminary students and do not have a ministry position.

Financial Policy: Total fee for one unit of CPE is currently $1,800.00 (This includes $1,775.00 for tuition and a $25.00 non-refundable application fee). Payment plans are available and some scholarship assistance can be offered.