Clinical Pastoral Education

Program description

The Lankenau Medical Center (LMC) Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program offers Extended and Summer Unit programs with completion of ACPE Levels IA-IIB. LMC is a 370-bed acute care, teaching hospital with a certified Level II Trauma Center, and is recognized as a top hospital in the Philadelphia region for exceptional patient care.

For a 400-hour accredited Unit, the educational component — 100 required hours in structured small-group process with a balance of students at various Levels — takes place in-person at LMC and/or virtually via Microsoft Teams.

The 300 required clinical/spiritual care coverage hours take place primarily at LMC as the anchor site, and at Paoli with clinical placement/memorandum of understanding agreements, as well as other Main Line Health (MLH) hospitals: Riddle Hospital in Media, Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, and Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Malvern.

Please see each hospital’s description on our main webpage. And please visit ACPE’s website for full requirements and details about ACPE-accredited CPE.

Tuition for each unit is $650 for first-time CPE students and $500 for returning LMC CPE students. There is no application fee.

LMC CPE Program ACPE Certified Educators

Rev. Lynne Mikulak, MDiv, MSW, APC BCC
MLH Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education, based at LMC

John “Jack” Geracci, MDiv, APC BCC, Certified Spiritual Director
ACPE Certified Educator and Spiritual Care Specialist at Paoli Hospital

Upcoming CPE Unit programs

• The 2026 Summer Intensive Unit, May 26-August 7. This Unit will be co-taught and co-supervised by ACPE Certified Educators Lynne Mikulak and Jack Geracci, with a total of 10 students clinically placed throughout all MLH hospitals. All positions filled; enrollment closed.
• The 2026-2027 Extended Unit, September 19, 2026-July 9, 2027. This Unit will be taught and supervised by ACPE Certified Educator Lynne Mikulak with eight students clinically placed at all MLH hospitals except Paoli. All positions filled; enrollment closed.
• The 2026-2027 Extended Unit, October 10, 2026-May 12, 2027. Group education will be virtual with all students clinically placed at Paoli Hospital. This Unit will be taught and supervised by ACPE Certified Educator Jack Geracci. All positions filled; enrollment closed.
• The 2027 Summer Intensive Unit, June 1-August 13. Enrollment will open June 22, 2026 and will close December 7, 2026, or sooner as all designated positions become filled.
• The 2027-2028 Extended Unit, September 27, 2027-July 14, 2028, LMC based, Educator Lynne Mikulak. Enrollment will open June 22, 2026 and will close February 1, 2027, or sooner as all designated positions become filled.
• The 2027-2028 Extended Unit, October 11, 2027-May 19, 2028, Paoli based, Educator Jack Geracci. Enrollment will open June 22, 2026 and will close March 1, 2027, or sooner as all designated positions become filled.
• The 2028 Summer Intensive Unit, May 30-August 11. Enrollment will open June 21, 2027 and will close December 6, 2027, or sooner as all designated positions become filled.

Our approach

In the LMC CPE Program, we offer a reflective and relational model of individualized and peer group/cohort learning in an emphasized culture of safety and respect, integrated with the experiential, clinical-based learning method for developing greater skills and Outcomes-based competencies in spiritual care to patients and families of any religion, spiritual orienting system and cultural background.

Our diverse Spiritual Care team at all MLH hospitals consists of professional chaplains, most of whom are designated as ACPE Preceptors, who can offer supportive guidance while students are engaged in their clinical/spiritual care coverage.

CPE clinical floor and duty-pager coverage at all MLH hospitals begins no earlier than 8 a.m. and ends no later than 8 p.m. Shift hours are established in collaboration with the Spiritual Care Managers and Coordinators at each hospital, with weekday and weekend coverage opportunities, and designed to be conducive with the CPE Unit structures, student learning goals and work-life balance. There are no overnight coverage requirements for CPE students at MLH hospitals.

Through constructive and progressive curricular learning based upon the ACPE Outcomes, CPE students engage in clinical/spiritual care with patients, families and staff while developing and utilizing the following skill sets:

• Empathetic and narrative listening; compassionate presence; curiosity and cultural humility; meaning-making and life review;
• Prayer, ritual and sacramental support as assessed for patients and families of any religion, spiritual orienting system and cultural background;
• Spiritual Assessment and delivery of diverse spiritual, religious and cultural resources; collaboration with local and community spiritual and religious leaders;
• Supporting patients and families in grief and loss, critical and trauma-informed care, and end-of-life care and ethical decision-making;
• Electronic medical record documentation, and focused collaboration with the clinical/medical teams on the patient units and the Palliative Care, Social Work/Case Management, and Patient Experience team members, all in evidence-based, research-based, academic medical settings.

Application and admissions process

• You may apply for the listed programs by first downloading from the ACPE website the application form and the Use of Clinical Materials Consent Form, and email the application two-page face sheet, essays, consent form and your résumé directly to MikulakL@mlhs.org, or send through U.S. Postal Services to:

  Rev. Lynne Mikulak, Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education
  Lankenau Medical Center
  Spiritual Health and Education Department, MOB West, Suite 114
  100 East Lancaster Ave., Wynnewood, PA 19096

• Our program is highly regionally competitive and slots fill quickly, generally within a year in advance of the program’s start. We receive, review and select completed applications during scheduled enrollment periods.
• Upon receiving an application, it is reviewed by the ACPE Certified Educators within one week. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we cannot interview all applicants. We select applicants to interview for available slots in each program based on the following criteria: a completed application; essays that demonstrate attention to detail, motivation for learning, and congruence with ACPE’s and Main Line Health’s Mission, Vision and Values statements, policies, and ACPE Standards.
• If you are being selected for an interview, you will be contacted within one week via email by an ACPE Educator to schedule the interview. An interview does not guarantee acceptance into the program. We will inform you at the time of the interview when you can expect to receive an offer of acceptance or a declination letter.

• Applications for the Summer Unit Program will be considered for enrollment from those who are enrolled in a Seminary or other graduate theological education program who are required to take a CPE Unit, and for those who are required by deaconate and ordination-track denominational candidate programs to take a CPE Unit.

  Out-of-state Seminary applicants who plan to live with family, friends or in religious community in the Philadelphia area may apply, and an interview will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

Local applicants invited for an interview will be required to have an in-person interview and tour with an ACPE Certified Educator and ACPE Preceptor at the designated MLH hospital.

• Applications for the Extended Unit Programs will be considered for enrollment from those who are enrolled in Seminary or other graduate theological education programs and are required to take a CPE Unit, for those who are required by deaconate and ordination-track denominational candidate programs to take a CPE Unit, and from area clergy, laity and other spiritual leaders and care providers who are not required to take a CPE Unit, however wish to enhance their spiritual care skills through the CPE clinical method of learning.

  An in-person interview is required for Extended Unit Programs, and the interview and tour with an ACPE Certified Educator and ACPE Preceptor will be scheduled and conducted at the designated MLH hospital.

• In coordination with the MLH System Manager for Spiritual Care, Rev. Dr. Casey Bien-Aime, and Spiritual Care Managers and Coordinators at all MLH hospitals where we clinically place students, the number of students accepted and designated at each hospital/clinical site for each scheduled CPE Unit program is determined based upon applicants’ geographic proximities to MLH hospitals, applicants’ stated learning goals matched with hospital service lines, and each hospital’s Spiritual Care teams’ coverage needs and expectations at that time.
• Applicants who will not be considered for an interview will receive an email stating such within the listed enrollment period for each CPE Unit program.
• For more information about the LMC CPE program, please call 484.476.2029 or email Rev. Mikulak. If you reach voicemail, Rev. Mikulak or the program’s administrative assistant, Tracey Claxton, will return your phone call within a few business days.