Maintenance of Certification

In 2017 the Spiritual Care Cognate Groups consisting of ACPE, APC, CASC/ACSS, NACC and NAJC reaffirmed their commitment to the Common Qualifications and Competencies for Professional Chaplains Common Qualifications and Competencies for Professional Chaplaincy.

These qualifications included provisions of maintenance of certification, which were implemented within APC in 2007. All board certified chaplains, provisional certified chaplains, associate certified chaplains, provisional associate certified chaplains and professional life members must participate in maintenance of certification.


Maintenance of certification requirements are:

  • Payment of annual maintenance of certification fees
  • Submission of an annual continuing education report through the BCCI certification portal.
  • Adherence to the code of ethics
  • Completion of a peer review every five years
  • Provide evidence of continued connection with your faith group every five years, as part of the peer review process
  • Certified chaplains who change spiritual/faith groups must submit to the national office a letter of endorsement or support. The letter must be sent directly from the spiritual/faith group to the BCCI office. The letter must have an original signature and must be on spiritual/faith group letterhead. The spiritual/faith group must be recognized by the Armed Forces Chaplain Board or BCCI. If not, you must contact the BCCI office, bcci@apchaplains.org, regarding a review of the faith group.

To access the certification portal or to pay your BCCI fees, please click the button below.