Association of Professional Chaplains

The Association of Professional Chaplains formed in 1998 as a result of the merger of two predecessor organizations: the College of Chaplains (formerly known as the Association of Protestant Hospital Chaplains and the Chaplains' Division of the American Protestant Hospital Association) and the Association of Mental Health Clergy (formerly known as the Association of Mental Hospital Chaplains).

The College of Chaplains grew out of a gathering of seventeen hospital chaplains at the annual meeting of the American Protestant Hospital Association (APHA) in 1946. Russell L. Dicks served as the organization's first president. By 1950, the organization had established professional standards and a certification process for chaplains. In 1968, the Chaplains' Division was renamed the College of Chaplains. Membership grew rapidly in the years following the name change, soon reaching 900. In 1971, the organization employed its first full-time executive director, Rev. Charles Phillips.

The Association of Mental Hospital Chaplains (AMHC) was founded in 1948 at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. J. Obert Kempson, a chaplain at South Carolina State Hospital, was its first president. Over the next two decades the AMHC developed the first inter-faith certification process for professional chaplains, certifying Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish chaplains. In the early 1970s the organization changed its name to the Association of Mental Health Clergy. By 1976 the AMHC had over 500 members. A part-time executive director, Rev. George Doebler, was employed by the association.

By the early 1990s, membership in the AMHC had declined. The College of Chaplains invited the AMHC to consider a partnership, and a transition team was formed. In 1996 the College of Chaplains became independent of its parent organization, the American Protestant Hospital Association. The College and the AMHC formally merged at a joint annual conference in 1998, forming the Association of Professional Chaplains. According to its mission statement, the APC is "a multifaith association established to certify and serve its membership and to promote professional chaplaincy."

From the description of Association of Professional Chaplains records, 1946-1996. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122654185