Forty Years of Training Spiritual Care Providers
For forty years, the ECS Spiritual Care & Education Center has shaped chaplains who bring courage, compassion, and presence to patients and families across the Mountain West and beyond. What began as a modest training effort has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of learning, mentorship, and spiritual formation.
ECS Today:
ECS owns and operates the only ACPE accredited Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training Center in Utah
ECS is also one of the largest employers of professional chaplains in Utah
As we conclude this 40th anniversary year, we turn to the voices of those who have lived this story from the inside—with students who also found their chaplaincy calling with ECS. (We love hiring our CPE graduates!) Their words remind us that the heart of spiritual care is always relational, and that the legacy of ECS is written in the lives it has touched. We are proud of our team members, and their commitment to professional spiritual care.
Bradly Baird Lead Chaplain Manager (St. Mark’s Hospital and Timpanogos Hospital)
My CPE experience was absolutely invaluable! Not only did I learn about my abilities as a healer and spiritual care provider, but I learned a great deal about myself in the process. I cannot overestimate the value that my educators and experience training at St. Mark’s Hospital brought to my professional skillset.
Joey Green Resident Chaplain, Lone Peak Hospital
In chaplaincy, our capacity to connect empathically with care seekers is directly connected to the relational experience we have with ourselves. CPE has widened the aperture on each of these directional models through a deliberate and programmatic exploration of awareness of ourselves in the context of how we relate to those around us. This process is not just transformative but life- changing.
Robert Magarell Lead Staff Chaplain, Mountain View Hospital
Value of CPE? More like a sacred priority. CPE taught me the art of presentness—knowing myself so I can truly be there for others. Every day in the hospital, I draw on those lessons to help patients connect deeply with what matters most.
Barbara Novak Senior Living Facilities Chaplain Manager, St. Mark’s Towers & St. Mark’s Millcreek
In reflecting upon my CPE experience, I’m filled with gratitude for the environment provided–including a supportive and motivated cohort of faith diverse individuals, led by the prowess of our talented educator, Mari, in a clinical setting that values chaplaincy as part of the care team. This environment delivered the opportunity for, and value of, rich personal transformation and practical, insightful chaplain education.
The 2025-2026 Chaplain Resident Cohort
(left-right) Residents Caitlin Dowell, Jenny Richards, Sydney Farrell, Amy Russian, and Joey Green;
Director of Education & CPE,
Rev. Mariclea Chollet
Zach Plants Chaplain Manager, Lakeview Hospital and St. Mark’s Hospital
My two years of CPE residency have pulled me out of a divided inner life and into something much more grounded, honest, and real. With the help of a community that let me show up fully–mess, jokes, tears, and all, I have learned how to accompany others and myself with deeper empathy and humility. This formation has made me a healthier chaplain and a more congruent version of myself.
K. Peterson Night Chaplain, St. Mark’s Hospital
One word I use to sum up my CPE experience is 'found.' Because of the way they saw me and encouraged me to claim my needs and use my voice, I felt found by my educators in a deeply connective way. Through a constant compassionate presence, I also felt found by my peers. I was able to find myself, and facets of myself that needed to be found and began reclaiming and healing internal wounds. My peers and educators also helped me take the tools I'd developed and utilized in CPE and translated those into holding space for recipients of my care. CPE definitely changed my life for the better.
Amy Russian Chaplain Resident, St. Mark’s Towers & St. Mark’s Millcreek Senior Living Facilities
CPE with Mari has been one of the highlights of my journey to chaplaincy —and of my life in general. Through theory, hands-on learning, personal reflection, and support of my peers and educator, I have experienced some of the most significant personal growth of any equal period in my life. Its not only rewarding, but it is a fun journey.
Angela Smith Acting Director of Spiritual Care at St. Mark’s Hospital
I tell people regularly there is nothing analogous to CPE in the ministerial, educational, vocational, or counseling worlds, and it is instead one glorious mash-up of them all. It's hard work, exhausting work, and good work that can be deeply transformative, which it was for me. My educator, Rev. Dr. Mari Chollet, is incredibly insightful and gifted in facilitating the group process, which is what fosters that internal change, healing, and deep transformation. We are fortunate to have her as an educator and director for our CPE center at St. Mark's Hospital. I am forever changed for the better because of my experience as a CPE resident.
Abigail Webb PRN (part-time) Chaplain, Ogden Regional Medical Center and Lakeview Hospital
During my first unit of CPE at the ECS Spiritual Care & Education Center I learned a lot about myself, and by doing so, learned how to better serve my patients. I loved being in classes with chaplains from other faiths and seeing their unique perspectives on things. Though CPE was not always easy, by the end of my unit, my spiritual care visits greatly improved and I became a better, more aware chaplain. I feel proud of what I accomplished there!
The ECS Spiritual Care & Education Center is accredited by ACPE: The Standard For Spiritual Care & Education.
