SIPE is a cluster of two Supervised Pastoral Education teaching centers in Saskatoon, committed to providing quality supervised pastoral education opportunities. More specifically, its program objectives are as follows:

• to teach skills in pastoral and spiritual care
• to help students reflect theologically and spiritually about human life
• to equip students to function clinically as spiritual/pastoral caregivers
• to equip students to become CAPPE/ACPEP certified specialists and teaching supervisors
• to promote Supervised Pastoral Education and assist in the development of SPE programs in Saskatoon and in the province of Saskatchewan

During each program, students will receive 400 hours of adult theological education consisting of 200 hours of supervised clinical practice as spiritual/pastoral caregivers and 200 hours of group and individual supervision. Currently, the cluster has two program sites:

• St. Paul’s Hospital – a 200 bed acute care hospital serving the inner city core of Saskatoon offering such specialties as Palliative Care and Dialysis units, affiliated with Saskatoon Regional Health Authority
• LutherCare Communities – a 339 resident long-term special care facility affiliated with Saskatoon Regional Health Authority. It consists of an independent living facility of 22 floors, 196 one-bedroom suites and housing 210 residents as well as a 129 bed special care facility, part of which is a secure unit for the cognitively impaired. As part of the clinical assignment in this program, students work at Royal University Hospital, a 400 bed acute care teaching facility on the beautiful campus of the University of Saskatchewan. Royal University Hospital is part of Saskatoon Regional Health and offers a full range of acute care, while specializing in pediatrics, maternity, cardiology and neurology. It also has the largest emergency department in northern Saskatchewan.

In each of these program sites, students will experience involvement with:

• persons facing significant life demands and transitions
• families and friends who are providing support and assistance
• professional caregivers who are providing clinical interventions and programs designed to help people meet their needs and invest in life
• spiritual/pastoral care providers
• programs and rituals that address the spiritual needs of people and help them grow spiritually
• clinical caregiving teams
• supervision which teaches spiritual/pastoral care skills, and provides a context in which students can evaluate clinical practice as a spiritual/pastoral caregiver
• issues which limit and/or compromise their effectiveness as spiritual caregivers
• awareness of spiritual issues and their ability to respond constructively to persons facing these issues
• and developing the ability to participate in interdisciplinary care teams

These experiences will assist students to achieve their particular personal, inter-personal and spiritual/pastoral caregiving objectives, and grow in their effectiveness as spiritual/pastoral caregivers.

The development of The Saskatoon Institute for Pastoral Education in 1997 came about in part to assist the CPE program sites in relating to the Saskatoon Theological Union – a federation of the three theological colleges on the University of Saskatchewan campus, located in Saskatoon. Prior to the formation of this Institute, the three sites functioned independently with seminary affiliations as follows: Lutheran Sunset Home - Lutheran Theological Seminary (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada); St. Martin's United Church - St. Andrew's United Church College; and St. Paul’s Hospital - College of Emmanuel and St. Chad (Anglican).

Because of a change in personnel in the fall of 2004, the program at St. Martin's United Church has been discontinued. SIPE now consists of two programs:

• St. Paul's Hospital
• LutherCare Communities (with part of the clinical assignment at Royal University Hospital)

Each CPE program has been recognized academically by the Saskatoon Theological Union, and the two teaching supervisors are adjunct faculty. Each participating seminary grants six credit hours (the equivalent of two course credits) for a Unit of CPE. The Anglican and Lutheran Seminaries require the completion of one Unit of CPE as part of their degree programs.