Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to research; however, some files with confidential information are restricted; please consult Special Collections and Archives staff for details. All student records located in series 1 and 6 are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) restrictions.

Preferred Citation

A. Patrick L. Prest, Jr. papers, Accession # 2016.11.69, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Acquisition Information

The papers were donated by the Department of Patient Counseling in the School of Allied Health Professionals at Virginia Commonwealth University in November 2016.

Processing Information

The Department of Patient Counseling had someone organize the papers prior to the donation. Special Collections and Archives staff changed a few of the folder titles to more accurately reflect the contents of those folders, but the majority were retained as written. Additional information, such as dates, were added to existing folder titles when necessary. The files were rearranged from how the collection was originally received in order to facilitate better access and description of the collection.

Biographical/Historical Information

The Rev. Dr. Alan Patrick Llewelyn Prest, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Massachusetts. He earned a degree in business from Lehigh University in 1951 before receiving his Masters of Divinity from the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1954. Following his residency in clinical pastoral education at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston, Texas, Prest served a chaplain at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.

After a short tenure at Bellevue, Prest came to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) where he succeeded the Rev. Dr. George D. Ossman who had served as the first chaplain and as a clinical pastoral educator beginning in 1943. The MCV administration tasked Prest with securing accreditation for the clinical pastoral education program which had been initiated in 1958. Under Prest's leadership the program received accreditation from the Council for Clinical Training (now the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education) one year later. During the pastoral education program's formative years, Prest served as administrator and hospital chaplain. He also established a cooperative program with the School of Theology at Virginia Union University (VUU) for which he was an adjunct instructor teaching courses in pastoral counseling and clinical orientation.

The educational program with Prest at the helm remained administratively part of the MCV Hospital until the creation of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1968. The VCU Board of Visitors established a new school for the allied health programs at the former MCV and the program in pastoral counseling was a logical choice for this new administrative home. This move split the education program from the pastoral care service component and the latter remained based in the hospital as the department of pastoral care. Prest remained responsible for both units and coordinated both units as they trained counselors and provided pastoral care in the hospital. The Board of Visitors promoted Prest to full professor and acknowledged his administrative role by naming him chair of the Program in Patient Counseling. He continued in this role until his retirement in 1993.

In addition to his work at VCU, Prest devoted time to professional activities. In 1967 he organized the Virginia Institute for Pastoral Care, one of the oldest pastoral counseling centers in the United States. The Institute supported both the MCV and University of Virginia chaplaincy programs as they struggled to secure adequate funding to sustain their respective programs. Prest also helped to organize the Virginia Association for Allied Health Professionals and served as its first president. He was also active with the Virginia Board of Professional Counselors for a period of eleven years, including two terms as chair.

Following Prest's retirement, the program in patient counseling continued to develop and it finally received departmental status within the School of Allied Health Professions in 2010. The Master of Science degree program was established in 2000 and a dual-degree arrangement with the School of Theology at VUU began. In 2007 the department enrolled its first students in pastoral counseling track of the School of Allied Health Professions' doctoral program in health related sciences. The department also initiated a distance learning program at New College in Abingdon and Memorial Hospital in Martinsburg, Virginia. Thanks to the generosity of the Lantz family the department established two endowed positions, the Rev. Robert B. Lantz Chair of the Department of Patient Counseling and the Katherine I. Lantz Professor of Patient Counseling.

Sources:
"A Brief History of CPE at MCV" (see box:folder 3:12)
VCU School of Allied Health Professions, Patient Counseling, History of Personnel (http://sahp.vcu.edu/departments/ptc/about-us/history-of-personnel/)
VCU School of Allied Health Professions, Patient Counseling, Program History (http://sahp.vcu.edu/departments/ptc/about-us/program-history/)

Scope and Contents

The Prest papers are comprised mostly of materials pertaining to his work as a hospital chaplain and educator. There are some materials contained in the collection from the Department of Patient Counseling that date after Prest's retirement in 1993. These papers offer insight into how the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program was formed and administered as well as trends in the professionalization of clinical pastoral care. The collection is divided into six series. Materials of particular interest are detailed in the series descriptions.

Series 1 MCV/VCU, 1954-2014. This series includes papers, publications, reports, accreditation materials, correspondence, and memoranda related to the pastoral care program at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and later Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

The accreditation materials for the Council for Clinical Training and the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education provide information on the early days of the program and includes examples of program activities, self-studies, and site reports required for the accreditation process. Since these materials span from 1957 to 2010 it also illustrates how the accreditation process has evolved.

Various reports in this series offer insight into how the program functioned as well as how it expanded and changed over time. The annual reports of the Chaplains' Department supply a summary of activities and statistics from the first decade of the program. A 1964 Old Dominion Foundation grant application demonstrates how the program was growinig and in need of funds to support its expanding mission and the 1975 mission and goals report and the 1987 Virginia Cluster report highlight trends and changes in pastoral education.

Additional materials of interest are a group of letters between 1968 and 1970 discussing whether the CPE program violated Article IV Section 67 of the Virginia Constitution regarding the separation of church and state. Also of interest are the chapel bulletins from the 1950s-1970s used for the four services held on Sundays at the hospital. In addition to detailing the order of service, the bulletins contain announcements about patient counseling services and a devotional or meditation usually written by one of the counselor-chaplains.

Other materials in the series include the hospital chaplain's log books summerizing interactions with patients and their families, hosptial chapel information, proposals for a master's degree in patient counseling, articles, clippings, and newsletters featuring the department and staff, photographs, and a scrapbook.

Series 2: Council for Clinical Training (CCT), 1953-1977. The series consists of materials such as correspondences, newsletters, reports, and conference programs and papers. The documents in this series provide some insight into the organization responsible for accrediting the CPE program and personnel at MCV when it was established. There is one folder of materials for the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) which is the current accrediting body. CCT merged with three other organizations in 1967 to form ACPE. Of interest in this series are the evaluations of Prest during his tenure at St. Luke's which were submitted to CCT for his accreditation with the organization.

Series 3: Writings, 1967-1986. This series is comprised of articles and manuscripts drafts written by Prest and others as well as presentation notes and text. Subjects explored include suicide, death and dying, and grief.

Series 4: Subject Files, 1941, 1955-1984. The series contains articles and materials concerning topics of interest to Prest.

Series 5: Educational Papers, 1952-1954. In this series are papers from his time as a student at Episcopal Theological Seminary and includes class assignments, lecture notes, and exams.

Series 6: Virginia Union University, 1968-1989. This series contains materials relating to his work as an adjunct professor including syllabi, course assignments, and some faculty materials such as meetings and minutes.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Prest, A. Patrick L., Rev., Jr.
• Virginia Commonwealth University. Department of Patient Counseling