About VIPCare

A Brief Look at the History of VIPCare

It was February 1967.  The Reverend Dean Williams of the United Church of Christ and The Reverend “Pat” Prest, an Episcopal minister and educator at the Medical College of Virginia, pitched an idea to an inter-faith community group in Richmond.
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What followed was the establishment of an inter-faith center for Pastoral Counseling and Education.

At the center, the resources of faith's spiritual values could be integrated with proven psychological and behavioral understandings to help troubled persons to cope with their pain and find peace within themselves and with others.  

The inter-faith center became The Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, or VIPCare. Dr. Adams became the first Board President, and Pat Prest became the first Executive Director.

It wasn't until September 1967 that VIPCare had a physical home. The first counseling center and executive offices were opened on North Lombardy Street, through the generosity of St. John's United Church of Christ.

Now, in 2006, VIPCare has satellite offices spread out through the state of Virginia and Africa.  The main office is located on Bremo Road in Richmond.

On VIPCare

  • Direct clinical service remains VIPCare's primary ministry.  We open approximately 600 new accounts each year.
  • Although over the years our education programs have changed names, there have always been two foci:
    • preparation for the ministry of pastoral counseling,
    • and enhancement of pastoral care skills for area clergy.
  •  We are one of the clinical teaching sites for the Doctor of Ministry degree of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
  •  Our partnership with the School of Theology at Virginia Union University permits us to teach students at both the masters and doctoral levels as they prepare to enter parish ministry or an enhanced ministry of pastoral care.
  •  We also have a trilateral partnership with the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University and Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education for students in their master's level dual degree program combining ministry and social work skills.
  • The majority of our referrals come from area religious leaders.
  • In addition to providing counseling to church members, our staff conducts educational workshops and health fairs for congregations.
  • Our partnerships with The School of Theology of Virginia Union University, Union-PSCE, and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond have allowed students from all over the world to take advanced training in pastoral care and counseling at VlPCare. 

VIPCare and Africa

African Counseling Center

The Reverend Dr. Jean-Emile Ngue, a Presbyterian minister from Cameroon, West Africa, studied for three years at VIPCare, where he completed the Congregational Pastoral Care Program.

Using VIPCare's model, he developed a pastoral counseling and training center in Cameroon.

A few years later a VIPCare consultation and teaching team journeyed to the African Counseling Center.

They helped provide education in pastoral care and counseling, African pastoral and administrative consultation, and support for the center's director and board members.

VIPCare and the AAPC

  • The major publications of the American Association of Pastoral Counseling have VlPCare staff guiding them.
  • Numerous staff members serve the national movement of pastoral counseling as officers or committee chairpersons in the American Association of Pastoral Counseling.

The Need is Greater Than Ever

VlPCare's founding goal “to provide pastoral counseling to all who seek it, to help persons cope with their pain and find meaning and direction in their lives and to provide clinical education and research in pastoral care and counseling” remain the purpose of our ministry in this time of complex needs.

To better serve the needs of our diverse Richmond community, VlPCare has sought opportunities to collaborate with other service agencies.  Donations and grants also support a Counseling Aid Fund, which allows the agency to offset some of the counseling costs for those in need.

Some of the grant money allows us to fund scholarships for seminary students to gain experience by working with staff, offering family education and psycho-educational workshops, and to counsel people who often fall through the cracks in our ministry and service networks.