Jasper Keith

The Rev. Dr. Jasper N. Keith, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Columbia Theological Seminary, an ordained pastor, clinical chaplain, and is the former President of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
Education
Jasper Keith first attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute for the summer of 1954 and then moved to Mercer University, where he graduated and earned a A.B. degree in 1957. From here he chose to continue higher education at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a B.D. degree in 1961 and also an M.Div. degree in 1973. After his graduation he arrived at Columbia Theological Seminary where he earned an S.T.D degree in 1979. Outside of his academic education he chose to begin a career in the chaplaincy field where he earned several more distinctions. In 1967, the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education certified him as an Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, in 1969 the Association of Mental Health Chaplains certified him as a Professional Mental Health Chaplain, and in 1973 the American Association of Pastoral Counselors granted him a certified Fellow.
Professional career
Throughout the Georgia Mental Health System Jasper Keith served a variety of chaplaincy roles. At both the Central State Hospital and the Georgia Mental Health Institute he served as a clinical chaplain. As a result of this work he later became the Chief of Chaplains at the Georgia Regional Hospital at Atlanta. While he was here he also served as the Director of the Mental Retardation Program and the Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Program. He then made a transition from only practicing to teaching as well in order to help students who had a future in chaplaincy. Through this opportunity he became a clinical instructor at both Candler School of Theology and Columbia Theological Seminary. At Columbia Theological Seminary he became the Director of Supervised Ministry and then an Associate Professor of Supervised Ministry. In this position he sought to help students learn skills that would be vital to not only a career as a chaplain, but in other church work as well. The goal was to students explore relationships between theology and life experience and to develop pastoral integrity. He is now a Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Columbia Theological Seminary.
He has also served as interim pastor of fifteen congregations in Atlanta Presbytery and on a number of committees associated with the Presbytery and various chaplaincy organizations. He served as the President of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education and as the Regional Director for the Southeast Region. Through this position he sough to help develop new ways of organizing the pastoral care and counseling business.
Awards
In 2000 he was given the J. Obert Kempson by the Southeast Region History Committee as a result of his leadership and work in the church and the field of pastoral care. He was also given the John Rea Thomas Award in 2006 by the Presbyterian Association of Specialized Pastoral Ministries. He was honored with this award because of his many years of service in the fields of pastoral care and counseling and the large number of institutions and people he has helped and taught throughout his career.<ref name="2006 John Rea Thomas Award"/>

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