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January 28, 2019
Congratulations ACPE: You Made a Difference in 2018
J. Patrick McCoy,
ACPE Foundation President
I've always loved the story of the child at the beach who, after a major storm, is stunned by the hundreds and hundreds of starfish that have washed upon the shore. The child bends and begins to toss them, one at a time, back into the ocean. An adult walks by and shouts, "Child, what are you doing?" The child, bending to pick up another starfish, replied, "Tossing these back into the ocean." The adult replied, "But child, there are far too many. You cannot possibly make a difference." Looking thoughtfully at the starfish in hand and then tossing it into the water, the child responded, "It makes a difference for this one." 


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2019 Peer Review Instructions
Chat Graphic
If you are due for a Peer Review in 2019, you should receive a notification email by the end of January.  However, if you do not hear from the office or know that are due for a peer review and you know that you are due, please be in touch with your Director of Community, Practice, and Member Development (DCPM) to be sure that we have your correct information and to initiate your process.

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ACPE-AAPC Consolidation: Have You Joined the Discussion?
YouTube
For the last few months, ACPE has been in conversation with AAPC, the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, about dissolving AAPC and consolidating the association into ACPE. The ACPE website has posted articles and FAQs regarding the ongoing discussion on the homepage.

The ACPE Executive Committee has already hosted two virtual town hall meetings to hear from members and answer questions. If you missed them, recordings have been posted to ACPE's YouTube channel.

You have one more opportunity to attend a virtual town hall meeting:
BoardEffect Access
In anticipation of our transition to our new SharePoint platform and to allow the Area Committee Reviewers to assess the annual reports, access to BoardEffect has been disabled.  All documents that are in BoardEffect will be migrated to the SharePoint site over the next few months. If you are in need of a particular document, please email Kimberly Yates at [email protected] with your request. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to make everything more accessible to you!
2019 Annual Conference Call For Poster Applications - Deadline: January 31
You are invited to submit a poster session proposal for the 2019 ACPE Annual Conference.

The ACPE Research Committee invites applications to present research posters at the 2019 ACPE Annual Conference on May 8-10 in Scottsdale, AZ. Applications will be reviewed by the Research Committee and selections will be made by the following criteria:

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Pacific Community of Practice Symposium Registration
The Pacific Community of Practice is excited to invite all Certified Educator Candidates, those both in the "old" and "new" process, to participate in a unique educational opportunity. The Symposium model of education is one we have adopted and practiced for five years with great success. Many Educators and Candidates have collaborated to develop the Symposium, which we have built around the identified needs and interests of the participants.The Symposium will include:


Cambia Health Foundation Announces 12 New Sojourns® Scholars
The Cambia Health Foundation has announced the selection of 12 new emerging palliative care leaders for its Sojourns® Scholar Leadership Program. In its fifth year, this program identifies, cultivates and advances the next generation of palliative care leaders.

The latest cohort was chosen following a rigorous selection process from a highly competitive pool of candidates that included all members of the interdisciplinary team and health systems professionals working to advance palliative care.

Congratulations ACPE Certified Educator Allison Kestenbaum, MA, MPA, BCC on your acceptance into this prestigious program!
Congratulations Jasmine!
ACPE Development Specialist Jasmine Okafor and her husband Nnamdi Okafor welcomed their first child Natalie Adaora Okafor on January 18, 2019. Her birth weight was 6lbs 13oz.

Mom and baby are home and doing well. Jasmine is expected to return from maternity leave in early-April.
Who? What? When? Images from ACPE's Past
Do you recognize these folks or the event in the photo above? Send us a note at  [email protected]

Thank you for your responses to last week's photo. Your answers helped us identify (from left to right)  Certified Educators Homer Jernigan, Sr. Sheila Hammond, Alex Cairns, and Richard Sheesley. 
In Case You Missed It
Annual Ethics Form due by March 15, 2019
Brian Conley, Chair
Professional Ethics Commission
Please complete the online form to report on your status regarding ACPE ethics by March 15, 2019

The Professional Ethics Commission will follow up with any questions or concerns.

Please send your questions to Brian Conley, Professional Ethics Commission (PEC) Chair, at  [email protected]
Online registration for the 2019 ACPE Annual Conference is now open! We hope that you join us in Scottsdale, Arizona this spring for what is sure to be an incredible time.

Early bird registration ends on March 15th. Register today to take advantage of the early bird rates and secure your workshop selections!

Help ACPE host a terrific conference! Please consider making a sponsorship gift to support a specific conference event or scholarships for students.

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Spring Certification Hub: Registration Open 
Registration for our Spring Certification Hub in Scottsdale, Arizona is now open for those meeting for Associate Educator or Certified Educator in the "old" Certification process. Please go to the Certification Hub page to register no later than February 22.

Additionally, if you are in the "old" Certification process and would like to submit theory papers during one of our five virtual hubs this year, please go to the Certification Hub page for deadlines and instructions.
New Accreditation Process Coming in 2020
John Pumphrey, Chair
Accreditation Work Group
At the fall ACPE Leadership Meeting last month, the Accreditation Work Group shared further definition of the New Accreditation Process, building on the standards that were approved by the Board of Directors in May, and focusing on a draft of the new manual. Additionally, we are excited to share that the Accreditation Commission eagerly volunteered to begin the task of shepherding the new process into fruition.

With this as a backdrop, you may be wondering when we will be sharing information with our centers and membership.
Certification Process/Manual Update: Progressive Autonomy in Educating Under Supervision Phases
Cecelia Walker, Chair
Certification
 Commission
Happy 2019 to all! As we enter the New Year, I am excited to be the new Chair of the Certification Commission. I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to Mary Stewart Hall who just completed her term as Chair of the Certification Commission as well as the Chair of the Certification Reform Task Force and Implementation Group. The work that has been done over the past four plus years has been nothing less than transformative for our association and I am looking forward to continuing to build upon it in the coming years.

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Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
This evocative poem conjures a picture that is so familiar to those who serve as chaplains, but also to so many who have cared for aging parents. May we all have someone who is ready to cover us with a blue blanket:
The Blue Blanket
by Sue Ellen Thomson

Toward the end, my father argued
with my mother over everything: He wanted
her to eat again. He wanted her to take

her medicine. He wanted her
to live. He argued with her in their bed
at naptime. He was cold, he said,

tugging at the blanket tangled
in my mother's wasted limbs. From the hall
outside their room I listened

as love, caught and fettered, howled
at its captors, gnawing at its own flesh
in its frenzy to escape. Then I entered

without knocking, freed the blanket
trapped between my mother's knees and shook
it out once, high above

their bodies' cursive. It floated
for a moment, blue as the Italian sky
into which my father flew his bombs

in 1943, blue as the hat I'd bought her
for the winter she would never live
to see. My father's agitation eased,

my mother smiled up at me, her face
lucent with gratitude, as the blanket
sifted down on them like earth.
extra
It takes only a little observation to recognize that our world loves diversity. Biological, anthropological, artistic, and sometimes even political. So what happens when human cognition becomes less diverse? What happens when we start to think (and thus act) in ways that adhere to a dominant paradigm? Here's some interesting research exploring that question: 


What happens to cognitive diversity when everyone is more WEIRD?
 Wednesday, January 30
* Jashne Sadeh - Zoroastrianism
A celebration of the discovery of fire by King Hashang of the Peshdadian dynasty; it is a festival in which a large bonfire is built as an act of defiance to drive back the winter.

Thursday, January 31
* Birth of Guru Har Rai - Sikhism
A celebration of the birth of the seventh of the Sikh gurus [1630 - 1661 C.E.], according to the Nanakshahi calendar.
Visit the ACPE website for more information. 
Visit the ACPE Memorials and Milestones page for more details. Please email [email protected] to add someone to our thoughts.
This Week's Career Opportunities & Residency/CEC Openings
  • Career Opportunities 
  • Chaplain Resident, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Westwood, CA
  • Program Manager, CPE, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
  • Clinical Manager & Educator, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA
  • Residency/CEC/CPE Unit Openings
  • Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics (VA SORCC), White City, OR
  • Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY
  • Gundersen Health System, La Crosse, WI 
  • Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Visit the ACPE website for a complete list of Career Opportunities and Residency/CEC Openings.

Want to advertise with ACPE? Learn more.
Other Happenings This Week
ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education
(404) 320-1472 | Email | Website 

ACPE is the premier, DOE-recognized organization that provides the highest quality CPE programs for spiritual care professionals of any faith and in any setting. We do this through a rigorous accreditation and certification process for centers and educators that provide CPE. The depth of our training enables students to realize their full potential to strengthen the spiritual health of people in their care as well as themselves. 
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