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The ACPE Office will be closed Thursday, November 22 - Friday, November 23. We will reopen on Monday, November 26 at 9:00am. 
November 19, 2018
Fall Leadership Meeting Wrap-up
Trace Haythorn,
Executive Director
Amidst a few cold and rainy days, ACPE's Board of Directors, Foundation Board of Directors, Certification Commission, and Accreditation Commission met in Decatur, GA last week for the annual fall leadership meetings. Leaders from all over the country gathered to share ideas, present and hear reports, meet candidates, and set our future course. I remain in awe of the dedication and time our volunteer leaders commit to ACPE. Thank you for all your good work!
 


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Certification Results: Congrats to the Newly Certified 
Congratulations to the ACPE Certified Associate Educators and ACPE Certified Educators who passed sub-committees at the Certification Hubs in Chicago, IL and Charlotte, NC, as well as the fall leadership meetings in Decatur, GA!  

We hope you will join us at the Annual Conference in Scottsdale, AZ for the Certification Commencement!

Help ACPE Raise $5,000 Next Week on Giving Tuesday! 
Support ACPE next Tuesday, November 27 on Giving Tuesday (the National Day of Giving)!

Every dollar raised on that day will go to support professional development opportunities for ACPE students, as well as research & innovation projects. Did you know that your support of ACPE on Giving Tuesday over the years has sent 30 students to the ACPE Annual Conference? You can help us continue to nurture the next generation of spiritual care educators & practitioners by making your gift on Giving Tuesday. And by doing so, you can also help your CoP win the 2018 Friendly Giving Competition in the process! 
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) Noel Brown, Jo Schrader, George Fitchett, unknown, Stephen Mann, Paul Derrickson. 

ACPE Certified Educator George Fitchett wrote in with the following response: 

The picture may be from a gathering of people from the ACPE, APC, and NACC who had an interest in research. The unnamed woman to the right of Fitchett in the photo was a member of NACC. My guess is that it was taken about 20 years ago (approximately 1998). 
In Case You Missed It
Holiday Toiletry Drive
For the past five years, the ACPE office staff have used the end-of-year holiday season to make a difference in the lives of those in need of extra care and support. Our year-end staff service projects have not only been a time to give back to our local community, but also a time to bond with one another.

This year, we would like to invite all ACPE members to join us in our endeavor! We have decided to host a toiletry drive for Decatur Cooperative Ministry, an ecumenical social service organization less than five minutes away from the ACPE office. 
2019 ACPE Annual Dues Billing Coming mid-November
As we approach our billing season, we want to provide you with information to explain your center's invoice. This year's billing statement will look similar to last year's, but there will be additional items that appear. If you have any questions after receiving your bill, please contact [email protected] or call Jennifer Rochner, Senior Accountant, at (678) 636-6214 or Zizi Krasteva, Accountant Assistant, at (678) 636-6220.

New National Guidelines Seek to Improve Access to Palliative Care for People Living with Serious Illness
New national palliative care clinical practice guidelines seek to ensure the millions of people living with serious illness, such as heart failure, lung disease and cancer, have access to vital care that can help meet their needs. The guidelines promote improved access to palliative care, which is focused on giving patients and their caregivers relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness, is based on need, not prognosis, and can be provided along with disease-focused treatment. 

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Curriculum Committee Update
Sarah Knoll Sweeney,
Curriculum Committee Chair
Greetings from the ACPE Curriculum Committee! As your chair and chair-elect, we would like to share a few updates and ask for your help as we move forward with curating curricular resources and best practices for student assessment and evaluation.

Our committee is engaging the challenge and opportunity of our work together with humility and an openness to learning from you. We believe that the best resources we have to draw from are ACPE educators who have developed thoughtful and engaging curriculum and quality methods for student evaluation and assessment.
2019 Annual Conference Call For Poster Applications
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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Certification Updates
As we move further into using the New Certification Process, we want to take this opportunity to remind everyone of some key aspects.  For even more information, please take the time to review the documents on the New Certification Process webpage and to review the New Certification Process Manual.


Transitioning from the Old Certification Process
Mary Stewart Hall
Commission Chair
Now that we are well into the New Certification Process, we have recognized that it is not only possible, but maybe even preferable, for candidates who are in the Old Process to transition to the New Process.  While the Certification Commission previously stated that those who achieved candidacy had the choice of transitioning to the New Process, the pathway wasn't as clear as it is now, so we are once again presenting candidates with an opportunity to transition to the New Process.

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Theory Integration Presentation Mentors
Over the past few months, we held our first two training cohorts and now have 25 trained Theory Integration Presentation Mentors. As we know our numbers of CECs will continue to grow, we have scheduled our next four cohort groups so that we can train a sufficient number of mentors. If you are interested in becoming a Theory Integration Presentation Mentor, please click here to complete the sign up and indicate which training cohort will work best in your schedule. If you have questions about the mentor's role, please email Robin Booth or Anastasia Holman.
Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
(with thanks to Bill Gaventa for the Facebook post)
Things have been intense in Georgia since the midterm elections. One commentator referred to the whole process as "zombie election," in that it does not seem like it will ever die and continues to feed off of the living. The mass shooting in Thousand Oaks leaves many wondering if we have resigned ourselves to such events as inevitable. And yet there have been persistent messages of hope, signs of better days, and sounds of laughter even in the midst of deep pain. Sheenagh Pugh offers this lovely reflection which captures some of that more hopeful energy:
Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen to you.
extra
The phrase "it takes a village" takes on a whole new meaning in this clip, where a town showed up to help move a bookshop down the street, one book at a time. Take a look: 


How Do You Move A Bookstore? With A Human Chain, Book By Book
Monday, November 19
* Mawlid al-Nabi - Islam
The anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca in ca. 570 C.E., observed by Sunni Muslims beginning at sundown. Shi'a Muslims celebrate five days later, on November 24th.

Wednesday, November 21
* Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Christianity (Catholic churches)

* Entry of the Mother of God (Theotokos) into the Temple - Christianity (Eastern churches)
This day commemorates the entrance of the three-year-old Virgin Mary into the temple at Jerusalem to receive an education and begin her life of absolute dedication to God. According to some apocryphal writings, Mary also entered the Temple's Holy of Holies on this occasion, thus becoming the first and only woman ever to enter that sacred space.

Thursday, November 22
* Thanksgiving Day
This national holiday was first officially observed after a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, in 1863 C.E. Establishing the fourth Thursday of November for the observance, Lincoln wrote that "[The blessings enjoyed in this country] are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People."

Friday, November 23
* Qawl - Bahá'í
The beginning of the fourteenth month of the Bahá'í year, meaning "speech."

* Guru Nanak's Birthday - Sikhism
Sikhs commonly celebrate the birthday of their founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, on the full moon day of Kartik, even though the guru's biographers record his birth on April 15, 1469 C.E. A poet and mystic, Guru Nanak wrote 974 hymns that are included in the Sikh scriptures, known as the Guru Granth Sahib.

Saturday, November 24
* Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji - Sikhism
This day commemorates the martyrdom of the ninth of the Ten Sikh Gurus (1621-1675 C.E.). He is remembered for defending the Sikh faith, as well as the rights of Hindus and the cause of religious liberty.

Sunday, November 25
* Christ the King Sunday - Christianity (Western churches)
This feast day commemorates Jesus' teaching that he will return at the end of time to judge humanity. In the Western Christian liturgical year, this is the last Sunday; the following Sunday (i.e., the first Sunday of Advent) marks the beginning of a new year.
Visit the ACPE website for more information. 
  • Emeritus Educator Randy Jones died peacefully on November 16, 2018 surrounded by dear friends. 
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 
  • Director of Pastoral Care, NCH Healthcare System, Naples, FL
  • Manager of Pastoral Services, Methodist Health System, Dallas, TX
  • Residency/CEC/CPE Unit Openings
  • Baylor Scott & White, Ft. Worth, TX
  • Memorial Hospital, Temple, TX
  • St. Luke's University Health Network, Multiple Locations
  • Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, PA
  • Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH
  • Kettering Health Network, Dayton, OH
  • Centura Health CPE Center in Colorado, Multiple Locations 
Visit the ACPE website for a complete list of Career Opportunities and Residency/CEC Openings.

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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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