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November 5, 2018
Growing Gratitude
Amy Greene
Amy Greene,
Board Chair
I had a somewhat difficult upbringing, as did many of us who gravitated toward the "helping professions" before we fully understood our own motivations. CPE helped me put language to the formative struggles that had caused me to want to connect with others who were struggling. It gave me language and concepts and tools for understanding that suffering could and did lead to compassionate connection, if rightly and responsibly processed and examined and healed (enough) to keep the focus of care appropriate to each unique encounter. I knew from having many friends who were therapists that our training demanded more of us in the realm of personal exposure of our weaknesses (I tend not to use euphemisms like "growing edges"). 

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2018 ACPE Runoff Election Results
Thank you to all the members who participated in the 2018 ACPE Runoff Election! 593 (43.3%) of 1,371 electors voted in this ballot. The election results have been reviewed by Leadership Development Chair Stephen Robinson and ACPE Secretary Miguel Santamaria.


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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.
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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AAPC-ACPE Task Force Update
The AAPC-ACPE Transition Task Force continues their work about a common future for their associations.  The task force has now appointed sub-committee members to explore consolidated: finances; governance and memberships; operations; and programs and curriculum.

Additionally, a face-to-face meeting has been scheduled December 14-16 at the ACPE Office in Decatur, GA.

Spiritual Care Podcast: First Responders 
On The Spiritual Care Podcast you'll hear stories of caregivers (chaplains, nurses, social workers and many others). They provide spiritual support for people in need, and often in distress. They're trained to be inclusive, not exclusive.

These professionals serve in multiple venues, including hospitals and hospices, colleges, the military, prisons, retirement communities, first-responder services, community organizations and other settings. They face a range of social concerns: diversity, war and peace, health care, people who've been marginalized, families in crisis, etc.

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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  webmaster@acpe.edu .
Thank you for your responses to last week's photo! We received the following response from former ACPE Executive Director Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton: 

"Thank you for this picture of Calvin Runnels! Attending Calvin's memorial service was one of the last official acts I did as Executive Director of ACPE (2011). He was a dear friend. I had the delight in mentoring as he was going through the Certification process. Calvin had a great love for CPE and the church, a great sense of humor, and was left us too soon! I especially miss him every time I attend a REM event."
In Case You Missed It
ACPE Developing New Member Sites
John Roch 2018
John Roch, Director of Communications
Earlier in October, Trace mentioned in his monthly article that we are developing a Microsoft SharePoint site. SharePoint has been around since 2001 and is one of the top business collaboration resources today. The addition of SharePoint to our existing website will modernize how we work, collaborate, and communicate. For the first time, all ACPE members will connect on the same platform allowing for greater collaboration with message boards, file sharing, instant messaging, and video conferencing


The Impact of Professional Spiritual Care
The Spiritual Care Strategic Partners are pleased to announce that you will now find on our respective websites a link to our new resource for advancing professional chaplaincy. As you know we collaborated in 2001 on the white paper, Professional Chaplaincy: Its Role and Importance in Healthcare. Since then our respective associations, as well as other associations, have published a variety of very helpful resources and research on professional spiritual care. 

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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 accounting@acpe.edu or call Jennifer Rochner, Senior Accountant, at (678) 636-6214 or Zizi Krasteva, Accountant Assistant, at (678) 636-6220.

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
Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, November 6 is a critically important
day for the US. In a recent reflection, Parker Palmer notes that he will be carrying this poem in
his pocket as he makes his way to the polls. We offer it to you as you make the same journey: 
Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye

A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.

No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.

This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo
but he's not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy's dream
deep inside him.

We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.

The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
extra
Now that Halloween has passed and stores have put lots of candy bags on the discount shelves, we thought it might be fun to take a look at some favorite sweet treats from around the world. Check out these creative confections from a wide variety of cultures:


33 Unique Treats from All Around the World
Wednesday, November 7
* Diwali (Deepavali) - Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism
The festival of lights and Hinduism's most popular festival. It is dedicated to the Goddess Kali in Bengal and to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in the rest of India. Diwali is also associated with stories of the destruction of evil by the god Vishnu in one of his many forms, as well as with the coronation of Sri Rama. Sweets and gifts are exchanged, and it is a time for cleaning and preparing for the future. This festival is also celebrated by Sikhs and Jains, with this day bearing additional names and significance as shown immediately below.

* Bandi Chhor Divas - Sikhism
Called "the day of the prisoner's release," this festival marks the return of the sixth guru, Sri Hargobind Ji, and 52 other princes with him to the holy city of Amritsar after being released from detention in 1619 C.E.

* Mahavira Nirvana - Jainism
On this day Jains celebrate that the soul of Lord Mahavir (6th century B.C.E.), the 24th Tirthankara, attained nirvana and release from the cycle of rebirth [moksha].

Thursday, November 8
* Day of Enlightenment of Lord Gautamswami (Jain New Year) - Jainism
Vikram Samvat 2075 begins. In the early morning of the first day of the new year, Ganadhar Gautamswami, the first disciple of Lord Mahavir, attained absolute enlightenment. Jains begin the new year with the glorification of Lord Gautamswami; and listen with devotion to the nine Stotras holy hymns and with listening to the auspicious Rasa (epic poem) of Gautamswami from their Guru Maharaj.

Friday, November 9
* Birth of the Báb - Bahá'í
Anniversary of the birth of the Báb, one of the twin Prophet founders of the Bahá'í faith, in 1819 C.E. His nineteen disciples, known as Letters of the Living, taught his religion throughout 19th century Persia. His shrine is located in Haifa, Israel. Bahá'ís suspend work on this day.

Saturday, November 10
* Birth of the Bahá'u'lláh - Bahá'í
Anniversary of the birth of the Bahá'u'lláh ("Glory of God"), the founder of the Bahá'í faith, in Tehran, Persia [modern-day Iran], in 1817 C.E. Devout followers suspend work on this day; some begin their observance of the day on the previous day's sundown.
Visit the ACPE website for more information. 
  • The Rev. Thomas "Tommy" S. Rogers, III's (Illinois) father, Tom Rogers, died on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.  Tom was a financial advisor who could set his own schedule which gave him lots of time to spend with Tommy as he was growing up. It was a gift to have a father who defied gender roles and cherished being the primary caregiver while Tommy's mom focused on her career. Tom and his beloved wife Betty were married nearly 42 years and supported each other wholeheartedly in their careers and in life. They are a model that Tommy seeks to follow in his marriage to his husband Jason. Tom's funeral was November 3 in Oklahoma City. Tommy preached and presided at the funeral.
Visit the ACPE Memorials and Milestones page for more details. Please email webmaster@acpe.edu to add someone to our thoughts.
This Week's Career Opportunities & Residency/CEC Openings
  • Career Opportunities 
  • Manager of Spiritual Health, WellStar Spalding Regional Hospital, Griffin, GA
  • Hospital Chaplaincy and CPE Program Director, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
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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