Click on the headline to read the expanded article. Send your thoughts to [email protected] .
October 21, 2019
From the Desk of the Executive Director
Trace Haythorn Executive Director
In 2016, when the Organizational Redesign Work Group began to think through how to implement the new governance structure for ACPE, a key question centered around how the association could provide support for centers and members. Initially, the idea of "area directors" was proposed, positions that would have significantly larger territories and would help integrate the new model. After some conversation, the work group decided that these positions needed to be more about the people and less about the geography, thus the role of directors of community, practice and member development were born. Their task was to visit every center, to meet with members, to serve as "broadcast towers" about changes in the organization, to advocate for ACPE programs in their centers, and to provide support during the many transitions we have experienced as an association in recent years. For the last few years, Katherine Higgins, Steve Ivy, and Wayne Menking served the association dutifully in the new roles.

On October 16th, in accordance with its bylaws,  ACPE emailed ballots to eligible voters to elect members of the Board of Directors, Accreditation Commission, Certification Commission, Psychotherapy Commission, Professional Ethics Commission, Finance Committee, and Leadership Development Committee. 

Didn't see your ballot in your email?
Please search your spam, junk, and clutter folders. ACPE uses Simply Voting to conduct its online elections. Ballots were sent from [email protected].

The Leave of Absence from the Certification Process policy has been updated in the Certification Manual. The new policy will go into effect on January 1, 2020 for everyone in the new process.

Pro Tip: Bookmark the ACPE Manuals in your preferred browser for quick and easy access to the latest policies and processes.
Kirk Bingaman, PhD
ACPE Psychotherapist
Lexington Books has published Pastoral and Spiritual care in Digital Age:The Future is Now, by ACPE Psychotherapist Kirk Bingaman, PhD.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing what it means to be human. Given our increasing merger with machines, we have therefore entered uncharted territory and an era of unprecedented change. For pastoral and spiritual care providers, religious faith communities, clinical practitioners, and educators, immediate theological reflection is needed, focusing on the potential existential threat and opportunity, and what will constitute human personhood in an age of technological enhancement. Preserving our humanity in a digital age will require intentional focus on strengthening the neural circuitry associated with focused attention, mindful and compassionate awareness, and social and relational intelligence, even as we put to good use the emerging digital technologies.

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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  [email protected]

Last week's photo included 
Carlos Alejandro and Carlos Asdrubal Sanchez at the Joint 2012 ACPE-REM Conference in Arlington, VA.

Have any photos from your personal ACPE archive that you would like to share? Send them to [email protected] to be featured in an upcoming newsletter.
In Case You Missed It
View from the Road: Leaving What is Old for What is New
Wayne Menking
Director of Community, Practice, & Member Development
Several years ago when I was writing my book, When All Else Fails: Rethinking our Pastoral Vocation in Times of Stuck, I came to the realization that the underlying theory for my work as a pastor, a chaplain, and a clinical pastoral educator could be summarized in this simple phrase: the work of pastoral/spiritual care is helping people leave what is old for what is new. As a pastor and a chaplain, I encountered people navigating transitions and re-situating themselves in new life circumstances, such as learning to live with a new illness that would change their life, or grief and learning to live life without a loved one who is now gone. In teaching and mentoring students, I encountered students searching for ways to leave behind old identities and ways of practicing ministry to embrace new ways of thinking and perceiving themselves as care givers. I now come to a point in my life where this theory - yet again - has personal relevance. In mid-August, I came to the decision that it is now time for me to retire. On September 30, I sent my notice of retirement to Trace, indicating that my last day with the ACPE will be December 31, 2019. I am now in that place of transition: leaving behind an old identity that has shaped my life and moving into a new one that is largely unknown.


Cecelia Walker
Cecelia Walker
Certification Chair
I am pleased to share that we have added a numbering system to the ACPE Certified Educator Competencies documents. Each phase of the process is numbered independently, except for those items that span more than one phase. The competencies for admission begin with A, Phase I Competencies begin with P1, and Phase II Competencies begin with P2. The new documents may be found on the website and in the New Certification Process Manual.
Spiritual Care Today is the official podcast of the Journal of Pastoral Care Publications, Inc. The vision of JPCP Inc. is "advancing theory and professional practice through scholarly and reflective literature on pastoral and spiritual care, counseling, psychotherapy, education, and research."
 
The inaugural episode of Spiritual Care Today is a two-part show. In 2019, AAPC (American Association of Pastoral Counselors) consolidated with ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education. Part One features an interview with Teri Canzoneri, former President of AAPC, and Amy Greene, Chair of ACPE, who both discuss the consolidation as well as the relationship between chaplaincy and pastoral counseling, or spiritually-integrated psychotherapy. Part Two features a group discussion with former leaders of AAPC who answer the question: what is pastoral counseling?

Amy Greene
Amy Greene
Board Chair
I've been waiting to write about the pros and cons of the potential merger with some of our strategic partners in professional spiritual care and education until I believed the leadership had clarity on the issues. Since my time as Board Chair is winding down (December 31 to be exact), I decided I needed to set some things before you.
 
I'm grateful to the members of the Board of Directors who took the time to send in their thoughtful responses to the opportunities as well as barriers involved if we merge with one or more other organizations. I'm struck by the fact that there is never any gain without a corresponding loss...never anything new without a letting go of something else. We live in a culture that doesn't like to acknowledge this - that preaches "onward and upward" without much time given to counting the costs. A new job, a new house, a new anything is a fraternal twin to a former job, a former dwelling, a former something. Yet we should be the folks who are the most aware of this - the most willing to ponder and face the potential losses as well as gains.

JoannHeaney-Hunter
Joann Heaney-Hunter IPC Chair
In recent articles , I have been encouraging former AAPC members to learn about and engage with  Communities of Practice  (CoPs). CoPs serve as a flagship activity for our association and anchor us in our grassroots tradition. An ACPE CoP is a group of eight or more practitioners in the fields of spiritual care, spiritual education, or integrated psychotherapy, with a common sense of purpose, who agree to work together to cultivate and enhance community, share knowledge, create best practice and foster innovation.
 
To introduce the CoP model to former AAPC members, the interim Psychotherapy Commission surveyed members to encourage involvement. Thank you to everyone who signed up to be charter members of the new CoPs.

When ACPE launched SharePoint, we also introduced Yammer. It is a social network, with Facebook-style communication, just for ACPE members! Yammer allows open and dynamic communication across the entire association. Its strength is its inclusivity. With Yammer, you can: post links; share videos; use emojis and GIFs; share, create, and edit files!
 
ACPE's Communities of Practice (CoP) also migrated to Yammer for a much more user-friendly experience including conversation, sharing, polling, and file storage. Once in Yammer, click on "ACPE Groups" to view all the Communities of Practice. Join now and start collaborating! 
New Accreditation Process: Sign-up for Q&A Sessions

Join us for New Accreditation Process Q&A Sessions. The sessions are your opportunity to ask anything about the new process or building your center's accreditation portfolio.

Dates are currently posted through the new year. The sessions are 12:00pm to 1:00pm eastern time on the assigned days. The number of participants for each session is limited to ensure individual questions are addressed. 

Read more
Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
Do you ever get what one researcher calls "hamster wheel brain" when you lie down at the end of a day? Do you find it hard to switch from the deluge of tasks to the sublime world of dreams? This lovely poem invites deeper reflection, perhaps a nice alternative to that squeaky hamster wheel that can keep some of us awake:
Day ends, and before sleep
when the sky dies down, consider
your altered state: has this day
changed you? Are the corners
sharper or rounded off? Did you
live with death? Make decisions
that quieted? Find one clear word
that fit? At the sun's midpoint
did you notice a pitch of absence,
bewilderment that invites
the possible? What did you learn
from things you dropped and picked up
and dropped again? Did you set a straw
parallel to the river, let the flow
carry you downstream?
 
"Questions Before Dark" by Jeanne LohmannText as published in The Light of Invisible Bodies (Daniel and Daniel Publishers, 2015).
extra
Feel like the world is an utter mess? How about a little COMISS relief with this year's finalists for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. Thank you, funny animals. May we also find time to laugh at ourselves: 


Monday, October 21

Simchat Torah - Judaism
This festival, also known as "Rejoicing with the Law," marks the end of Sukkot and the completion of the Torah reading cycle with the beginning of reading the first book again. Jews celebrate this day by singing, dancing, and marching around the synagogue or temple with Torah scrolls. This festival begins at sundown.

Thursday, October 24

United Nations Day

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, October 27

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].
Visit the ACPE website for more dates and information. 
Community of Practice Event Highlights 
Registration is now open for the following Community of Practice events: 

Event
Location
Date
Kanuga Fall Conference Hendersonville, NC October 25-27, 2019
Wisconsin Dells, WI October 27-29,2019
Pacific CoP Educational Colloquium San Diego, CA October 28-30, 2019
Stony Point, NY
November 7-8, 2019
St. Simons Island, GA January 12-14, 2020


  • Retired Educator Wayne Van Kampen had a major heart attack last week. He is doing very well, at home, and mostly stunned that this happened to him. He is in good spirits, is staying around home primarily, and anticipating further treatment in the days and weeks ahead. His email is [email protected].
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
Position
Center/Organization

Location Posting Date
Full-time Counselor/Therapist Pastoral Counseling of Northern Virgina Fairfax, VA 10/18/19
ACPE Educator AdventHealth Orlando CPE System Center Metro Orlando, FL 10/18/19
CPE Program Manager Covenant HealthCare Saginaw, MI 10/18/19
Manager of Spiritual Care & Education WellSpan York Hospital  York, PA 10/11/19
Director of Chaplaincy Reading Hospital Reading, PA 9/27/19
Chaplain Blessing Health System
Quincy, IL 9/27/19
ACPE Educator Ascension Seton Austin, TX 9/6/19
Spiritual/Pastoral Care Minister (Chaplain)
St. Joseph Villa
Flourtown, PA 8/16/19
CPE Manager Mercy Hospital Springfield, MO 8/2/19

Residency/CEC/CPE Unit Openings

Position
Center/Organization

Location
Posting Date
CES/C Position  UCSF Health San Francisco, CA 10/18/19
Yearlong Residency Mount Sinai Center for Spirituality and Health New York, NY 10/11/19
Yearlong Residency St. Luke's Health System
Boise, ID
9/27/19
1st & 2nd Year Residencies
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
9/13/19
Residency Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services
Grand Rapids, MI 9/13/19
Residency 2019-2020 St. Luke's Hospital Chesterfield, MO 8/23/19
Chaplain Resident Catholic Health Sisters of Charity Hospital Buffalo, NY 8/16/19
Residency 2020-2021 
Kettering Health Network
Dayton Area, OH
7/17/19
Residency 2019-2020 Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire, WI 2/15/19

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

Event
Location
Date
Global Spiritual Traditions and ChI Culture & Foundations-Part 2 Berkeley, CA November 12-16, 2019
Transforming Chaplaincy: Certificate in Spiritual Care Management and Leadership
Online Fall 2019
Chaplaincy Innovation Lab
Online N/A
Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Care Education and Leadership
Union Theological Seminary/Online Rolling Enrollment
San Francisco Theological Seminary/Online
Rolling Enrollment
Conyers, GA February 20-23, 2020

ACPE members and centers may post "happenings" in the weekly newsletter. ACPE does not accredit, review, or endorse the events listed above. Send your "happening" to [email protected].
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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