 Welcome to Monday Briefing, a weekly digest from ACPE Executive Director Trace Haythorn!
Each week, you will receive related articles, updates on ACPE transitions, and helpful links to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
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National Leadership Meetings
It is such a privilege to experience the remarkable dedication and passion of the volunteers who serve the ACPE. We simply cannot function without the time and talent of so many who, in addition to the commitment they offer to their centers, give of their heart, souls and minds to help us continue to assure and improve the quality of our programs. When I share the level of commitment offered by our volunteers with my colleagues in leadership in other associations, they are often deeply envious of your willingness to serve. Thank you to all who do so much on behalf of the ACPE!
As you might imagine, much of the conversation for the ACPE Board was about next steps. The Board is clear that the transition to the new bylaws will be a process, and they are committed to keeping the membership informed as new pieces roll out. Several actions were taken at this meeting. First, the Board renewed its contract with Donna Dunn and Tecker International to assist with implementation and strategic planning. The work with Donna is expected to last 12-18 months. Second, the Board developed a transition process for what was the Personnel Committee and addressed the responsibilities that were with the Standards Committee (though they will refer the details of both conversations to the Implementation Team).
Perhaps the most significant work took place around the development of a charge to the Implementation Team. Carlos Bell is actively working to secure commitments to this team, and Amy Greene, ACPE President-elect, will serve as its chair. The charge is as follows:
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Implementation Team Charge
Operationalize the model developed by the Organizational Design Work Group as approved by the membership vote.
Work in neutral and objective manner, based on information with informed opinions.
Include and embrace member feedback gathered through the ODWG process.
Have authority and responsibility for this effort consulting with the board when necessary and informing the board throughout.
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50th Anniversary Celebration Committee
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Bill Scrivener, Sally Schwab and Kathy Turner digging in the archives. |
Members of the 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee met in conjunction with the leadership meetings in Decatur, GA. Committee members spent two days in the national office combing through archives and gathering pictures in preparation for the 50th Anniversary Celebration in Minneapolis, May 3-6, 2017.
Our host hotel is now accepting reservations. Book today!
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CPE Curriculum Development Grants
Click
here for more information from the latest round of the Transforming Chaplaincy Project!
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The following members have completed their terms on national boards, commissions, and committees. Thank you for your service!
Board of Representatives
Doug Watson, Treasurer
Earl Cooper, Pacific Region
Stu Plummer, Foundation President
Certification Commission
Osofo Kwesi Atta, Chair
James Browning, Eastern Region
Sheila McNeil-Lee, Mid-Atlantic Region
Cecelia Walker, Southeast Region
John Peterson, East Central Region
Michelle Oberwise-Lacock, North Central Region
William DeLong, Pacific Region
Accreditation Commission
Ruth Alpers, Chair
Ronald Lovelace, Southwest Region
D. James Stapleford, Southeast Region
Rhoda Toperzer, Eastern Region
Kathy Turner, Pacific Region
Professional Ethics Commission
Carolyn Fleming-Sawyerr, Mid-Atlantic Region
Personnel Committee
Ted Trout-Landen, Chair
Carolyn Fleming-Sawyerr, Chair-elect
Robin Franklin, At-Large
Patrick McCoy, Regional Director
Melissa Walker-Luckett, Board Member
Jo Clare Wilson, Past President
Foundation Board of Directors
Stu Plummer, President
Ted Hodge, Treasurer
Biju Chacko, Annual Campaign Chair
Doug Watson, Board Member
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Last week, I posted a poem that some may have read as anti-Israel. Please know that was not my intention. It was originally sent to me as a response to the election, meant to capture some of the fears and pain many in our association articulated. It has been described as a poem originally written in response to an earlier election that left many of our colleagues deeply disappointed. I know that poetry is like humor and beauty - often left to the interpreter. I want to be clear that I remain passionately committed to the variety and diversity of faith perspectives within our association, and I'm grateful for the feedback and the opportunity to address any miscommunication.
With thanks to Ted Hodge for sharing this with the Foundation board, I offer the following for reflection in this week of national thanksgiving. Wendell Berry, the sage of Kentucky and one who has never lost his sense of our human connection to the land, penned the following:
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"The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
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This Week on the Calendar
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Monday, November 21
* Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Christianity (Catholic churches)
* Entry of the Mother of God 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.
Tuesday, November 22
* Qawl - Bahá'í
The beginning of the fourteenth month of the Bahá'í year, meaning "speech."
Thursday, November 24
* 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."
* 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.
Friday, November 25
* Day of the Covenant - Bahá'í
A celebration of the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh, as the Center of the Covenant in New York City in 1912 C.E. Devout followers begin their remembrance the preceding evening and do not suspend work on this day.
Sunday, November 27
* First Sunday of Advent (hope) - Christianity (Western churches)
The first of four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day (the name Advent derives from the Latin word for "coming," since Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth comes as God's anointed). Each Sunday in Advent is associated with a particular virtue: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.
* Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá - Bahá'í
The commemoration of the death of the Center of the Covenant in Haifa, Palestine, in 1921 C.E. Devout followers begin their remembrance the preceding evening and are allowed to work on this day.
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