ACPE's weekly digest to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
March 6, 2017
monday briefing header
Trace Informal
ACPE's Monday Briefing is a weekly digest from ACPE Executive Director Trace Haythorn. 
 
Each week you will receive related articles and updates on ACPE transitions. Also included are helpful links to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
Survey summary: What's in a name?
Thank you to everyone who participated in the "name" survey. This survey went to voting members (around 1100 people), and we had over 350 participate. (Interesting side note: this seems to be just about the same number for every survey we send out-so perhaps we've found our sweet spot?) We hope you will take time to read the report - it is only a couple of pages. The highlights are as follows: 
* We are as deeply divided as an association about these matters as the nation is about other matters;
* Those 59 and under tend to favor change while those over 60 years of age tend to favor the status quo;
* Whatever we decide, the words "spiritual" and "pastoral" will remain contested within your practice.
Click here for the full report.

Next steps: the board will make decisions about next steps at their meeting the last week of March. We will let you know what they decide to do!
Certification Reform Implementation Team Meeting
The Certification Reform Implementation Team (yep, the CRIT) met this week in Atlanta and is making good progress. They are offering several free pre-conference workshops in Minneapolis that have just been posted. Even if you've already registered, make sure you take a look at these and join us for these important discussions.
Advancing Chaplaincy: Learning to Think and Act Strategically
Transforming Chaplaincy is hosting a series of 4 hour-long webinars in Spring 2017. Registration for each webinar is limited and filling up fast. Click here to save your spot. 
Recommended Bylaws Change
In case you missed it, changes to the bylaws were recommend by a few members. Click here to review the changes and provide them feedback. 
A Poem for Reflection
For those who observe Lent, I've always bristled a bit at the "giving up stuff" approach to the practice. I prefer to think of it as a process by which more room can be made for that which matters, for that which gives life, for the Spirit to guide me into wholeness. Claudia Schmidt's poem speaks to this for me:
"Replenish" by Claudia Schmidt

We go on, we go on,
Canoe under hot sun,
The upturned paddle guides liquid to our dry mouths.
Water within us, water surround us,
A great mystery our becoming dry at all.
Replenish, replenish, all must be replenished.
The water within and without.
All that fills us, all that surrounds us:
The great whistling pines,
The tenacious beaver,
The ancient loon,
The rush of the young eagle's wings as it dips low over our canoe.
Replenish!
The eyes bathed in this delicate solitude,
This trembling eternity,
Called back in mid-sweep only to be assessed by green parched eyes.
Rplenish!
Each shriveled heart
Which has its moments only at events set aside for its song,
But cannot fly for the connection
Between the rock and the human body,
The heron's wing and the hope in our souls.
We go on,
We go on,
The paddles dance with the lake water to the music in our throats.
We will grow dry again
Perhaps leap into the water
A small and symbolic celebration of a great and endless task
Which gracefully undertaken,
Might allow us to go on, and on, and on.
Something extra
If you need to stir your heart deeply, check out Soul Pancake's "My Last Days," a video library of young people with terminal illnesses. Here's Zach's story:  My Last Days | Meet Zach Sobiech. 
This Week on the Calendar
Thursday, March 9
*Losar [Tibetan New Year] -Buddhism
Celebrating the beginning of a three-day festival for the year 2144 in the Tibetan calendar.

Saturday, March 11
*Eve of Purim - Judaism
A celebration of the Jews' rescue from an evil plot to destroy them while they were living in Persia, the events of which are recorded in the Hebrew biblical book of Esther. The holiday includes reading the Megillah (the scroll of Esther), exchanging gifts, and special pastries called hamantashen.

Sunday, March 12
*Magha Puja Day [Dharma Day] - Buddhism
In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, this full moon day of the third lunar month marks the historical Buddha's sermon at Veruvana Monastery in the city of Rajagaha, where he spoke to 1250 en-lightened monks who were ordained by him.
ACPE | (404) 320-1472 | Email | Website