Save the date for Biennial Mission Summit 2017!
Plan now to attend Mission Summit June 29-July 2, 2017, in Portland, Ore.!
 
Chaplains and pastoral counselors will gather June 29. Additional information will follow. Registration will begin in early 2017. Please continue to check online at www.americanbaptists2017.com.
 
Experience a gathering of American Baptists like no other, as our diverse family joins together for faith-stretching worship, Mission Summit conversations, preaching and fellowship.

ABHMS features new 'Give Now' button 
For the first time ever, Chaplaincy & Pastoral Counseling Ministries can now receive online donations! If an individual or church is led to financially support chaplains and pastoral counselors, they can now do so by visiting www.abhms.org, clicking the green "Give Now" button at the top of the page, and then scrolling down to "Chaplaincy & Pastoral Counseling Ministries."
Pastoral Care Week is Oct. 16-22
"Spiritual Resilience" is the theme for this year's Pastoral Care Week, Oct. 16-22. Please plan to recognize your spiritual caregivers during Pastoral Care Week! We give thanks to God for our American Baptist spiritual caregivers!
Accomplishments & celebrations! 
We have many talented American Baptist clergy! Congratulations to the following individuals:
 
The Board of Chaplaincy Certification, an affiliate of the Association of Professional Chaplains, certifies board certified chaplains or associate certified chaplains according to national standards. The following individuals received board certification: 
  • The Rev. Tyra Curley
  • The Rev. Michael Mercier
  • The Rev. James Nooks
  • The Rev. Letha McLeod completed her Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training in August 2015, was ordained in March 2016 and received board certification the following June.
The following individuals received provisional board certification:
  • The Rev. Theresa Shackelford
  • The Rev. Monica Rikli
The Rev. George B. Vogel, chief of Chaplain Service, Long Beach (Calif.) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for chaplains. Additionally, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater, Bryan College, Dayton, Tenn.
Chaplain (1st Lt.) Jennifer Lane was accessioned to serve on active duty with the U.S. Army. Her first assignment is in Hawaii.
Chaplain (Capt.-P) Patty Jenkins was selected for promotion to the rank of major, U.S. Army Reserve. Please keep her in prayer, as she is serving in a deployed status in Kuwait.
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Edwards was promoted to the rank of captain in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Brett Charsky was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard on June 13 by Col. Dunham, West Point Garrison commander.
The Rev. Kelley Thury, chaplain candidate, was awarded the "Excellence in Advanced Pastoral Care and Counseling Award," graduated from Sioux Falls (S.D.) Seminary in May 2016 and was ordained on May 15.
Erica Callicutt graduated from her CPE residency last month and was ordained Oct. 9 in her home church, First Baptist Church, Newport News, Va.
 
Please send news of your celebrations to endorsement@abhms.org.

Judson Press seeks writers
Do you yearn to inspire people with stories of your experiences? Judson Press is seeking writers for "The Secret Place" and "Judson Bible Journeys for Adults."

"The Secret Place" is a popular quarterly magazine of daily devotions. Guidelines for writing devotions for "The Secret Place" are available online. Please send your submission to TheSecretPlace@abc-usa.org.

"Judson Bible Journeys for Adults" is a quarterly curriculum for use in church school or Bible study. Based on the Uniform Series, both the Leader's Guide and the student book are written by American Baptists for American Baptists. Pay is $300 per lesson, or $3,900 for a typical 13-week quarter.

Writers are currently being sought for the following quarters:
  • Fall 2019: The theme is "faith," or, more specifically, God's gift of faith and how we respond to it both personally and communally.
  • Winter 2019-2020: The theme is "worship," or exploring ways of honoring God through worship.
  • Summer 2020: The theme is "God and wisdom," or God as experienced as wisdom in both the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament.
For more information, please contact Marcia Jessen, curriculum editor, at marcia.jessen@abhms.org.

Giving thanks for our Veterans Administration chaplains
Veterans Administration chaplaincy celebrates 70th anniversary
By Lyman Smith

On Aug. 1, 1945, Gen. Frank T. Hines, administrator of the Veterans Administration (VA), established a national Chaplaincy Service "to assure beneficiaries the best possible spiritual guidance [and] religious services." Later that year, on Oct. 14, the Rev. Crawford Brown, the first chief of Chaplaincy Service, told the Army and Navy Chaplains Association (now the Military Chaplains Association) that a school for training chaplains for veterans hospitals would soon be established. The first national conference of VA chaplains was held in April 1946 with a call for 195 full-time chaplains to meet the needs of veterans with an anticipated need for more than 600 by 1960.

Today, the VA Chaplain Corps has grown to nearly 1,000 chaplains and students. VA healthcare is holistic, providing for healing and growth in body, mind and soul, customized to meet the needs of veterans.

We congratulate and give thanks for our VA chaplains. They are integral to our keeping the promise offered by Abraham Lincoln in his second Inaugural Address: "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Lyman Smith is executive director of the Military Chaplains Association.

Board certification & endorsement
If you are seeking board certification or a chaplain position with the Veterans Administration, an endorsement is required. Please review the requirements for endorsement at www.abhms.org > Ministries > Cultivating Leaders > Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministries. Please plan accordingly.
Connect with your associate endorser
If you attend chaplain school at Fort Jackson, S.C., please email the Rev. Kristy Moeller at kmoeller@abhms.org. She would enjoy attending your graduation and/or taking you to dinner.

American Baptist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministries

Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Haggray
Ecclesiastical Endorser
Executive Director/CEO
American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS)

Rev. Kristy Moeller
Associate Endorser
Director, Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministries, ABHMS

Dr. Laura Miraz
Associate Ecclesiastical Endorser

Alice Mitchell-Cross
Administrative Coordinator

Rev. Dr. Harry E. Simmons, BCC, ACPE Supervisor
Chairperson, Endorsement Committee

Rev. Elizabeth Ritzman, LCPC
President, Ministers Council, Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors Chapter



American Baptist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministries
800.222.3872, x2482 
  
American Baptist Home Mission Societies