ACPE's weekly digest to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
May 22, 2017
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.
Communities of Practice
The description of Communities of Practice is now available on the website along with a form to register your group. We are revising the funding form as well to provide more guidance for budgeting, but it will be available in June. In August, the Finance Committee will begin building the 2018 budget, so we hope to have a sense of who will be requesting funds. Please let us know if you have questions.
Election: Bylaw Amendments & Chair-elect
Watch your email later this week for your ballot. Voting will begin on Wednesday, May 24 and conclude on Friday, May 26 at 5:00pm Pacific. All active and retired educator and practitioner members are eligible to vote. If you do not receive a ballot on May 24, please contact the national office. The email will come from "Election Buddy," which is our online election software that assures the security and integrity of the election process.
Guidelines for Titles and Logo Use
We have had several inquiries about when and how people can/should use the new logo and ACPE Certified Educator as well as Spiritual Care Professional (SCP). We are working on guidelines and hope to have them to you in the next couple of weeks. Watch the Monday Briefings for updates.
Area Managers
We are moving towards interviewing finalists for these three new positions in the next couple of weeks. We hope to announce them by early July. We received over 50 applications and have an outstanding pool of candidates. More soon!
Interfaith Voices
Interfaith Voices partnered with ACPE for a series on spiritual care. Listen to the latest episode: The Zen Thing featuring ACPE Certified Educator Koshin Paley Ellison. Koshin is a Zen Buddhist monk and founder of The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

Hopefully you also heard the first episode Chaplains 1: Climbing the Mountain.
A Poem for Reflection
As I sat on my porch last weekend, the first soggy breezes of the Atlanta summer began to waft over me. I was reminded of this poem by Emma Lazarus, best known for her words on the Statue of Liberty. 
"Long Island Sound" by Emma Lazarus
 
I see it as it looked one afternoon
In August,-by a fresh soft breeze o'erblown.
The swiftness of the tide, the light thereon,
A far-off sail, white as a crescent moon.
The shining waters with pale currents strewn,
The quiet fishing-smacks, the Eastern cove,
The semi-circle of its dark, green grove.
The luminous grasses, and the merry sun
In the grave sky; the sparkle far and wide,
Laughter of unseen children, cheerful chirp
Of crickets, and low lisp of rippling tide,
Light summer clouds fantastical as sleep
Changing unnoted while I gazed thereon.
All these fair sounds and sights I made my own.
Something extra
Some of you may have seen this recent data from the Pew Research Center for Religion and Public Life. It upends some conventional wisdom while providing some familiar data. May it be helpful as you begin your summer units. 
This Week on the Calendar
Tuesday, May 23
*Declaration of the Báb - Bahá'í
The celebration of the day in 1844 C.E. when he announced his identity as the Gate or herald of the new age in Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran).

*Birthday of Guru Amar Das - Sikhism
Guru Amar Das (1479 - 1574 C.E.) was the third of the Sikh Gurus.

Thursday, May 25
*Ascension Day - Christianity (Western and Eastern churches)
The anniversary of Jesus' ascension into heaven, celebrated forty days after Easter. In the Roman Catholic Church, this day is celebrated on Sunday, May 28th.  
 
Friday, May 26
*Ramadān begins - Islam
A holy month of fasting and prayer, in which all adult and physically competent Muslims abstain from food, water, and sexual relations from dawn to sunset. Ramadān ends on June 24th. 

Sunday, May 28   
*Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh - Bahá'í
The anniversary of the death of the founder of the Bahá'í faith in Palestine in 1892 C.E.  Adherents suspend work on this day.
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