ACPE's weekly digest to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
June 19, 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.
Prayers and thoughts of good will continue for all of those whose lives have been recently touched by violence: the shootings during the DC congressional baseball practice, the workplace shooting in San Francisco, the horrific fire in London, and so many others, including the ongoing military conflicts around the world. Perhaps we should have been created with minders, for we seem incapable of being left to ourselves. May something like wisdom emerge in ways that bring healing, justice and peace.
Going to Houston?
I hope to see many of you at the APC meeting in Houston! Carlos Bell and I will be meeting with senior leadership from our strategic partners as we work to deepen our commitments to one another and develop more joint programs and initiatives to advance our shared profession. We will share some of our experiences in the next couple of Monday Briefings.
Area Manager Interviews
We have completed interviews and are now working to finalize our three area managers. We had an outstanding pool of applicants, and the decision process has been very difficult - mostly because of the feast of riches! We are very grateful to Emory's human resources department for their assistance in the process. We can't wait to introduce you to our colleagues in the next few weeks!
Summer Stories
We would love to hear about the experiences of summer students in CPE programs around the country! We love to share your stories when we work to advance the mission of ACPE, whether through fundraising, public advocacy, or with our strategic partners. Please encourage your students to send experiences, anecdotes, or reflections to Jasmine Okafor.
Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry
Check-out the 2017 volume of Reflective Practice. This year's theme, "A Soulful Perspective," invites readers to revisit the metaphor of soul and soul care, and wonders what formation and supervision in ministry would be like if we took seriously this understanding of what we do. This volume of Reflective Practice, as with previous volumes, is available free online. 
A Poem for Reflection
As you may have heard, Tracy K. Smith was named poet laureate for the U.S. last week. Known best for her poetry about the universe, this piece seemed particularly apt for our shared work:
"The Good Life" by Tracy K. Smith

When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back, and it makes me nostalgic
For the years I lived on coffee and bread,
Hungry all the time, walking to work on payday
Like a woman journeying for water
From a village without a well, then living
One or two nights like everyone else
On roast chicken and red wine.
Something extra
While the irony of my sharing this is not lost on me, it seems very important as folks around the country are working with so many students in their first units of CPE:  The Universal Phenomenon of Men Interrupting Women. 
This Week on the Calendar
Ramadan continues through Saturday...

Monday, June 19
*Enlightenment of Kwan Yin Bodhisattva - Buddhism [Mahāyāna Pure Land tradition]
A celebration of the enlightenment of the bodhisattva of compassion-an enlightened being who vows to attain final, supreme enlightenment in order to save all sentient beings from suffering. In the Pure Land tradition, this bodhisattva frequently accompanies Amida Buddha in icons and other depictions.

*New Church Day - Swedenborgian Christianity (Church of the New Jerusalem)
Annual commemoration of the visionary document The True Christian Religion, written by Emanuel Swedenborg in 1770 C.E.

Tuesday, June 20
*Summer Feast - Native American spirituality
A day to honor the coming and going of the seasons, celebrated with songs, prayers, and story-telling.

*Laylat al-Qadr [Night of Power or Destiny] - Islam
A festival commemorating the first revelation of the Qur'ān to the Prophet Muhammad in 610 C.E., at the age of forty. Often fixed as the 27th day of the Islamic month of Ramadān, Sunnis may also observe it on the 21st, 23rd, 25th or 29th. Shi'ites observe it on the 19th, 21st or 23rd of Ramadān. The festival begins at sundown.

Wednesday, June 21 Summer solstice
*Litha [Midsummer's Eve] - Wicca
A celebration of the consummation of the sacred marriage, in which the male divine energy is poured out in the service of life.

Friday, June 23
*Jum'at al-Wadā [Farewell Friday] - Islam
As the last Friday in the month of Ramadān and the Friday immediately preceding Eid al-Fitr, this day is not a festival day, but it is still considered special by many Muslims.

*Sacred Heart - Christianity [Roman Catholic]
A devotional feast during which Catholic Christians reflect on God's compassionate love, symbolized by Christ's heart.

*Rahmat - Bahá'í
The beginning of the sixth month of the Bahá'í year, Rahmat means "mercy."

Saturday, June 24
*Eid al-Fitr - Islam
This is the Breaking of the Fast that celebrates the end of the month of Ramadān. Usually lasting three days, this festival begins with communal prayer and may also include charitable acts, visiting family and friends, preparing special foods, dressing in new clothes, and giving gifts.
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