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June 22, 2020
Willacin Gholston
ACPE prepares the next generation of leaders in the spiritual care field. ACPE educators and spiritual health professionals will be increasingly called upon to not only provide spiritual care in individual situations, but also provide perspective and spiritual care to help address systemic injustice. The Foundation for ACPE is committed to investing in initiatives that strengthen the leadership of ACPE students and educators, and that empowers them to be the critically aware spiritual leaders our world so desperately needs. We ask that you make a gift to support these efforts.
 
This reflection is from one such emboldened leader, ACPE Certified Educator Willacin Precious Gholston, who serves at Methodist Health System in Dallas, Texas.
 
Shawn Mai
In his book Anam Cara, John O'Donahue talks about how "change and possibility are so faithful to us." That jumped out at me recently in a chapel reflection I was preparing on the topic of change. The pandemic has changed so much of our daily life in the hospital and in our communities. There is powerful change afoot in my home city of Minneapolis as we mourn the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
 
Organizational change has marked the last several years in ACPE. We never imagined the changes that the pandemic would have on our organization, in health care, and in higher education. The governance and business changes we made in the last several years have ultimately set us up to weather the financial stress and rapid changes in the world around us.

Read more
#ACPEproud, August 3-7, 2020, is a week-long celebration, education, and advocacy event to encourage support of clinical pastoral education, spiritually integrated psychotherapy, and the spiritual care community. ACPE is proud of our students, graduates, and members. #ACPEproud will highlight the meaningful ways our members and accredited centers heal, strengthen, and transform people and communities in the US and across the globe.
 
During the week, ACPE will recognize our newly certified members and newly accredited centers, celebrate our awardees, install a new board chair, and honor our members who died during the last year. Throughout the campaign, ACPE will provide tools for you to share with your institutions and communities about the positive effects of spiritual care for patients and society.

Annual Member Meeting Notice
The 2020 Annual Meeting of Members will be hosted virtually on July 29, 2020 at 3:00pm eastern. More details and registration coming soon.



Upcoming Webinar: Foundational Ethics for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
Devlyn McCreight
This course explores the origins and functions of spirituality and religion and their interconnectedness with other dimensions of human experience. The course begins preparing therapists to recognize how they can ethically incorporate spirituality and religion in the work of psychotherapy and to conceptualize their clients' needs and resources. Format will include didactic lecture along with small group case studies to help provide practical application of concepts.  

The course will be offered online on Friday, July 17th, 12:00pm-3:00pm by Dr. Devlyn McCreight.

Kristina Gutierrez
ACPE Practioner  Rev Dr Kristina Gutierrez co-authored a book, Health, Holiness and Wholeness for Ministry Leaders. This resource is based on a popular series of workshops on the topic of "Health and Excellence in Ministry." Intended for ministry leaders of all types, this volume offers practical wisdom for developing healthy patterns of behavior in all areas of personal and vocational life. 

Who? What? When? Images from ACPE's Past
Do you recognize these folks or the event in the photo above? Send us a note at  webmaster@acpe.edu

Last week's photo featured ACPE Certified Educators Bicri Hernandez, Rebecca Adrian and Linda Wilkerson at the 2014 Annual Conference in Austin, Texas.

Have any photos from your personal ACPE archive that you would like to share? Send them to webmaster@acpe.edu to be featured in an upcoming newsletter.
COVID-19 News
COVID-19 Response and Accreditation Updates
COVID-19
ACPE is actively monitoring the COVID-19 (commonly known as the coronavirus) situation. The health and safety - of our students, members, and the community we serve - are our paramount priority.

We are committed to providing updates and information as the COVID-19 situation continues via email and the website. We encourage you to monitor the CDC website for additional information.

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the office at (404) 320-1472 or acpe@acpe.edu.


COVID-19 Resources for Members
In the midst of these uncertain times, many of us are hungry for information - information that can inform our decisions, help us process what we're experiencing, and connect us with those around us.
 
The Professional Well-Being Committee is working to gather such resources and make them available to our members. Here you will find articles, videos, and reflections that will bolster our resilience and strengthen our practice in the days and weeks ahead.
 
If you or your Community of Practice has a resource that you would like to submit to share with our members,  please email Katherine Higgins .

Read more

In Case You Missed It
The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Vol. 74, No. 2, June 2020 is now available online.

ACPE is a proud sponsor of the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling (JPC&C). Did you know that a benefit of your membership in ACPE is free online access to JPC&C? Check out the latest volume by logging into the website under the Resources tab on the ACPE website.

JPCP along with the World Council of Churches, and the Inter-faith Health Program of Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health have come together to bring the COVID-19: Global Reflections on Faith, Health, and Justice project The reflections include written theological and spiritual reflections on COVID-19 from ministers, theologians, chaplains and pastoral counselors from around the world. There is also a video series with interviews that highlight the racial and economic disparities that this pandemic has highlighted.

Log in

Katherine Higgins
The 2021 CoP Funding Process is open now through June 30, 2020.  Notification has been sent to the CoP conveners on file.  If you have not received this notification, or if you have questions about the process, please email Katherine Higgins. 
Making the Case for ACPE CPE: Strategies for Financially Challenging Times
Furloughs. Layoffs. Restructuring. Many programs are facing major challenges, fueled by the pandemic and the impact on healthcare.
 
Three ACPE Certified Educators - Dennis Kenny, Amani Legeneur, and Mark Grace - will discuss strategies, share practical examples, and address questions of attendees. ACPE Secretary/Treasurer Linda Wilkerson will moderate the discussion.
 
The webinar is on June 24, 2020 12:00 PM ET, please register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Do you know a student who has written a powerful reflection about their experience with CPE? Are you a current ACPE student who would like to share your experiences from your time with CPE?
 
If so, please send your reflections to us! Email your reflection with a current headshot to foundation@acpe.edu. Reflections may be published in the ACPE newsletter and in promotional materials to help tell of the transformative work of spiritual care education.

Katherine Higgins
Thanks to all of you who have made our Virtual Educator Gatherings and our Virtual Psychotherapist Gatherings a vital place to connect, debrief, and share ideas during these uncertain times.  We will continue to offer one meeting time each week for both Educators and Psychotherapists.  Please drop in as you are able; no registration is required.  The zoom link was emailed last week; if you need it again, please email Katherine Higgins. 
 
The meeting times will be:
  • Virtual Educator Gatherings:  Thursday, 12 Noon, Eastern Daylight Time
  • Virtual Psychotherapist Gatherings:  Friday, 12 Noon, Eastern Daylight Time
Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
Some poems simply demand to be spoken, to be performed, to be more than a literary offering. Such is "Somewhere in America," an incredibly powerful work from the Brave New Voices studio. We're also including the link to hear the writers deliver this strong piece. (Note: they use profanity at times, but the conditions about which they speak should offend you far more than their language):

Somewhere in America
by Melissa Escoloedo, Zariya Allen, & Rhiannon McGavin

Here in America, in every single state, they have a set of standards for every subject
A collection of lessons that the teacher's required to teach by the end of the term
But the greatest lessons you'll ever teach us will not come from your syllabus
The greatest lessons you will ever teach us, you will not even remember


You never told us what we weren't allowed to say
We just learned how to hold our tongues

Now somewhere in America, there is s a child holding a copy of "Catcher in the Rye" and there is a child holding a gun
But only one of these things have been banned by their state government
And it's not the one that can rip through flesh
It's the one that says "fuck you" on more pages than one

Because we must control what the people say, and how they think
And if they want to become the overseer of their own selves, then we'll show them a real one
And somewhere in America, there's a child sitting at his mother's computer, reading the homepage of the KKK's website, and that's open to the public
But that child will never have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" because the school has banned it for it's use of the "N" word

Maya Angelou is prohibited because we're not allowed to talk about rape in school
We were taught that 'just because something happens, doesn't mean you are to talk about it'

They built us brand new shopping malls so that we'll forget where we're really standing
On the bones of the Hispanics, on the bones of the slaves, on the bones of the Native Americans, on the bones of those who fought just to speak!

Transcontinental Railroad to Japanese Internment Camps
There are things missing from our history books
But we were taught that it is better to be silent, than to make them uncomfortable
Somewhere in America, private school girls search for hours through boutiques, trying to find the prom dress of their dreams
While kids on the south side spending hours searching through the 'lost and found' 'cause winter's coming soon and that's the only jacket they have


Kids are late to class for working the midnight shift
They give awards for best attendance, but not for keeping your family off the streets
These kids will call your music ghetto, they will tell you you don't talk right
Then they'll get in the backseat of a car with all their friends singing ' bout how "They're 'bout that life" and "we can't stop"
Somewhere in America, schools are promoting self confidence
While they whip out their scales and shout out your body fat percentage in class


While heftier girls are hiding away, and the slim fit beauties can't help but giggle with pride
The preppy kids go thrift shopping 'cause they think it sounds real fun
But we go 'cause that's all we got money for
'Cause momma works for the city, momma only gets paid once a month
Somewhere in America, a girl is getting felt up by a grown man on the subway
She's still in her school uniform and that's part of the appeal
It's hard to run in knee socks and Mary Jane's, and all her male teachers know it too

Coaches cover up the star players raping freshmen after the dance
Women are killed for rejecting dates, but God forbid I bring my girlfriend to prom
Girls black out drunk at the after party, take a picture before her wounds wake her
How many pixels is your sanity worth? What's a 4.0 to a cold jury?
What'd you learn in class today?
Don't walk fast, don't speak loud, keep your hands to yourself, keep your head down
Keep your eyes on your own paper, if you don't know the answer, fill in "C"
Always wear earbuds when you ride the bus alone
If you feel like someone's following you, pretend you're on the phone

A teacher never fails, only you do

Every state in America, the greatest lessons, are the ones you don't remember learning
extra
We don't usually run two poems in a single newsletter, but this poem by Langston Hughes, one which we've run before, has been recommended by a few members and is so incredibly timely. Melissa Walker-Luckett opened last week's Board of Directors meeting with this as our reflection. So for this week's something extra, 

Let America Be America Again 
by Langston Hughes:

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
 
(America never was America to me.)
 
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
 
(It never was America to me.)
 
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
 
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
 
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
 
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
 
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
 
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today-O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
 
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home-
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
 
The free?
 
Who said the free?  Not me?
Surely not me?  The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay-
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
 
O, let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be-the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine-the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
 
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
 
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!
 
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain-
All, all the stretch of these great green states-
And make America again!

Langston Hughes, "Let America be America Again" from   The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes .  Copyright © 1995 by Langston Hughes. 

Something else extra:
Many of us are likely feeling a little stir crazy in the midst of this time, even as some new hot spots are emerging and protests continue. For those who wonder how some are spending their time, take a look at this 70-step basketball shot that would impress Rube Goldberg:

70-step basketball shot

Joseph Musco
Joseph Musco is an ACPE CPE student. Joseph and his fiancée live in Dunedin, Florida.  He is a commissioned member in the Federation of Christian Ministries.  He is a former Roman Catholic priest, a native of New York and long-term resident of FL.  He is a PRN chaplain at both Suncoast Hospice and Mease Hospitals and is anticipating doing his fourth unit of Clinical Pastoral Education in the Fall 2020. He may be contacted at jmuscomobile@gmail.com.

June 23 
Feast day Rahmat (Bahai) 
The Baha'i calendar has nineteen months, all named after attributes of God. Raḥmat is the Arabic word for mercy.

June 24
Nativity of John the Baptist (Christianity)
John was a Jewish preacher who called upon people to repent, amend their lives and renew their relationship with God. He was a strong believer that the coming of the Kingdom of God was imminent. John baptized Jesus in the River Jordan, which is said to mark the beginning of Jesus's public ministry. 

June 29
Ghambar Maidyoshem (Zoroastrianism)
This is the second of six Ghambar festivals during the Zoroastrian year. This particular festival celebrates the creation of water, the harvest of grain, and the sowing of summer crops.

Festival of Peter and Paul (Catholic Christianity)
This feast commemorates Peter and Paul, two apostles of Jesus. Both were martyred in Rome, and their remains are still there. Their feast day, established as early as 258, was supposedly chosen because it marks the anniversary of the date that their remains were moved to the catacombs near where the Roman church San Sebastiano fuori le Mura stands today. The feast day is celebrated with liturgy and prayers.
Visit the ACPE website for more dates and information. 
  • No news to report
Visit the ACPE Memorials and Milestones page for more details. Please email webmaster@acpe.edu to add someone to our thoughts.
This Week's Career Opportunities & Residency/CEC Openings
Career Opportunities
Position
Center/Organization

Location Posting Date
Network Director of Pastoral Care St. Luke's University Health Network Bethlehem, PA 6/19/20
Manager, Religious Services Deaconess Hospital Evansville, IN 6/12/20
Spiritual Care Director Genesis Healthcare System  Zanesville, OH 6/12/20
Counselor Community Pastoral Counseling Services Iowa City, IA 6/12/20
Staff Chaplain Riley Hospital for Children Indianapolis, IN 6/12/20
Certified Educator Houston Methodist Hospital Houston, TX 6/5/20
Certified Educator UCSF Health San Francisco, CA 5/22/20
Certified Educator Moses Cone Hospital Greensboro, NC 5/22/20
CPE Manager St. Mark's Hospital Salt Lake City, UT 4/17/20
CPE Manager Centra Health Lynchburg, VA 4/3/20

Residency/CEC/CPE Unit Openings

Position
Center/Organization

Location
Posting Date
CPE Residency Penn State Health  Hershey, PA 6/19/20
CPE Residency University of Kentucky Healthcare Lexington, KY 6/19/20
Level 1/2 CPE Residency East Jefferson General Hospital Metairie, LA 6/19/20
2020-2021 Residency North Shore University Hospital Manhasset, NY 6/19/20
CPE Residency Barnes-Jewish Hospital St. Louis, MO 6/19/20
2020-2021 Residency UnityPoint Health - Des Moines Des Moines, IA 6/12/20
CPE Residency University of Tennessee Medical Center Knoxville, TN 6/12/20
CPE Residency Baptist Hospital  Pensacola, FL 6/5/20
2020-2021 Residency Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans, LA 5/29/20
2020-2021 Residency Gundersen Health System La Crosse, WI 5/29/20
2020-2021 Residency Albert Einstein Medical Center Philedelphia, PA 5/29/20
Certified Educator Candidate UCSF Health San Francisco, CA 5/22/20
2020-2021 Residency Advocate Aurora Health  Illinois & Wisconsin 5/22/20
Level 1/2 CPE The Christ Hospital Health Network Cincinnati, OH 5/22/20
CPE Residency Covenant HealthCare Saginaw, MI 3/20/20
CPE Residency Baylor Scott & White Health - North Texas Dallas, TX 3/20/20
CPE Residency Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Tallahassee, FL 3/13/20
Second Year Fellowship Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH 3/13/20
2019-2020 Residency Program Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire, WI 12/13/19
1st & 2nd Year Residencies
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
9/13/19

Visit the ACPE website for a complete list of Career Opportunities and Residency/CEC Openings Want to advertise with ACPE? Learn more.
Other Educational Opportunities

Event
Location
Date
Durham, North Carolina
August 10 - 14, 2020
Evolution of Psychotherapy Anaheim, CA
December 9 - 13, 2020
Transforming Chaplaincy
Online Spring and Fall sessions
Chaplaincy Innovation Lab
Online N/A
Online
Self-Paced
Emotional Intelligence Training
Online
Self-Paced
The Value of Existential Pain Online Self-Paced
San Francisco Theological Seminary/Online
Rolling Enrollment

ACPE members and centers may post opportunities in the weekly newsletter. ACPE does not accredit, review, or endorse the events listed above. Send your opportunity to webmaster@acpe.edu.
ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education
(404) 320-1472 | Email | Website 

ACPE is the standard for spiritual care and education. Our diverse membership includes Certified CPE Educators, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapists, Spiritual Care Professionals and Practitioners, Pastoral Counselors, Chaplains, Faith Communities, and Seminaries. Our multi-disciplinary, multi-faith, multi-racial community of professionals provides education, connection, and formation through continuing education, networking, and leadership development.
 
ACPE is the premier, Department of Education recognized, organization that provides the highest quality CPE programs for spiritual care professionals of any faith and in any setting. We do this through a rigorous accreditation and certification process for centers and educators that provide CPE.
 
The depth of our training enables students to realize their full potential to strengthen the spiritual health of people in their care as well as themselves.
 
ACPE members are actively engaged in a wide variety of professional development activities including communities of practice, conferences, spiritual care research, and informal networking. We are more than just an association: we are a movement committed to the transformation of the human suffering.Our opportunities for formation and community enrich our member's work of healing and transforming people and communities in the US and across the globe.


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