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November 11, 2019
View from the Road: Gathering in Kanuga
Katherine Higgins
Director of Community, Practice and Membership
Several weeks ago, I attended the Kanuga Gathering in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This gathering had historically been the annual gathering of the Southeast Region of AAPC. A number of people there trace their participation back 40 years; as one participant told me, "I'd miss Christmas before I'd miss Kanuga!" This was the first gathering since AAPC's consolidation with ACPE back in April, and the weekend began with some question about what the consolidation would mean for this particular community. As a newcomer to Kanuga, I can say that this is - without a doubt - a vibrant learning community!

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congratulations
We want to congratulate the ACPE Certified Associate Educators and Certified Educators who passed sub-committees at the fall leadership meetings in Decatur, Georgia! 

ACPE Office is Moving
One West Court Square in downtown Decatur has served ACPE well for the last five years, however, the staff will move the office during the first week of December. A changing real estate market (which meant a 25% increase in rent) and evolving workspace needs prompted the staff to evaluate office alternatives. After touring several options and considering various workspace models, the team decided to move to 55 Allen Plaza in downtown Atlanta.

Benefits of ACPE's downtown location are:
  • Annual savings of no less than $80,000.
  • Easier access to public transportation. Visitors arriving from the airport will no longer need to change trains.
  • Onsite meeting space for leadership meetings and trainings.
  • Several hotels for out-of-town guests within blocks of the building.
  • Views and walking access to downtown parks (1 block from Centennial Park and the Center for Civil and Human Rights!), restaurants, and amenities for guests.
  • Direct access to the downtown interstate exchange.
Beginning next month, you can find ACPE at 55 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, Suite 835, Atlanta, GA 30308. Phone numbers, emails, and web addresses will not be affected.
As Executive Director Trace Haythorn said in his recent article recounting his trip to Australia where he met with our colleague Michael Hertz in Perth, interest in CPE is growing internationally, and our association is reaching out to form more relationships and agreements with CPE programs in other countries. Our International Relations Committee is doing exciting work, and we are forming a new Community of Practice to help certified educators develop the skills and community needed to meet the challenges that are arising as a result of that work.
 
The challenges of adapting our models to other cultures, which parallel the challenges we also face with working cross culturally in an increasingly diverse North America, demand not only cross-cultural skills, but also access to a community of colleagues with whom to process challenges and share information and experiences; this community can then share research and best practices with the rest of the ACPE. This is exactly what CoP's are all about!

For the past six years, the ACPE office staff have used the end-of-year holiday season to make a difference in the lives of those in need of extra care and support. Last year with your help, we assembled about 200 care packages to benefit the Decatur Cooperative Ministry. We invite all ACPE members to join us again in our endeavor! 

We are collecting donations for El Refugio, a nonprofit that serves as a hospitality house, offering meals and lodging for families and friends visiting immigrants and asylum seekers detained at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. To make our end-of-year holiday service project a success, we ask that you donate items to benefit El Refugio.


A new model for spiritual assessment in palliative care has been published. The model uses a modified version of the SDAT (Monod et al., 2010) to quantify spiritual concerns in palliative care patients near the end of life. The model was developed by a team of palliative care chaplains in the Chicago area, including TC Fellow Dirk Labuschagne. The team was led by TC Director George Fitchett. The article, published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, is open access and available at the journal website for free . A webinar about the model will be hosted by the TC Hospice/Palliative Care Research Network.

When : Nov 12, 2019 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic : Research Network Webinar: Spiritual Assessment in Palliative Care
 
North Central ACPE Communities of Practice Summit at Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells
Cultivating Spaces for Hospitality was an appropriate theme both for Spiritual Care Week and this CoP gathering! This photo is just one capturing the spirit of our time together! We were drawn together to learn and share experiences face to face. Professor Zachary Moon from Chicago Theological Seminary presented on "Moral Injury and Providing Effective Care" and there was rich dialogue on intersections in the health care context. We also hosted peer reviews and sessions on certification, accreditation, and encore careers. Mark your calendars now for October 17-20, 2020 for next year's dynamic learning, including spaces for renewal and the gift of being in community.
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 Brenda Simmonds and Gerry Davis from the former Pacific Region in Hawaii in 1999. 

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.
In Case You Missed It
Trace Haythorn
Executive Director
As many of you have heard, the Department of Labor is changing the FAIR Labor Standards Act (FLSA), initiating new rules governing overtime compensation. Beginning January 1, 2020, the base salary for one to be considered "exempt" will rise to $35,568, which may be more than some of our residency stipends. All non-exempt staff are eligible for overtime, something our programs have ordinarily not included.
 
Read the final rule about the updated earnings thresholds for exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. Read the full notice in the Federal Register for the final rule .
 
The question before us, then, is what the implications for residency programs are. The following is excerpted from a Memorandum from Bryan Cave LLP that was provided to ACPE on September 28, 2016. Although the Memorandum was written in response to the federal government's previous endeavor to change the FLSA, the strategies outlined offer possible approaches for responding to the new federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Please share this with your human resources department as you make final decisions for your program.  

Thank you to all the members who participated in the 2019 ACPE Election! 867(41.6%) of 2,086 electors voted in this ballot. The election results have been reviewed by Leadership Development Chair Stephen Robinson and ACPE Secretary/Treasurer Linda WilkersonWe would like to thank the members of the Leadership Development Committee. We would also like to thank all of the 2019 candidates. Your dedication and service is admirable. Because of you, ACPE will surely have a vibrant future!

Educator Assumptions about Students Survey
Kathy Bird DeYoung
Certified Educator
ACPE Certified Educator, Kathy Bird DeYoung, is working toward
her Doctor of Ministry at Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit,
Michigan.  She is researching the assumptions Certified Educators bring about  students. Your answers will help her add to the body of ACPE
knowledge as we continue to reflect on our practice and learn how to
provide spiritual care education more effectively.

This survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

ACPE is Joining the Global GivingTuesday Movement to support innovation in spiritual care & the next generation of spiritual care educators
This GivingTuesday, ACPE will celebrate giving by raising $7,500 to support innovation in spiritual care & the next generation of spiritual care educators and providers.

GivingTuesday, taking place December 3rd, is a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage giving and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Every year, on GivingTuesday, millions of people across the globe mobilize to show up, give back, and change their communities. The goal is to create a massive wave of generosity that lasts well beyond that day, and touches every person on the planet.
2020 Billing will be Mailed mid-November
Linda Wilkerson
Linda Wilkerson
Treasurer
Invoices for the 2020 billing will be mailed in a couple weeks in mid-November. Earlier this year, I wrote about the billing adjustments we are implementing in 2020 based on member feedback.

With the new billing process, your 2020 membership invoice will be billed in November and will include the Center Membership Dues ($2,000) and any Satellite ($200) and/or Certified Educator Candidate ($850) fees for your center. You will then receive quarterly invoices (JAN, APR, JUL, OCT) for the Accreditation Fee, based on student units completed in the prior quarter (OCT-DEC, JAN-MAR, APR-JUN, JUL-SPT). Completed means the unit has ended and credit has been given.

There will be one more reconciliation for your 2019 Accreditation Fee if your actual student units differ (+/-) from the estimate billed for 2019. This will be applied to the January 2020 invoice.

Learn more
When ACPE launched SharePoint, we also introduced Yammer. It is a social network, with Facebook-style communication, just for ACPE members! Yammer allows open and dynamic communication across the entire association. Its strength is its inclusivity. With Yammer, you can: post links; share videos; use emojis and GIFs; share, create, and edit files!
 
ACPE's Communities of Practice (CoP) also migrated to Yammer for a much more user-friendly experience including conversation, sharing, polling, and file storage. Once in Yammer, click on "ACPE Groups" to view all the Communities of Practice. Join now and start collaborating! 
New Accreditation Process: Sign-up for Q&A Sessions

Join us for New Accreditation Process Q&A Sessions. The sessions are your opportunity to ask anything about the new process or building your center's accreditation portfolio.

Dates are currently posted through the new year. The sessions are 12:00pm to 1:00pm eastern time on the assigned days. The number of participants for each session is limited to ensure individual questions are addressed. 

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Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
This poem is included in a lovely publication from our colleagues at the Center for Courage and Renewal, titled, The Everywhere Oracle: A Guided Journey Through Poetry for an Ensouled World, by Caryl Ann Casbon.  Having spent part of last week in the "hospitality suite" with CECs and Associate Certifed Educators waiting to meet with subcommittees, this poem captures so many of the emotions and experiences of what it means to serve as leaders.
Inside an Ancient Rhythm

I was very young with this energy signature of fear,
a grip of tension embedded deep in my gut,
brought in from Another Time.
It sounds like these clicking computer keys:
tap tap tap,
the clatter of a mind with the 3 a.m.
blah blah blahs of small worries.
Like unanswered emails,
their blue warning dots demand response,
jarring me into a wide awake nervous fret.
Or: Drip drip drip
the inner water torture of endless to do lists
inciting a harried rush from this-to-that,
fueling an addiction to activity that keeps me
on the surface of things.
Or the rapid, reactive:
thump thump thump
of a heartbeat when feeling
insulted, afraid or threatened.
Tap, drip, thump escalate to:
boom boom boom
with Big Worries,
a tribal nervous system of pulsing fears:
disappearing bees, polar bears, ozone.
Wars, so many wars.
The seductive, deafening noise of these times.
Sometimes beneath this cacophony
a Gong is heard.
Here, deep, prolonged fog-horned crescendos
summon my soul,
intoning, "You are so much more than this.
Return to me. Rest in Me."
You could be ready
to live inside an Ancient Rhythm.
Let me ring you home.
extra
On this Veteran's Day, this short but beautiful film from the folks at P.O.V. captures some beautiful images and a story that gets to the heart of gratitude we all owe those who serve in our armed forces. Thank you, thank you, thank you:
 

Tuesday, November 12
Guru Nanak's Birthday - Sikhism
Sikhs commonly celebrate the birthday of their founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, on the full moon day of Kartik, even though the guru's biographers record his birth on April 15, 1469 C.E.  A poet and mystic, Guru Nanak wrote 974 hymns that are included in the Sikh scriptures, known as the Guru Granth Sahib. 

Thursday, November 14  
The Advent (or Nativity) Fast - Christianity (Eastern churches)
The beginning of a forty-day vegetarian fast in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas) commences at sundown.  For Orthodox Christians who follow the old calendar, this fast begins two weeks later.

Sunday, November 17 date has not been finalized at press time
Lokasha Jayanti - Jainism
Celebrating the births of revered and scholarly persons, such as the 15th century reformer Lonka Saha, whose opposition to temple worship and the use of images led to the founding of the Sthanakavasi sect.
Visit the ACPE website for more dates and information. 
Community of Practice Event Highlights 
Registration is now open for the following Community of Practice events: 

Event
Location
Date
St. Simons Island, GA January 12-14, 2020

  • No news reported this week.
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
ACPE Educator Houston Methodist Houston, TX 10/25/19
Full-time Counselor/Therapist Pastoral Counseling of Northern Virginia Fairfax, VA 10/18/19
ACPE Educator AdventHealth Orlando CPE System Center Metro Orlando, FL 10/18/19
CPE Program Manager Covenant HealthCare Saginaw, MI 10/18/19
Manager of Spiritual Care & Education WellSpan York Hospital  York, PA 10/11/19
ACPE Educator Ascension Seton Austin, TX 9/6/19
Spiritual/Pastoral Care Minister (Chaplain)
St. Joseph Villa
Flourtown, PA 8/16/19

Residency/CEC/CPE Unit Openings

Position
Center/Organization

Location
Posting Date
Yearlong Residency CHI Memorial Chattanooga, TN 11/8/19
Yearlong Residency Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Tallahassee, FL 11/8/19
Yearlong Residency Albert Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, PA 11/1/19
Yearlong Residency Gundersen Health System La Crosse, WI 11/1/19
Yearlong Residency Community Regional Medical Center Fresno, CA 11/1/19
Residency Audie Murphy VA Medical Center
Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center
San Antonio, TX
Houston, TX
10/25/19
Yearlong Residency University of Kentucky HealthCare Lexington, KY 10/25/19
Level I & Level II CPE Houston Methodist Houston, TX 10/25/19
CES/C Position  UCSF Health San Francisco, CA 10/18/19
Yearlong Residency Mount Sinai Center for Spirituality and Health New York, NY 10/11/19
1st & 2nd Year Residencies
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
9/13/19
Residency Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services
Grand Rapids, MI 9/13/19
Chaplain Resident Catholic Health Sisters of Charity Hospital Buffalo, NY 8/16/19
Residency 2020-2021 
Kettering Health Network
Dayton Area, OH
7/17/19
Residency 2019-2020 Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire, WI 2/15/19

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

Event
Location
Date
Global Spiritual Traditions and ChI Culture & Foundations-Part 2 Berkeley, CA November 12-16, 2019
Transforming Chaplaincy: Certificate in Spiritual Care Management and Leadership
Online Fall 2019
Chaplaincy Innovation Lab
Online N/A
Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Care Education and Leadership
Union Theological Seminary/Online Rolling Enrollment
San Francisco Theological Seminary/Online
Rolling Enrollment
Conyers, GA February 20-23, 2020

ACPE members and centers may post "happenings" in the weekly newsletter. ACPE does not accredit, review, or endorse the events listed above. Send your "happening" to webmaster@acpe.edu.
ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education
(404) 320-1472 | Email | Website 
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 is also the professional home of a growing number of spiritually integrated psychotherapists and pastoral counselors. ACPE supports Psychotherapist and Practitioner members through continuing education programs, networking, and leadership development. 

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