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December 2, 2019
Grief, Grit and Gratitude
Amy Greene
Amy Greene
Board Chair
A number of people over my tenure as Board Chair have asked me (some genuinely and some accusingly) if I have any sympathy for the grief many of our members feel regarding all the changes. I really do. I understand what it feels like to watch an institution you've poured much of your heart, soul and time into become something that seems to be quite different from what you were working toward - as if someone swapped out the blueprints -- or had a different set all along. It is hard to watch things change around us, especially if we perceive them mostly through the lens of what's lost rather than what's gained.
 
As chaplains, counselors, and educators, we know the toll grief can take if left unspoken and unprocessed. We also know the toll grief can take if it gets stuck and stagnant. I am reminded of Lot's wife, from the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, the first book of the Hebrew and Christian bibles. She turned into a pillar of salt because she could not resist looking back at the destruction of the city. Though Lot's wife had every reason to turn around and cry her eyes out (I can't help thinking this accounts for all the salt), I wonder what other perspectives we might have gained had she been able to cry but keep going.
Be a Part of Giving Tuesday Tomorrow!
Tomorrow ACPE will celebrate Giving Tuesday with a goal of raising $7,500 to support innovation in spiritual care & the next generation of spiritual care educators and providers. We invite you to join us in meeting this goal!

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage giving and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Be a part of the giving movement tomorrow!
Continuing Education Webinars
Two workshops from the Kanuga Gathering in NC last month will be presented as live webinars in December:

Register for "Was Jesus a Virgin?"
Presented by Sarah Causey and Daniel Stillwell
1.5 NBCC Continuing Education Credits 

Register for "Faith Responses to Suicide"
Presented by Kevin Varner and Robert Cooke
1.5 NBCC Continuing Education Credits

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7004. ACPE is solely responsible for sponsored programs, including the awarding of NBCC credit.  
Registration is open for two new online courses in 2020:
  • Research Literacy for Chaplains: An Introduction (RL 101)
  • Research Literacy for Chaplains: Exploring Methods in Chaplaincy Research (RL 102)
The primary goal of the courses is to build research literacy skills: reading and applying research articles to the important role chaplains perform as front-line healthcare providers in religion and spirituality. The aims of the courses include:
  • enabling participants to articulate the rationale for chaplaincy as an evidence-based profession;
  • identifying and accessing research literature related to spirituality, religion, and health;
  • critically reading and evaluating current research related to chaplaincy practice;
  • identifying ways of applying research to current practice.
Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellows facilitate the courses which aid in BCCI required research literacy preparation and count toward research-related CE hours. For more information and to register, go to the Transforming Chaplaincy website.
Correction from Religious Holy Days
In last week's newsletter, we published the incorrect dates for Chanukah. Chanukah 2019 begins on December 22 (first candle) and ends on December 30.

We apologize for our error and any confusion it may have caused.

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 Patricia Wilson-Cone, Bridget Piggue, Laurie Garrett-Cobbina and Jacque Kelley at the 2003 annual conference in Lake Geneva, WI.

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
Amy Greene
Amy Greene
Board Chair
I'm writing ahead of my regularly scheduled monthly column to give an update on the meeting of the Strategic Partners, who met November 20-21, 2019 in Cleveland, OH with La Piana Consulting, to continue to explore ideas to strengthen and formalize our relationships. We have heard from our respective memberships that they need more information. With the assistance of our consultants, we will design a strategy to communicate and engage with the members throughout the ongoing conversations.
 
All of the association's leaders committed to encouraging member participation and feedback during the process. We will need to hear from you as we weigh the pros and cons of the multitude of membership models such as federations, associations, and trade groups. We believe it is essential to preserve the uniqueness and identity of each association. In the end, our respective memberships have the authority to ratify (or not) anything we propose before implementation. I am comforted by the guidance provided by the consultants, who have worked with numerous complicated groups and through many challenges. Some of their previous clients decided to consolidate and others have not. The consultants' objective advice will serve us well as we envision the future of the spiritual care and education movement.

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.
The ACPE office team has noticed an exponential increase in requests from members for Zoom meetings for peer review, Community of Practice gatherings, interview consultations and more.
 
ACPE has five dedicated Zoom line for member's use. To facilitate an easier process and ensure a timely response, please use the online form to request Zoom link. You can also find the online request form on the website under Resources.

Office 365 Logo
ACPE provides Educator Candidates, Associate Educators, Certified Educators, Retired Educators, Psychotherapist, and Practitioner members with an ACPE.EDU email address. An "acpe.edu" email address allows members to take advantage of educational benefits, including discounted and free software and subscriptions. With your ACPE email account, you will also have access to web versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other programs for free. Access to ACPE's private online community is built on Microsoft Yammer and you will sign in using your ACPE login. Your ACPE email inbox may have CoP emails waiting for you. These are great reasons for you to use your ACPE email as your professional email address.

Sign in
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. 

Read more
Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
Yesterday was World AIDS Day 2019. It is amazing to think about where we are with this disease compared to 30 years ago. And yet, it is still present, persistent, and predatory, especially among those of underrepresented and international populations. And yet there is hope that one day this event will simply be a commemoration for a disease that once plagued families and friends but is only a memory. We live into such a hope:
"Hospital Writing Workshop" 
by Rafael Campo

Arriving late, my clinic having run
past 6 again, I realize I don't
have cancer, don't have HIV, like them,
these students who are patients, who I lead
in writing exercises, reading poems.
For them, this isn't academic, it's
reality: I ask that they describe
an object right in front of them, to make
it come alive, and one writes about death,
her death, as if by just imagining
the softness of its skin, its panting rush
into her lap, that she might tame it; one
observes instead the love he lost, he's there,
beside him in his gown and wheelchair,
together finally again. I take
a good, long breath; we're quiet as newborns.
The little conference room grows warm, and right
before my eyes, I see that what I thought
unspeakable was more than this, was hope.

extra
Soul Pancake makes some wonderful films that cut right through the kinds of polite conversation you often hear at holiday parties. We offer this video as a tool to get beyond a lot of assumptions and stereotypes about Muslims. See what you think:

Sunday, December 8
Second Sunday of Advent (peace) - Christianity (Western churches)  
Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) - Buddhism 
Celebration of the time when Prince Gautama (also later known as Shakyamuni Buddha) took his place under the Bodhi tree, vowing to remain there until he attained supreme enlightenment. 

Monday, December 9
Feast of the Immaculate Conception - Catholic Christianity 
A Roman Catholic holiday celebrating the belief that Mary, mother of Jesus, was preserved from original sin for her entire life. 
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 to report 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
Chaplain/CPE Educator Allina Health Minneapolis, MN 12/2/19
ACPE Educator Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Atlanta, GA 11/22/19
Director of Religious and Spiritual Life
Phillips Exeter Academy
Exeter, NH
11/22/19
Part-time Psychotherapist Milford Pastoral Counseling Milford, CT 11/15/19
CPE Program Manager Covenant HealthCare Saginaw, MI 11/15/19
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
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
Residency Program St. Luke's University Hospital Bethlehem, PA 12/2/19
Residency Program East Jefferson General Hospital Metairie, LA 12/2/19
Residency Program St Thomas/Nashville CPE Partnership
Nashville, TN 11/22/19
Second-Year Post-Masters Fellowship
Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics
White City, OR 11/22/19
Yearlong Residency Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center Columbus, OH 11/15/19
Yearlong Residency Michigan Medicine  Ann Arbor, MI 11/15/19
Residency, Extended, Summer Unit Intensive Baylor Scott & White Health Temple, TX 11/15/19
Residency 2020-2021 CHRISTUS Health Corpus Christi, TX
San Antonio, TX
Tyler, TX
11/15/19
Level I and Level II CPE University Medical Center, New Orleans New Orleans, LA 11/15/19
Level I and Level II CPE UC Health  Fort Collins, CO
Aurora, CO
11/15/19
Residency 2020-2021 Mayo Clinic Hospital  Rochester, MN 11/15/19
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 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
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 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
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
Houston, TX April 20 - 24, 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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