I spent this last weekend with our NACC colleagues at their conference in Buffalo, NY. Among other things, I went to represent ACPE as NACC celebrated David Lichter, their long-time retiring Executive Director. In his honor, NACC set up a fund to ensure the provision of CPE for aspiring chaplains. In response, David spoke about the growing importance of spiritual care for a hurting world. He also spoke eloquently about the importance of the shared work between NACC and strategic partners across the professional discipline of spiritual care. I listened to these words at a dinner sitting next to strategic partner colleagues from the US and abroad. At that moment, I especially appreciated the key role ACPE plays in the larger ecosystem of teaching and transforming.

In May, the Certification Commission sent a short survey to gather feedback about people’s experience of the current certification process. ACPE is committed to collecting concrete data as a means of ongoing improvement, so we wanted to share information from the survey with everyone. We sent the survey to the 27 people who had completed the process at that point, whether they transferred from the former process to the current process or only experienced the current process. Of the 27 people who received the survey, 11 responded. Six people started in the former process and completed their process in the current one. Three people earned certification utilizing the current process from the beginning to end.

I remember what felt like a clandestine meeting of ACPE educators about 10 years ago to discuss online CPE. A group of us who were offering online CPE or interested in doing so had found each other and decided it could be helpful to meet and share what we had been learning. Offering online CPE was very new and controversial at that time. The prevailing concern was a fear about how authenticity and relationality could be lost or impeded when CPE groups don’t meet face to face. Around the same time, the journal Reflective Practice dedicated an entire issue to the theme of “Formation and Supervision in a Digital Age” with thoughtful contributions from ACPE colleagues exploring the pros and cons. Then, of course, in 2020, we were all hit with a pandemic that shut down much of the US, sending us scrambling to figure out if and how to continue offering CPE. The majority of ACPE educators abruptly shifted online, and in that process, we learned a lot. How do I know that?

Telechaplaincy poses unique challenges and opportunities that require new skills to master. However, there are few resources for chaplains to learn and improve their work.

This conference will bring together over 20 healthcare chaplains, spiritual care providers, and managers at leading healthcare institutions to share their experience with telechaplaincy. It will give an overview on current developments, provide an opportunity to acquire and improve practical telechaplaincy competencies, and exchange and network with telechaplains in Europe and North America.

The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, based at Brandeis University, is dedicated to supporting and advancing the professional field of spiritual care. Among other projects, the Lab is committed to helping students interested in careers in chaplaincy learn more about this work and gain as much knowledge as possible as they consider pursuing spiritual care as a profession.

The Lab has curated a set of resources specifically for students, including beginner’s guides to chaplaincy as a profession and clinical pastoral education; information on the financial considerations of chaplaincy careers; the skills employers look for in successful chaplains; clinical training sites; field guide sessions with experienced chaplains; and much more. The vast majority of these tools are completely free to use (the only resource that costs anything is the Lab’s recently published book, which has been priced as low as possible to enhance accessibility).

You can find all of these resources here or at the following URL: https://chaplaincyinnovation.org/resources/resources-for-students.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, the Lab encourages you to write directly to Michael Skaggs, Director of Programs, at mskaggs@brandeis.edu.

The ACPE national office is now virtual! Effective immediately, our new mailing address is:

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education

        We Work, Floor 4

        120 West Trinity Place

        Decatur, GA 30030

Once the Letter of Intent is received in the National Office by email, the Aspirant will be invoiced for the $100 meeting fee. Payment of meeting fee must be received on/before October 3rd.

Contact Sheilah Hawk at Sheilah.Hawk@acpe.edu with questions.