The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab invites chaplains of color to learn more about the Lab's upcoming Conversation Circle cohorts. This program provides a venue for connection, conversation, and emotional and spiritual processing for chaplains of color working across the United States. Read more

As we all know, the rapidly changing conditions created by COVID-19 and its variants, as well as the differences in infection rates and responses from state to state, necessitate that event sponsors like ACPE constantly evaluate and update health and safety protocols for upcoming in-person events. Read more

We invite all ACPE Certified Educators who are working with Certified Educator Candidates to join us for informal consultations and conversations via Zoom. The drop-in meeting (no RSVP required) will take place on the first and third Mondays of the month, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm ET. Read more

Recently, I noticed after a couple of instances how many people shared how busy they were with their day. Almost every person I met was preoccupied – or over-occupied – with comings and goings, things seen and unseen, tasks and feelings, work and worries. Over the summer, I enjoyed the newsletter from the folks at “On Being” which they called the pause, because they took time to rest and refresh, to not keep relentlessly producing content. The power of a pause, a second look, an extra moment – all can be so powerful. Mark Nepo captures this in his poem, The Second Flower:

She was stopped by the light on a peony

on the north side of the city. A few days

later, she saw another peony in her friend’s

yard. But she thought, I’ve seen this flower

before. And so, she didn’t pay attention.

But it was the second flower

that held a secret for her.

Pretty soon, she thought life was

repeating, when all that was repeating

was her want for a flower she’d never seen.

Perhaps the pause will allow us to capture a glimpse of the incredible wonders of nature. Check out these photos from this year’s wildlife photography competition:

by Janea Thompson Christensen

The Celtic saints often referred to somewhere as a 'thin place'. This referred to when the spiritual atmosphere of a location made it easy to connect with God, almost as though there is no barrier between heaven and earth. I have often reflected on this and have determined that my “thin places” are in the wild spaces of nature, where craggy mountains are smothered with tall evergreens and winding waters tumble over stacks of smooth rocks. My thin place is also in the Holy Temple, a place of stillness where I feel God’s love, and where my thoughts of loved ones who’ve passed are so intensely drawn towards heaven I wonder if perhaps their attention and caring are called down to meet me there.