September 19, 2022
Fall has always been my favorite season. I love when the humidity blows away, the cooler mornings invite a different pace, and so many programs, practices, and rituals restart after the summer break. I love the changing colors, the beginning of the process of death and renewal throughout nature, and I am reminded of Lucille Clifton's poem “the lesson of the falling leaves”:


the leaves believe

such letting go is love

such love is faith

such faith is grace

such grace is god

I agree with the leaves

The Leadership Development Committee (LDC) invites you to consider serving in one of the open leadership positions in 2023. Nominations are open now for ACPE’s fall election. The deadline to submit a nomination is September 23, 2022.


The following positions are elected by the membership:

Board of Directors:

Director (3 positions)

Accreditation:

Chair-elect (1 position)
Commissioner (3 positions)
New Mailing Address
mail
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

Please update your ACPE-related documents and materials and inform your institution’s financial departments of this change. Phone numbers, emails, and web addresses will remain the same.
Upcoming Certification Fall Docket Dates 2022
  • October 3, 2022 – Deadline to Submit Electronic Materials
  • November 7, 9, & 10, 2022 – Subcommittee Docket Dates

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.
In Case You Missed It
The ACPE Curriculum Committee invites you to submit a workshop proposal for the 2023 ACPE Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana!

 This year’s conference will showcase the wisdom of our members and highlight the inspirational and innovative education that our educators and programs are offering to our students. Read more
Psychotherapy does not occur in an isolated environment but within context. Whether the therapist acknowledges it or not, the prevailing social and political context infuses the therapeutic space. Ignoring its influence undermines the therapeutic space. Read more
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. 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
Upcoming Community of Practice Events
The following is a central list of the upcoming community of practice events! Click the links below to learn more about each event.
Weekly Highlights
This Week's Reflection
Last week, we remembered 9/11 once again. So many of the deep divisions of our country seem embodied in the social media posts related to the remembrances people seek to bring to that event, a phenomenon both disturbing and ironic since the days following that horrific event seemed to bring us so quickly together as a nation. A lot of the anger of that day has clearly not been processed, and it seems every year provides new waves of anger to add to the growing fire in the hearts and bellies of our neighbors.

Anna Carter Brown, reflecting on her own experience that led to the poem that follows, writes, “I was still thinking and writing about 9/11 when I read an article in the Times which described the cleanup after a tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, killing nearly 160 and injuring 1,150. The article reminded me of Ginsberg’s 1980 rant-poem railing against the many places in the world with man-made environmental disasters. Anger does not come naturally to me, having been taught as a child to suppress it, but including ‘Homework’ in my poem title allowed me to refer obliquely to the anger I felt after 9/11, which I had never expressed.” Here’s Brown’s poem:

On Reading Allen Ginsberg’s “Homework”
Andrea Carter Brown
 
after an article in the New York Times 
It was in the Financial Section. On page 3, below
the fold. A huge multi-national conglomerate is
praised for an “innovative marketing program”

that washes dirty clothes and linens for free  
after a disaster. This time it’s the tornado
that tore through Joplin, but Loads of Hope

began after Katrina. When I think how hard
and costly it was to wash everything we
didn’t throw away after 9/11, my eyes

well up. To begin with, no water or electricity.
It would be months before new machines
arrived to replace those contaminated by dust.

Everything in closets, dressers, chests had to be
hauled to a distant laundry. The sheer number
of quarters it took, the fear that, no matter

how many wash, rinse and spin cycles, 
our clothes would never be clean enough
to put against skin. Allergic to perfumes

as I became after 9/11, I want to breathe
in the Tide of cleanliness; to be one of the lucky,
leaving our filthy belongings with strangers

to remove what they can of disaster and return
them to us, clean, neatly folded, wrapped 
in paper, bagged, and tied with a ribbon.

 
Copyright © 2022 by Andrea Carter Brown.

While we don’t tend to have the same response to the death of Queen Elizabeth as the folks on the other side of the pond, there have been so many moving tributes that demand our attention. This one stood out and made us wonder what it’s parallel (if at all) would be in the US:

The Jewish Journal recently published a reflection by Anna Calamaro, a former CPE student at Cedars-Sinai. The article reflects on her time at Cedars-Sinai while tying the experience into the upcoming Jewish holidays.

Memorials and Milestones
  • 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.
CAREER & RESIDENCY OPPORTUNITIES
USC Arcadia Hospital has two openings and would love to hear from you if you have any interest.  View more
Ascension Seton in Austin, TX has open positions in our current full-time residency program for completion of three CPE units starting November 28, 2022 and ending on August 18, 2023. View more
Other Educational Opportunities
ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education
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.