One of the distinct pleasures I’ve had this summer has been watching my five-and-a-half-year-old daughter learning to swim. I’ve been a swimmer and a water lover my whole life, and so my heart feels warmed by her growing skills and confidence in the water.
And to be honest, I was worried because we missed a year of swimming – lessons, practice, and play – last year due to COVID. The inflatable pool we scoured the internet to find just didn’t quite cut it for developing long strokes or having underwater tea parties. So, I am breathing a sigh of relief, that apparently, it’s not too late to learn.
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Moral Distress arises when a person feels constrained from taking what they believe is a correct moral action. Moral Injury may be described as a more extreme form of distress when one acts, witnesses or fails to prevent actions that transgress one’s moral standards. Of course, it is more complicated than simple definition permits. Spiritual caregivers are not immune to moral injury or distress, and yet are often in a position to encounter the morally distressed. We all have heard or seen examples arising during the Covid 19 pandemic. |
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Once a month the ACPE Professional Ethics Commission (PEC) posts a couple of statements from our Code of Professional Ethics for ACPE Members. Each posting is accompanied by a brief personal reflection from a member of the PEC discussing some ways this person lives these commitments |
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#ACPEproud, August 3-5, 2021, is a celebration and advocacy event to encourage support of the spiritual care community.
ACPE is proud of our students, graduates, and members. #ACPEproud will highlight the meaningful ways our members and accredited centers heal, strengthen, and transform people and communities in the US and across the globe.
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The CoP funding process for 2022 has begun! All CoP Conveners should have received an email with instructions for budget requests. If you did not receive this information, or if you have any questions, please contact Katherine Higgins (Katherine.Higgins@acpe.edu).
The deadline for funding requests is 5pm Eastern on Friday, July 30.
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We invite all ACPE Certified Educators who are working with 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 12:00pm to 1:00pm Eastern time.
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The Certification Commission revoked the certification of the Reverend Dr. Nancy Deitsch to practice as an ACPE Certified Educator as of June 18, 2021. |
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Life is filled with opportunities for adventure, and fraught with expectations that do not always come to fruition. Sometimes our expectations pale in the light of the actual experience.
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During our legal due diligence process, our attorneys advised us that we could not proceed with our published timeline. According to Illinois state law, where APC is incorporated, any membership vote must include the proposed bylaws and governance structure.
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I hope this note finds you well as we slowly move out of the disorientation of the pandemic to the reorientation of our personal and professional ways of life.
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This is the time of year when summer CPE students often begin to wonder what they’ve gotten themselves into. The conversation, the IPRs, the supervision, has all begun to touch on depths and issues that many never thought they would encounter. At the same time, many who are inc counseling relationships thought that their internal work might slow in the summer, only to be surprised by new awareness, largely due to the space the summer often provides, where experience and insight can surface. Francine Marie Tolf invites us into these spaces, reminding us of the dark waters inside each one of us waiting to carry us home: |
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Praise of Darkness
by Francine Marie Tolf
We touch one another
with defter fingers
at night.
Rain sounds different,
its steady falling
a remembered wisdom.
What if the dark waters
waiting to carry us home
slept inside every one of us?
We were loved
before stars existed.
We are older than light.
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There are studies that show if we stay too long in the darkness we will lose our ability to see. As we look to the cosmos, even amidst vast expanses of darkness there always seems to be some source of light: a star, a nebula, something that does not let the
darkness overwhelm us. Here are some amazing images from the Hubble telescope that capture the beauty of these immense celestial objects:
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This Week on the Calendar |
July 12
Feast of Kalimát (Baha’i)
The Baha’i calendar has nineteen months, all named after attributes of God. Kalimat is the Arabic for words. A Bahá'í Feast consists of three main components: spiritual devotion, administrative consultation, and fellowship. Usually held at a community center or in a local Bahá'ís home, Feasts are restricted to members of the Bahá'í Faith, mainly because of the consultative aspects of the gathering.
July 13–15
Ullambana/Obon (Buddhism)
Ullambana, a Sanskrit term that means “hanging upside down and suffering,” honors the spirits of past ancestors and strives to relieve aching souls from suffering. Obon, the Japanese transliteration of Ullambana, is only three days and varies from region to region—July in the eastern region and August in the western region.
July 14
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Feast Day (American Indian)
First American Indian to be beatified by Pope Paul II on June 22, 1980. She became a saint when she was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter’s Basilica on October 21, 2012.
July 18
Tisha B’Av (Judaism)
A solemn day of mourning and fasting for the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history coinciding with this date
July 19
Yaum-al-Arafah: Day of Atonement (Islam)
The most important day during the Hajj pilgrimage when Muslim pilgirms implore God for forgiveness and Mercy on the plain of Arafat, just outside the city of Mecca. It is the day when the Lord will provide boundless compassion and mercy and obviate all sins.
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This Week in our Thoughts
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Former ACPE Spiritual Care Professional Rev. David Nathan Cavanagh died on June 14, 2021. At the time of his death, he was an associate priest at Grace Episcopal Church, Fairfield, CA. He completed CPE at Napa State Hospital and began a career as a Chaplain for the Veterans Administration serving at the VA Hospitals in Martinez and San Francisco.
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Former AAPC Fellow Rev. Barbara Lewis-Lakin, died on June 29, 2021, with her family at her side, following a brief illness. Barbara’s life and faith will be celebrated in worship at Birmingham First United Methodist Church (1589 W Maple Rd, Birmingham, MI 48009) on Saturday, July 17, at 10:00 a.m. The service will be live-streamed; a live-stream link will be available at fumcbirmingham.org.
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East Jefferson General Hospital is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Director of Spiritual Care/ACPE Educator.
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Providence St. Peter Hospital has one opening for the 2021 ACPE 5-Resident cohort beginning August 30, 2021.
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Other Educational Opportunities |
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ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education |
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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.
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