By David Johnson, ACPE President

As an ordained United Methodist minister, I come from an Episcopal form of church governance.  I find the structure of ACPE very familiar and comforting in many ways.  ACPE has a three-step certification process: candidate, associate, and full.  It is like the UMC's three-step ordination: candidate, deacon, and elder.

We have our pope (Executive Director) who sits in the national cathedral in Atlanta.  We have our nine cardinals (Regional Directors) who sit in each of our regions, and our bishops (Board of Representatives) that govern our board.

Our founders came from the mainline churches.  If you look at our polity, you can see vestiges of Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Baptist polities thrown together.  Recently as I met with the RD's, we reflected upon how the church polity of our founders played a role in the shape of ACPE and still does.

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I begin my term as Chair of the 2014 ACPE Sowing Seeds for Our Holy Work Annual Fund Campaign with feelings of gratitude for the generosity of our members and with excitement about the year to come.  I am pleased to announce that Ute Schmidt has agreed to serve as Chair-elect for the 2014 campaign and will chair the 2015 campaign.  I look forward to working with her.

In 2013, Chair Miriam Needham and I worked together with Regional Champions to increase member participation.  The 2013 campaign raised a total of $72,281 from 340 donors (22% participation), an 88% increase over the number of 2012 donors.  This is quite gratifying and at the same time shows us that we can do better.

Our goal, admittedly aspirational, is for 100% participation by ACPE members.  As has been said before, this goal is not just about dollars, but about demonstrating to potential outside donors that our members are deeply committed to the work we are doing.

I am deeply appreciative of Miriam Needham for her leadership last year. Her commitment to ACPE was evident in all she did.  Ute and I look forward to building on her success.

To donate online, please visit acpe.edu/foundation. 

We Need Your Feedback!

ACPE needs your response! The Standards Committee and Commissions are proposing revised changes for the 2015 ACPE manuals. Please review these documents carefully by clicking on this link.

Return your comments to ACPE no later than February 7, 2014 so the committee can present its proposed changes to the Board at the May meeting.

By Claudia Meyer, Clinical Member Representative to the Board, JPCP Task Group

At the most recent member meeting of the ACPE, the membership was informed that the Board of Representatives had approved a decision to discontinue ACPE's financial commitment to the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling.  The annual expense for providing complimentary subscriptions of the Journal to all members is approximately $42,000.  There was considerable discussion about the decision by the members, and after the meeting, Robin Brown-Haithco appointed a task group to ponder the response of the membership to the decision.

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(The ACPE will support the JPCC until June 2014. Click below for the latest issue.)

The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Vol 67, No 4 (2013) is available online.  Click here for complete instructions

Visioning:  Reclaiming Our Purpose, Offering Our Best, Embracing Race, Ethnicity and Culture

February 5-8, 2014