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I am writing this as I sit overlooking the bay in San Francisco, CA. It is the end of The International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counseling (ICPCC). I believe everyone in attendance would agree when I say, "It was a great success." As the Co-Conveners of the ICPCC, ACPE Supervisors George Fitzgerald and Rod Seeger, have represented themselves and ACPE well. The collaboration of four of our regions: the Pacific, Southwest, South Central and North Central, have given to the ICPCC leadership, workshop leaders and attendees all which have led to the success of the congress. As I moved through the crowds the conversations flowed, old friendships were renewed and new friendships were made. I was proud to be the president of this organization as it gave so much leadership to bringing the ICPCC to fruition.
In many ways the ICPCC is about the larger community of pastoral caregivers and how we are connected. Workshops were led by those from all over the globe. I went to three workshops. One was led by a New Yorker, another by a South African, and the third by an Australian. We were also given opportunities to be in affinity groups. I attended every one. On the last morning there were only four of us who attended. An Indian CPE supervisor who took CPE in the USA, a Dutch CPE supervisor who was trained in the Netherlands, a local pastor from New York City who completed two units of CPE and was attending her second ICPCC, and me. Each of us had attended all the affinity groups and had grown to have a feeling of relationship. My watch was slow and I was late. When I entered each person gave me facial recognition that they were glad to see me.
We had a wonderful discussion about the role of Facebook in our various areas around the globe. We shared stories of it being used to depersonalize and personalize those to whom we provide ministry. As our time together came to an end, the pastor from New York headed home to minister to her flock. The Dutch CPE Supervisor rushed to a meeting with ACPE Program Manager Marc Medwed, ACPE Supervisor Edith Finsaadal and Norwegian CPE representatives to discuss our reciprocity agreement and international relationships. As I was about to walk out the door, the person from India asked if he could speak to me.
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Questions have recently been raised about the 45-day window during which the Supervisor is obligated to deliver a student's evaluation and to register the unit of CPE with the National Office and what to do when a student has not met all of the stated requirements, including the payment of tuition.
The answer is relatively straight forward: the student should be given his/her evaluation and the unit is to be registered with the National Office with the 45 day window. The evaluation should state that the student has not yet completed all of the stated requirements. Additionally, rather than being given .5 or 1 unit of credit, the student is given "0 (zero)" credit for the unit in the Student Unit Database.
Following this answer accomplishes several things: 1. The supervisor remains in compliance with the standards, as withholding an evaluation or not reporting student units within the 45 day window is a violation of the Standards; 2. Should the student take his/her evaluation somewhere else, it is clearly marked that the student did not fulfill all of his/her obligations; 3. If a student requests a transcript from the National Office, it will clearly delineate that no credit was given for the unit.
Once the student meets the stated requirements, the supervisor will amend the evaluation to give to the student and will email the National Office to request that the "0 (zero)" credit be changed to either .5 or 1 unit of credit.
While nobody hopes to be in the situation where a student has not completed all that is required, it is important to remember that we have mechanisms in place so that the Supervisor remains in compliance yet the integrity of the evaluation and the registration of the unit are kept intact.
If you have questions about this, please contact Marc Medwed, ACPE Program Manager.
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 A couple of weeks ago I attended the International Congress of Pastoral Care and Counseling in San Francisco, CA, reflecting on "Caring for One Another in the Global Village". What a powerful conference that was! I came home with a renewed sense of gratitude for the sacred work so many of us are doing all over the world. Like us, our global friends give generously of their time, talents and personal energy to advance global multi-faith spiritual care education and chaplaincy - often under trying circumstances - and yet, with a passion that is inspiring. On several occasions, I listened to my colleagues from Australia, South Africa, Europe and Malaysia recalling their CPE experiences as the most important influences on their personal and professional lives. When it came to telling CPE stories, we all shared a sense of kindred spirit which was deeply gratifying. What else is more inspiring to our sense of generosity and wanting to give back than listening to testimony?
To date, we have raised $35, 698 from 134 ACPE members and friends. Last week, ACPE received a generous gift from Wells Fargo showing us their support and belief in our work! Please join the banking community at Wells Fargo and share your passion for the Holy Work of ACPE this fall by participating in the following opportunities: - The "Friendly Giving Competition" among the regions. The competition ends on December 31, 2015 and the region with the highest percentage of donors in 2015 will be the ultimate winner. You will hear more about the friendly competition at your regional meeting and from your regional champions.
- "Gratitude Stories" - We will feature a series of stories from our members and students whose lives and careers have been transformed by CPE. Stories that will move you.
- Tuesday, December 1 is "Giving Tuesday to benefit ACPE." Our goal is to raise $5,000 for student scholarships to the 2016 ACPE Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Please join me in tapping into your spirit of generosity and gratitude and participate in the Annual Campaign. Donate today! ACPE 2015 Regional Champions East Central: Leslie Small Stokes Eastern: Harlan Ratmeyer Mid-Atlantic: Biju Chacko North Central: Roger Ring Northeast: Kathleen Gallivan Pacific: George Fitzgerald South Central & Southwest: Renita Heinzl Southeast: Stephen Robinson
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ACPE Staff Professional Development
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 ACPE Business Manager Terry Izaguirre and Communications & Projects Specialist John Roch graduated from Emory University's Learning & Organizational Development program. Terry completed the Manager Development Program while John completed the Supervisor Development Program. These year-long programs focused on leadership development; building and managing relationships; human resources and legal policies; and strategic planning. Terry and John both designed and presented capstone projects, a requirement of the program.
On Tuesday, October 13th, Jasmine Okafor joined volunteers from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Atlanta Chapter and the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta in planting seeds of philanthropy at Charles E. Drew Charter School. The group engaged the basics of philanthropy with elementary students through the book City Green and an interactive art project that will be displayed at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon on November 3, 2015.
We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to their ongoing contributions to our association and national office.
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Membership Confirmation Delays
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Due to system upgrades and staff transitions, the ACPE office is delayed in mailing out confirmations and certificates for certain member types including: Clinical Members, Individual Members, Retired Members and Student Affiliates.
If you need immediate verification of your membership status, please email Sheilah Hawk. Otherwise we appreciate your patience during this time of transition.
The new online membership application will save staff and members time and money. We look forward to demonstrating our improved website. Thank you!
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 As you have been reading in previous newsletters, the Accreditation Commission is in the process of transitioning our various processes to electronic documents, electronic submissions and electronic record keeping. We embarked on a pilot project last year in which 23 centers completed their 5-Year Reviews utilizing LiveText, our online program, and it was a wonderful success. At its meeting in May 2015, the Accreditation Commission voted to continue with the implementation of LiveText and determined that we would use LiveText for all Annual Reports and all upcoming 5-Year Reviews. Over the next year, we will be developing the process for transitioning 10-Year Accreditation Reviews to the LiveText platform, so we will continue to utilize the same process for the coming year. Adoption and implementation of new technology and processes can be overwhelming, but the National Office is committed to making it as easy and user-friendly as possible. Watch your email inbox for a special News You Can Use edition on October 15, 2015 where we will have detailed instructions, a schedule of live Q & A sessions and everything you will need to know to prepare your center's annual report or 5-Year Review in 2016.
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Save the Date for REM 2016! REM 2016 will be meeting February 3-6, 2016 in Albuerque, New Mexico. The meeting will be at Embassy Suites (505) 245-7100. Click here to make your reservation for the 2016 REM Meeting! |
The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Vol 69, No 3 (Sept 2015)
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The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Vol 69, No 3 (Sept 2015) is now available online.Click here for complete instructions.
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"Education for Professional Chaplains: Should Certification Competencies Shape Curriculum?" |
A new survey about education for professional chaplains has just been published. The paper, "Education for Professional Chaplains: Should Certification Competencies Shape Curriculum?" by George Fitchett, Alexander Tartaglia, Kevin Massey, Beth Jackson-Jordon, and Paul Derrickson, was published in the October-December, 2015 issue of the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (volume 21, number 4, pages151-164). The article is open-access to all on the journal website (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/whcc20/21/4).
Abstract
The growing importance of professional chaplains in patient-centered care has raised questions about education for professional chaplaincy. One recommendation is that the curricula of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency programs make use of the chaplaincy certification competencies. To determine the adoption of this recommendation, we surveyed CPE supervisors from 26 recently re-accredited, stipended CPE residency programs. We found the curricula of 38% of these programs had substantive engagement with the certification competencies, 38% only introduced students to the competences, and 23% of the programs made no mention of them. The majority of the supervisors (59%) felt engagement with the competencies should be required while 15% were opposed to such a requirement. Greater engagement with chaplaincy certification competencies is one of several approaches to improvements in chaplaincy education that should be considered to ensure that chaplains have the training needed to function effectively in a complex and changing healthcare environment.
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Jewish Study and Consultation |
 Jewish seminary students and clergy are engaging in CPE programs around the country in record numbers. While CPE programs welcome them into their groups, many supervisors have had little exposure to the texture of Jewish sources and Jewish living. The Jewish Theological Seminary's Center for Pastoral Education is proud to once again offer our online course, Jewish Study and Consultation for ACPE Supervisors. Last year, with our Center for Pastoral Education faculty, participants learned about ways to enhance the supervision of Jewish students. - The course will meet for five 90-minute, once/month sessions, November-March.
- The course will be conducted with web technology, using Zoom.
- There will be a nominal fee of $100 for the five sessions.
Each session of the course will include: - the study of Jewish sacred texts that relate to CPE, spiritual care and important themes in Jewish theology, culture and thought.
- learning with a diverse, yet intimate, group of ACPE Supervisory colleagues.
- consultation for supervising Jewish CPE students.
Course Instructor: Chaplain Allison Kestenbaum, ACPE Supervisor Registration: Spaces are first come, first serve. To register for Jewish Study and Consultation for ACPE Supervisors, please contact infocpe@jtsa.edu by Monday, November 16th. |
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Announcements / Educational Opportunities
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