Association for Clinical Pastoral Education
Final 2015 Newsletter
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Trace Haythorn, Executive Dir/CEO


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ACPE Adopts New Purpose, Vision and Mission Statements
By David C Johnson, ACPE President

Purpose-Vision-Mission Signs The ACPE Organizational Design Work Group (ODWG) has been engaged with the membership over the last several months to gather feedback on the opportunities, challenges, hopes and concerns of our association. During the November board meeting the ODWG, in consultation with Tecker International, requested a more focused purpose, vision, and mission statements. The ODWG required clarification on the statements to drive their remaining work.
 
The board ascertained the significance of the ODWG's request and reprioritized their meeting agenda to include a half-day brainstorming session led by our consultant Donna Dunn of Tecker International. After the meeting, the board continued their work online. Their work was guided by the following definitions. A purpose statement is a statement of why we exist - not what we do or who we are. A vision statement defines the absolute values that guide the association. A mission statement defines who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
 
Finally, the board met via video conference on December 14, 2015 and adopted the new purpose, mission, and vision statements below:
 
Purpose:  To positively affect people's lives.
 
Mission:  A community of professionals committed to nurturing connections to the sacred through experiential, transformational education and spiritual care.
 
Vision:
  • Diversity and inclusion - demonstrated through cultural humility, attentiveness and collegiality.
  • Integrity - demonstrated through trust, respect and excellence.
  • Curiosity - demonstrated through listening, experiential models, innovation and creativity.
  • Process - demonstrated through action/reflection, listening, experiential and relational models.
  • Service - demonstrated through compassion, authenticity and growth.
 
The ODWG will now continue its work in preparation for the annual conference in Denver, May 18-21, 2016 where the membership will participate in Shaping Our Future: Transformational Leadership.
Looking Back While Moving Forward
By David C Johnson, ACPE President
David Johnson 2x3

As I write my last article for the ACPE E-News, I want to focus on the future but it is difficult not to look back. When I gave my nomination speech in Arlington, VA in 2012 I attempted to give those listening a glimpse of my vision for ACPE. I spoke of our rich history and the changing landscape of our supervisors' diversity. I referred to the governance restructuring and foundation's returned focus. I also offered this line: "These realities are pushing at ACPE to look at the very foundation of the structure that has served it so well for these 44 years." I did not realize how true those words would become during the three years that I have served as your President-Elect and President.
 
During my tenure as President-Elect, I served as the chair of the Executive Director Search committee that offered the ACPE Board a non-ACPE certified candidate. As I began my term as President, the new strategic plan became active and I took the work of the Board seriously and invited the new "downsized" board to join me in the process of the implementation of that plan. I wondered out loud with the Regional Directors about their vision for the future and listened to their concerns when we met in San Diego during my first month in office. I met with the leaders and Elders of REM and listened to their concerns and desires for ACPE.
 
As I listened to the reports of our Commissions, Committees, work groups and staff reports during the November leadership meetings last month, I could not help but feel proud of all of those who have been involved in the leadership of our wonderful organization. As I look back, I can see that we have come so far in these last several years. Even the change of the location of the national office feels as if it is a symbolic representation of an emotional reality. ACPE is moving.
 
Looking back is fun and I have some wonderful memories of the last three years. Yet looking back does not get us where we need to go. We have to look and move forward. Going forward takes courage. Decisions have to be made. Some decisions are popular and some create confusion, anger, and mistrust. Your Board, Commissions, Committees, work groups and office staff have shown courage during my tenure in too many ways to recount here but the results are astounding. It is this awareness that keeps me excited about the future of our beloved organization. It is with some grief that I see my term in office coming to a close.
 
Presently I am relating to the story of Moses on the mountain looking over into the Promised Land with a different perspective. (I am aware that I am not Moses!) He will not lead his people to the Promised Land. I will not be leading ACPE into this next segment of its life. I would enjoy continuing to lead ACPE but it is not to be. My last article pointed to the gratitude I feel. This article is about the excitement I feel. There is a future and ACPE is moving into it in so many creative ways. ACPE will have a new leader on January 1st. Carlos Bell loves ACPE as I do and he is excited about the direction of the Board and the work groups.
 
As I leave office, I leave behind a CEO/ED who has brought our national office to a level of cohesion that will guide ACPE to the next level. I leave a Board that is excited by the effort of the various work groups and what they are offering ACPE as a new direction into the future. Most of all I leave behind the connection with the membership. Many of you have called or emailed me over the past three years to voice opinions, offer support or request assistance. I celebrate all the ways we have worked together. It has been a great honor to be your President. Thank you!
REM 2016 Invitational
By Johnny Bush, REM Chair

Johnny Bush As the year hurries to a close and a new year awaits us, may this season increase your expectations of hope and bring you a refreshing joy in the service you provide others.
 
Our 28th REM Invitational is also hurriedly approaching, and Bridget, Inba, Rhonda, and I are all excited to meet you in Albuquerque, NM, the South West Region of ACPE. Our theme is "Inclusion Matters: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in ACPE." In much of society, as well as the contexts of which we serve in ACPE, diversity in and of itself has evolved into an ideal and being politically correct without the much needed mutuality in human relationships. However, beyond diversity is inclusion, interactive and intentional; this is our focus, attending to those underrepresented and underserved in our CPE community.
 
For nearly three decades REM has been both a type of holding place for hospitality and creative space for inclusion in ACPE. For sanctuary and refuge in the process of professional development and certification, many of us who know the pain of marginality have come to share the REM experience. The REM Invitational is a wonderful resource for students and Supervisors who are working with 'inclusion matters' in supervision.
 
To our students in Level I/II CPE and those engaged in Supervisory Education please check in with your local regions and centers about scholarships that may still be available. REM's priority is still accompanying students in their processes as well as consulting with those Supervisors/Educators and Chaplains who can make use of peer reviews and consults. Please check the ACPE website for details about registration, lodging, program, and schedule of events.
 
I am looking forward to being with you again, February 3-6, 2016.
 
See you in Albuquerque!

Register for REM 2016 Invitational!

February 3-6, 2016
Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Embassy Suites 
(505) 245-7100. 
Click here to make your hotel reservation.

Click here to learn more about the 2016 REM Invitational
National Office Winter Holiday Schedule
By Trace Haythorn, Executive Director/CEO
 
While many people will enjoy a couple of quiet weeks, your National Office Staff will be hard at work and then enjoying a well-deserved winter's rest! Please note the following dates:
 
  • December 21-22: The National Office Staff will all be engaged in cleaning up the over 80,000 records recently merged into the new student unit database. We will work to return calls during periodic breaks during these days.
  • December 23-January 3: The National Office will be closed, allowing our staff to celebrate the holidays with their families.
If you have an emergency during this period, please email acpe@acpe.edu or call (678) 636-6217. We will respond as soon as possible.
 
We are grateful for the support of the ACPE and look forward to serving with you in 2016!
 
Happy Holidays!
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Announcements / Educational Opportunities
January 2016 Holy Days


Intensive Bioethics Course

Teaching Health Care Providers to Provide Spiritual Care: A Pilot Study


Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) Education

National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) Webinars