Summertime and the living is busy!
The summer is upon us, which for many of us means the beginning of summer CPE units. Some will end this unit in celebration of a year well done. Others will welcome new students beginning a single unit in their summer break from theology school. Certified Educators, Educator Candidates, and staff members will welcome new faces with high expectations. For some of us, this represents a refreshing return to a summer routine interrupted last year by COVID-19. In my shop (my primary experience is in a healthcare environment), the summer means a bit of shuffling to accommodate the summer group into the physical space, revisiting classroom scheduling, and lots of orientation before sharing of clinical responsibilities. Oh, and on-call. Within a couple of weeks, the new folk will be welcome care providers for our patients, their families, and the staff who attend them.
The summer also may include planning, interviewing, and inviting the next cohort of CPE residents for the coming fall unit. For me, the end of the summer means the first Friday in August the summer students graduate, the second Friday the current resident group graduates, and the following Monday new residents begin hospital orientation. It’s a fastmoving process, and the summer flies by us. Whatever the schedule is in your shop or environment, I hope it has tones of gratitude, excitement, and anticipation for all who participate.
In ACPE news, the board recently received biannual reports from our commissions and committees. Our commissions and committees are pursuing invigorating initiatives and tackling our current challenges. After a year of lockdown, the Accreditation Commission is working to reintroduce on premise site visits, while petitioning the Department of Education to renew our recognition as accrediting agency. The Certification Commission is reviewing data from the first three years of the new certification process to clarify competencies and processes. They are also piloting virtual CEC programs. Now that most of the AAPC consolidation transition work is completed and the Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy (SIP) certification launched, the Psychotherapy Commission has engaged in strategic planning for future growth.
I mention only a fraction of the initiatives of our commissions and committees and encourage you to continue reading our communications for full details of their work. We are an association at work! Thank you to our volunteer leaders serving on the ACPE Board of Directors, Foundation for ACPE Board, Accreditation Commission, Certification Commission, Professional Ethics Commission, Psychotherapy Commission, Advocacy Committee, Curriculum Committee, Finance Committee, International Relations Committee, Leadership Development Committee, Professional Well-being Committee, Research Committee, and Anti Bias Task Force.
The Executive Committee of the Board has participated in two townhalls, seven Q&A sessions, and about 15 CoP meetings to engage members regarding the merger talks with the APC. We recorded and uploaded many of these meetings to our SharePoint site. You also have one more opportunity to attend a town hall on June 28th. The APC is beginning their virtual annual conference this week, June 10-12.
This is also a busy time for our Leadership Development Committee. I trust you have been seeing the regular communications from Committee Chair Shawn Mai. They continue to survey our membership for areas of interest and expertise to provide opportunities for leadership development and to meet our association’s needs. If you are interested, please take the time to follow their work and express your interest in participating. This is an exciting time, and we all have a part to play in deciding our path forward together.
ACPE and its members have much more to do while our nation opens after COVID19 and continues to grapple with the unconscionable violence we’ve witnessed and the effort toward justice. It is our opportunity to educate and empower women and men to move toward caring for those who are heartbroken, those who are unseen, and those hurting. We have the potential and responsibility to provide the world’s next generation of spiritual care providers with an educational experience that could alter their way of seeing the world wherever they serve. It doesn’t matter the context, a hospital, counseling centers, religious community or faith group, industrial enterprise or business entity, corrections facility, law enforcement and other first responders, the military, or non-profits. We have an opportunity to influence what they do and how they do it in ministry or service they choose.
This summer has great potential. I hope we hear your stories of how this summer, after a long and difficult year, has reinvigorated your program, your vision, and your dreams for our future. May your summer experiences far outshine your anticipated outcomes.
I say this all knowing we are busier than ever and working with less support, during a time of dizzying change. Our mission is not for the faint of heart. We must lift each other up, support each other, and seek new ways to love, laugh, and collaborate, so we can continue to prepare future generations of spiritual care providers to heal a hurting world.
Rev. Melissa Walker-Luckett, ACPE Certified Educator at Children's Health Children's Medical Center Dallas in Dallas, TX, serves as Chair of the Board of Directors. She may be contacted at melissa.walker-luckett@childrens.com