My Final Reflection as ACPE’s Board Chair

First, thank you to ACPE’s members and students for the privilege of serving alongside you as colleagues in the discipline of Spiritual Care and Education. To the ACPE Board of Directors, thank you for your wisdom, tenacity, and commitment to our association. You have been thoughtful, diligent, and courageous leaders. To the ACPE Staff, thank you for your professional expertise, patience, longsuffering, and dedication to our association.

When I first felt a call to ministry, I wasn’t confident I would find a place to fulfill that tug to serve others. The examples I saw in my tradition did not fit my growing self-understanding. Despite that, I took one step at a time and found my way to ACPE and ministry in healthcare and later in education.

In ACPE, I found gifted educators who challenged me, encouraged me, and respected me. My experiences with them included mutual growth and appreciation. As our relationships evolved, they assumed the role of a valued colleague and, in so doing, have become Elders who can be trusted and do not talk down to their former trainees. I aspire to be a good Elder.

I’ve kept a book of the names of CPE students with whom I’ve worked since earning certification. Sometimes I pull it out to remind myself of the ones who will follow to continue the work of caring for souls in distress. Some have become Certified Educators, and others are professional Board Certified Chaplains serving in all levels of responsibility in healthcare, business, government, or public service. Still, others have chosen to lead in the parish, institutions of higher learning, or mental health practices. These are the folk who are coming after. These are the folk who challenge me with new and innovative ideas. These are the future of ACPE and our discipline.

At one point in our educator/student relationship, it was my responsibility to challenge their thinking even if I agreed. Sometimes the exchange helped them move and stretch their preconceived ideas of caring for others or what it looks like to care for oneself deeply. My duty was to persistently provide them the opportunity to engage the challenges they felt in their places of service rather than walk away from those potentially difficult situations. And, at another point in our educator/student relationship, I learned to trust their perceptions as they moved beyond my program into their spheres of ministry. I no longer assume the role of “supervisor” with them. Their ideas and wisdom are as valuable as mine.

I am acutely aware that my openness to remaining in a respectful and mutual relationship with my former students has produced unexpected opportunities for celebration and support in our relationship. It is a blessing when I receive a call to “touch base,” or celebrate a new job, or wonder with them about the pros and cons of an opportunity. Our relationship has moved beyond the “educator/student” confines and has become a relationship of colleagues and equals.

Over the four years I’ve served in board leadership (two years as chair-elect and two as chair), I have met women and men who are rising leaders in our discipline. They are Visionaries. They are innovators who see opportunities to grow, change, and move into ‘new ways’ that better fit the environments where we practice. For example, I would not have believed CPE relationships and learning could flourish in a virtual environment four years ago. These Visionaries use and develop new tools and technologies, new understandings of our cultural milieu, and how to reach out to those we have yet to engage.

I am deeply honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to serve in ACPE’s leadership and as your Board Chair. Now, I aspire to be a trusted Elder and colleague who supports the next generation’s new visions and joins them as they create and build into the future. It is their time to dream new ideas and call us forward.

Being a trusted Elder and colleague means practicing respectful engagement when differences arise and refraining from assigning motives to the other. It calls for genuine curiosity and a willingness to engage even when it’s uncomfortable. It calls for asking honest questions to understand better rather than assume previous patterns of practice will continue in perpetuity. It calls for honoring boundaries within professional and collegial relationships.

We have the opportunity and responsibility to support those who will continue to build on our solid foundation. We must do it with respect for the individual, curiosity about their ideas, humility as they surpass our vision, and hope as they move our association forward in a constantly changing world.

I am thankful for you all - the trusted Elders and the Visionaries.