Trust the Process

Author and change facilitator adrienne maree brown often speaks about trusting the process and trusting the people. Brown points us toward the natural world and what it teaches us about the mystery and chaos of change. The reality of change can be both terrifying and liberating. Our strategic planning process has been set up intentionally to invite the multitude and diverse voices of ACPE into the conversation about where we are headed and what we need to get there. ACPE is an organization that has committed to fundamental change as an anti-racist organization amidst the ever-changing landscape of healthcare, theological education, and the more diverse organization that we have become.

Trust the process. It is a core value of clinical pastoral education. Along with the living human document and the action-reflection-action model, it is perhaps certified educators' most often cited phrase. The term reminds us that we all participate in much larger processes, even as we attend to our personal and interpersonal processes. Without this trust, growth is improbable, and without a process of reflection on change, persons and institutions remain mired in the old biases and embedded perspectives that prevent growth. It is why educators and therapists alike rely on this trust as a centerpiece of our shared work.

Parker Palmer has been a helpful theorist as I put together a learning process for my students. Parker talks about having a solid container to hold students' learning. As I marvel at the transformation of my current group of residents, I know it has relied on the fundamental pieces of the program to hold the sometimes chaotic nature of process learning.

We are currently in the midst of several initiatives requiring us to "trust the process." The ACPE Board implemented a thoughtful strategic planning process based on a solid methodology guided by our consultants at La Piana. Although the listening sessions were designed as a support tool for members, they became important information for our consultant Onuka Ibe, who is thoughtfully leading ACPE through focus groups, surveys, and an intentional strategic planning process mining many sources of information.

Sometime last week, you likely received an email from Gordon Hilsman and the Curious Orienteers, a community of practice formed to reflect on the significant changes ACPE has experienced in recent years. What is undeniable is the passion and deep commitment to the association and to CPE demonstrated by the members of this CoP. What is unfortunate is that they apparently do not trust the process of strategic planning led by the board and have decided to survey you, the membership, on their own.

I want to be clear: the survey shared by Gordon is not a part of the larger strategic planning process. The ACPE Board will send a survey within the next few weeks to gather information as a part of the second of four phases of strategic planning. I have laid this out several times, most recently in my July 2, 2022 article.

The Orienteers CoP brought their survey to the board back in January. Both the ACPE Board and Research Committee raised several concerns about their survey language and its perceived bias. The board carefully reflected on the request and moved not to send the survey due to these problems. Members of this CoP have made clear their disagreements with the changes to accreditation, certification, and the organizational structure.

ACPE has been down this road before, leading to deep wounds between friends and colleagues. I am asking – personally – that in this moment where so much in our culture seems divided, that we trust the process. I assure you the perspectives of all members who participate in the strategic planning process will be heard and considered. We will not necessarily agree on everything, but that is also part of the action-reflection-action model.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions or concerns at shawn.mai@acpe.edu.

Rev. Shawn Mai, ACPE Certified Educator at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, MN, serves as Chair of the Board of Directors. He may be contacted at shawn.mai@parknicollet.com