Here To Serve

“Each of you should use whatever gift[s] you have received to serve others…” (1Peter 4:10)

A week after our annual conference concluded, I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 2024 General Assembly. While giving his annual report and several other times during the week, Executive Coordinator Dr. Paul Baxley reminded us that CBF exists to serve. The idea of service is not a new concept to me. In my faith tradition, Scripture teaches that we should rather serve others than be served. There was not a time that he spoke that I did not think of my role in ACPE. I have just completed the sixth month as the Chair of the Board… and it has been a busy six months! I am here to serve.

Last Friday, the ACPE Board had its first meeting since the Annual Conference. The energy from our encounters with our members continues to inform, inspire, and challenge us. Your ideas and input seem to have re-energized us, and we, along with persons serving on commissions and committees, did some meaningful work. Each person's passion to bring our best selves to the meeting after a busy week of life and work has ministered to me all weekend. Your Board is here to serve.

I have been involved with ACPE for 26 years, most of which were spent with the certification process, regionally and nationally. I have served on more committees than I can count, and almost every person who sought certification stated that they wanted to be a CPE Supervisor/ Certified Educator because they wanted to help others as they had been helped.

Our impact and influence should not be limited to our centers, students, practices, and clients. As you are aware, ACPE depends on volunteers in our organization to sustain our work. Our national office cannot carry this load alone, and it makes sense to me that those of us who are practitioners would use our expertise to ensure the fulfillment of our mission.

In a few months, we will elect people to serve on commissions and committees. I invite all of us to consider how and where we might serve. We are all stretched thin by our work and lives, but if we commit to doing our part, we can accomplish great things together. The diversity of our Association is one of our superpowers. As someone who started volunteering right after my Readiness Committee, I encourage CECs to find some area to serve. We need the wisdom of the collective to become the Gold Standard we aspire to be.

If you are already serving, thank you for sharing your time and talents with ACPE. If you have not yet found your spot, I encourage you to reach out to Matthew Rhodes, the Chair-Elect of the Board and Chair of the Leadership Development Committee, to discuss how you might become involved.

As with many things, the essence of being a servant has often been distorted. So many people have been misused under the guise of being “servants” that we can become suspicious when we are encouraged or recruited to serve. The service I am suggesting involves us sharing the load so that we can become better. None of us can do everything, but we can all do something.

We serve because we care: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." (Dr. Seuss)

Blessings Always,

Cecelia

Rev.Dr.Cecelia Walker is a Certified Educator at The Ingalls Center of Pastoral Ministries in the Baptist Health System. She is currently serving as Chair of the ACPE Board of Directors and can be reached at cecelia.walker@bhsala.com.