 In this Edition
Reflections from the Chair
Please Vote for Leaders and Guidelines
NW Region 2008 Fall Conference
Travel Funds Available for AAPC Promotion
Spiritual Care Collaborative
NW Region Member Update
Editor's Message
Inspirational Poem
Reflections from the Chair
Marcia Matthaei, MTS, MEd
In early August, two nights after my 89 year old mother-in-law had a stroke affecting the speech center of her brain, I dreamt that, for some reason, the NW region was having our Fall meeting in Hawaii. Classically, I wasn’t prepared to lead the meeting. I didn’t have an outline or notes and I was anxious. (I am typically prepared.) Furthermore, everyone was gathering and visiting…but the actual business meeting was to occur in one hour on the island of Kauai, and I didn’t even have a ticket for the airplane ride. We were on Oahu. I was assured that there would be no problem for me to get to my destination. I’m prepared to be transparent and to apologize for my lack of preparation, to ask for understanding and simply do my best “by heart.” I woke up before I reached my Hawaiian destination.
As I type away on my last newsletter as Chair of the region (I was halfway done when I accidentally deleted it without having saved the document!), after a month of pondering Hawaiian time leadership, I realize that I haven’t arrived on Kauai. But I want to. I’m curious about leadership which is relaxed, with soft fragrant air, grounded in nature, and a “hang loose” ethic. I wonder if you might have some thoughts about how that would look and feel.
I won’t deny that I’m ready to pass on the mantle, or gavel, or whatever I pass on, after eight years (violins please…) of serving as Vice Chair and Chair of the NW region, but as I write, there is no one to whom to pass on the mantle… or gavel. We are in the midst of a leadership gap in our region. We have so many members who have served in leadership in a variety of ways for both the region and the Association, who have taken their turn and are now intentionally focusing their energy and passion in other creative endeavors. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, for all of your work. We are hopefully in the process of building a fresh membership and leadership base again. But, there is this little gap right now. Well, maybe not so little.
We have a very strong council, but presently there will be no Chair, Vice Chair, or Program Planner. If you haven’t looked at the ballot, the council is proposing guideline changes for the region which change the job description for Vice Chair and add the appointed position of Program Chair, which the Vice Chair formerly has done. The term limits for Chair and Vice Chair are being recommended as two years. There are drawbacks to the shorter terms, but we believed that more members would consider the shorter terms more doable.
As much as I am ready for a sabbatical from leadership in AAPC, I care deeply about our organization and am committed to her vision and goals. We need a complete leadership body for the best quality work to proceed. So when we gather in Portland on October 3, I hope each of you will bring your internal Kauai with you. Let’s imagine together how we will proceed. Aloha.
Please vote for AAPC leaders and guideline changes
The AAPC NW ballot 2008 includes officer elections and revisions to regional bylaws (now called guidelines). Of relevance to both, the proposed guidelines change our regional officers' titles: the President becomes the Chair, the Vice President becomes the Vice Chair, the Membership Committee becomes the Certification Committee, and the Nominating Committee becomes the Leadership Development Committee. These changes are already officially in practice.
One important change decreases the terms for committee chairpersons from 4 to 3 years and Regional Chair and Vice Chair from 4- to 2-year terms. If approved, the shorter terms will become effective for the 2008 elected officers.
The new guidelines add a student representative and association officers as members of the regional council. Other proposed revisions enable electronic voting and remove the requirement that the Council must discuss guideline amendments at the regional meeting. Instead, it allows the Council to submit guideline amendments to the membership for a vote after discussion at a Council meeting. In addition, the revised guidelines show the change to a single regional meeting in the Fall and also finalize the current practice of a non-competitive ballot.
No members have volunteered to run for Chair, Vice Chair, Leadership Development Co-Chair or one of the positions for Certification Committee Member (from British Columbia). Write-in candidates are accepted.
Voting for candidates shows your support or non-support for the slate of nominees. The Regional Chair sits on the Association Action Council, which meets once each year. Without a Regional Chair, we will lack this important Association representation. Bylaws are approved by a 2/3 majority of those who vote. Please take the time to read the proposed changes and indicate where you stand on these important issues.
Ballots for 2008 must be received by mail or email as soon as possible, but no later than the Fall meeting on Oct. 3.
You can download a ballot and copy of the guideline revisions. Use your Microsoft Word highlight tool to highlight your selections, then email your completed ballot to John Carr at pthyanded@shaw.ca.
NW Region 2008 Fall Conference
October 3 and 4
University Place
Portland State University
Come to the Fall conference and reconnect with friends and colleagues, break bread, accomplish the business of the region, earn CEU’s, and immerse yourself in the theme of
Pilgrimage: A Jungian Perspective on Contemporary Clinical and Cultural Understandings of an Ancient, Therapeutic Archetype,
with Terrill Gibson, Ph.D., presenting
… better known as our friend and colleague, Terry. Come. Bring a friend or two. Prepare to enter into holy space.
AAPC President, Joretta Marshall, will represent the Association at our Fall conference on October 3 and 4, in Portland. Besides sharing with us her vision of pastoral counseling and informing us about the work of the Association, on our behalf, Joretta will co-lead a focus group of 10-15 individuals who will address questions for the Multicultural Competencies and Racial Justice Task Forces. (These Task Forces were formed by the Action Council to enhance our professional effectiveness to assist our clients, students and congregants, as well as leading society in serving as agents of change in confronting and addressing institutional, social and racial barriers that impact individuals, families and communities.) The responses and information from this group and groups from the other regions of AAPC will guide the Task Forces in their work.
Marcia Matthaei is looking for willing volunteers for the focus group to meet on October 3, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. in the Pyramid Lake Room at University Place before the Business meeting which begins at 3:30 p.m. If you have already responded you do not need to do so again. More volunteers would be appreciated. E-mail Marcia Matthaei at mcmatthaei@aol.com if you would like to participate.
Travel Funds Available for AAPC Promotion
The NW region received $1,000 from Stewards of the Mission for creating a Speaker’s Bureau to travel to universities and seminaries throughout our region to educate students of counseling, social work, and ministry about pastoral counseling. The Certification committee is increasing its membership with the goal of having two co-chairs and two members from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Canada to be able to lighten the work of this challenge. If you would be interested in serving on the Certification Committee or representing the NW region of AAPC, and being part of a panel or question and answer session with students, contact Gary Steeves, garysteeves@hotmail.com, or Fred Schramm, fred.schramm@att.net, Certification Committee Co-chairs.
Spiritual Care Collaborative – Summit '09
If you are planning to attend the Spiritual Care Collaborative Summit, Feb. 1-4 in Orlando, Florida, please remember to your arrangements as soon as possible. Information and registration is available at the Spiritual Care Collaborative website.
NW Region Member Update- Bill North, Diplomate (Retired) and former President of AAPC, has recently moved into NW Region and is living, in retirement, in the Portland area.
- Terry Kriesel, Ph.D., AAPC Diplomate (Retired) is currently visiting professor at China Lutheran Seminary in Taiwan, teaching pastoral counseling.
Editor’s Message
Eddy Marie Crouch
The AAPC NW Regional Council appointed me to the position of Newsletter Editor and WebKeeper at their September 6, 2008 meeting. I am most appreciative of the three years of service provided by our outgoing editor, Andrew Whitmont.
I have recently returned to active Fellow status with the AAPC after transitioning to membership in the Religious Society of Friends. I first began my involvement with the AAPC in 1994. After being away from AAPC for almost three years, it will take a little time for me to become informed about current events.
I will be at the NW Region 2008 Fall Conference at Portland State University and look forward to reconnecting with AAPC colleagues. My pastoral counseling ministry is now focused on peace education, conflict resolution and international reconciliation.
The purpose of this newsletter is to keep us connected and informed. My intention is to publish an edition every two months. I hope you will send me content at editor@aapcnwregion.org. Please include the subject line “AAPC Newsletter Submission.”
Inspirational Poem
We can make our minds so like still water
that beings gather about us to see their own images,
and so live for a moment with a clearer,
perhaps even with a fiercer life
because of our silence.
—William Butler Yeats
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