The very first step toward this needed integration was then, and is today, the inclusiveness that comes from the intimate interaction and authority that thrives within what have become the CPSP Chapters, a small group of persons committed to supporting one another in their personal and professional journeys. Our efforts back then were not a whim, but the desire to be a reforming leaven to the field. From the CPSP point of view, our message is that the dough is short on yeast, and we are just trying to provide the yeast that is needed. The SCC sees "protestants", but we consider ourselves leaven and "reformers".

An SCC leader recently said that for the CPSP to be considered at the SCC table [i.e., to demonstrate accountability from all their members to the Common Code of Standards and the Common Code of Ethics], the issue is, "CPSP needs to be able to demonstrate how they do so at a national and consistent way." Of course, if the CPSP were to build a vertical structure and imitate the existing organizations in an effort to prove our desire to be accepted by them, that effort would totally deny our founding Covenant, which is the point. Our Covenant defines and includes our expressions of the very beliefs and actions needed to maintain vitality and integrity in the pastoral care movement.

The world does not need another Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) or Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), or another setting where only one perspective defines "collaborative". If we give others the benefit of the doubt that they would really welcome us under some circumstances, then it appears that when they would look at us they want to see themselves. We might say that is self-justification of the highest order, which is certainly needed if you live in fear and refuse to admit you are going down the wrong road. It must be painful for the mirror to tell you that you may not be the "fairest" in all the land.

In the spirit of CPSP discourse, how do we see ourselves? Our defining ethic and essence is that we are NOT structured hierarchically and that we place primary authority and accountability within the vibrant and intimate life of local/regional Chapters of colleagues, people who know one another and are committed to developing an understanding of the ministries in which their colleagues serve. We choose to function this way because we believe it provides superior accountability and support for the ministries of our Members and the training of seekers and students. And, we believe the cultural, economic, and political changes in our nation and our world support the direction in which we are moving in the CPSP.

The common standards and ethics of specialized pastoral care are NOT at issue, and essentially never have been. The inabilities, deficiencies, and inefficiencies of the hierarchical models are the issues that made the CPSP happen. If you do still believe in systems, something like the CPSP would have arisen one way or another.

We do LOOK different, and prejudice is as real within religious life as anywhere else. While in the spirit of collegiality we certify chaplains whose denominations vary in their structures of authority far more than the differences between the SCC and the CPSP, somehow that quality of mercy and openness is lost when professional competition enters the mix. The tragedy is that wisdom and opportunity are sacrificed in the process.

In God's economy, however, there is the need for the efforts of all of us. None of us own the mirror or the truth. The world has room for several "beauties" and many ministers. And the blessed outcomes we seek are always the result of the Spirit working in and through us. The CPSP does not say that the SCC has no worth, but we do say that the worth of the SCC is essentially diminished by its own refusal to acknowledge the value and validity of others who do not look like them, let alone outline a process that could lead to equal participation. They know that we will NEVER look like what the SCC wants us to look like, for all of the reasons that we affirm in our Covenant and founding documents.

With or without a place at that particular table, we remain committed to doing what we believe in and what we believe God would have us do. We do not need to be at that table to do ministry, but we mourn the lack of communion with our sisters and brothers who seem to seek to deny our worth and the work of God that we do. It would be bitter to just say that they are the losers. Since the leaven also needs the dough, we will continue to take every opportunity to engage others in the pastoral care field in any ways that serve our common goals in ministry.

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Email Bill Scar