We have been blessed with so many wonderful responses to be 2012 Conference sponsors. We rely on this support to keep conference registration fees reasonable and provide other amenities for participants. Please join us in thanking our sponsors.

2012 Conference brochure (PDF)
2012 Conference Registration form (PDF)
2012 Day of Reflection (Retreat) Registration form (PDF)

We are pleased to announce the theme and facilitators for the 2012 national conference Day of Reflection (formerly called our “retreat”) which will take place on Friday, May 18, 2012 prior to the conference. This year’s theme is “Saved by Beauty – Living from the Inside Out”. Our facilitators are Anne and Tom Butler from Bon Secours Health System in Maryland. Anne is an Internal Consultant for Chronic Care/ Palliative Care and Tom is the Director of Mission Services.
Please click here for more information.

Memories of Milwaukee…
Back by popular demand -- we are pleased to offer two special local events during our 2012 conference. Join us for the opportunity to make special memories of your time in Milwaukee.

Friday Night Fish Fry     Friday, May 18, 2012
On Friday night in Milwaukee, just about every restaurant has one, and everyone is always looking to find their favorite – the Friday Night Fish Fry. Join us for a Wisconsin tradition at a local Milwaukee favorite, the American Serb Hall. Serb Hall has been serving the community for over 50 years and their hospitality is just as good as their food.

The $25 cost includes transportation and an all-u-can-eat Haddock fish fry (served family style) with sides, soda, and coffee. Bus Pick up at the hotel is at 5:30 p.m. and Dinner is at 6:15 p.m.

Milwaukee Church Tour     Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Join us for a guided tour of three of Milwaukee’s local churches. We will travel by bus to St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, the Islamic Center, and St. Mary and St. Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church. Three continuing education hours will be offered.

The $35 cost includes the three hour guided tour, transportation, and a light snack.

Registration and payment is due by April 16, 2012.
To download a registration form, click here. (PDF)

The 2012 National Conference Planning Task Force is pleased to announce an added benefit of a “Conference Weaver” at this year’s conference. Our Conference Weaver is Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, a monk of the Camaldolese Congregation, musician, composer, writer, and teacher. Fr. Cyprian will help us to move through our journey with the plenary speakers, provide times of meditation, reflection and contemplation each day, and draw our theme across the four days we are together here in Milwaukee. Additionally, we are pleased that Fr. Cyprian will be giving a concert during his time with us.

Fr. Cyprian lived for ten years and did his monastic formation at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, where he served as liturgist, choir director and teacher. Much of both his music and his teaching revolve around the Universal Call to Contemplation through spirituality and the arts. He has five collections of original music recorded and published through OCP Publications, three others released through the Equilibrium label with his long time collaborator, percussionist John Pennington, and two other collections self-published out of Singapore.

He has also collaborated on several collections of a capella sacred music for the church year with the Collegeville Composers Group. Cyprian earned his MA in Theology from St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, CA. A student of the writings of Bede Griffiths and Abhishiktananda, Cyprian has a great love for comparative religion, has done work in inter-faith ritual and world music, regularly leads conferences on meditation, and has been to India and other countries in Asia several times, both studying and teaching. He has written numerous articles and a book, Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation, for Liturgical Press.

Cyprian currently lives near Santa Cruz, California; he spends about half his time at home and half his time on the road performing and teaching. For more information, please visit Cyprian’s website is: www.cyprianconsiglio.com.

More information: Rev. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam. Published Works (PDF)

The 2012 National Conference Planning Task Force is pleased to announce our speakers for the 2012 National Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 19-22, 2012. The task force has worked very hard to bring national speakers to our conversation about our theme: Reconciling Journey: A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance. Dates and times will be forthcoming!

C. Vanessa White, D.Min.
Assistant Professor of Spirituality
Director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program
Catholic Theological Union

Jean deBlois, CSJ, Ph.D.
Professor of Systematic Theology
Director of the Master of Arts in Health Care Mission Program
Aquinas Institute of Theology

Most Rev. Blase J. Cupich, S.T.D.
Bishop of Spokane, Washington

John Dear, SJ, M.Div.
Priest, pastor, peacemaker, organizer, retreat leader, author/editor

Click here for speaker bios.

Plenary speakers' published works

Each of the PDF files below contains a bibliography of published works for the indicated speaker.

C. Vanessa White, D.Min.
Published Works Listing (White) (PDF)

Jean deBlois, CSJ, Ph.D.
Published Works Listing (deBlois) (PDF)

Most Rev. Blase J. Cupich, S.T.D.
Published Works Listing (Cupich).pdf (PDF)

John Dear, SJ, M.Div.
Published Works Listing (Dear) (PDF)

Rev. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam. (Conference Weaver)
Published Works Listing (Consiglio) (PDF)

Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19, 2012
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Friday and 7:00 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. on Saturday

(Pre-approved application required)

Disaster Spiritual Care members will continue to be deployed following aviation, transportation disasters, mass casualties, terrorism events, and by government request. Recent hurricane and flooding disasters have birthed an emerging model of BCC chaplains as partners with social work and nursing, making up an Integrated Care Team both locally and nationally. This new element of training will be introduced.

This intensive ARC DSC training is offered free of charge, although all accepted participants are responsible for their own travel and maintenance. Given the limited class size and necessity for a formal application process there is no guarantee that every request to attend will be able to be honored.

To attend this training session, please complete the SRT Application Packet (PDF) available from Tim.Serban@Providence.org and send back by March 31, 2012. Admittance to this training is by letter from the American Red Cross Disaster Spiritual Care Leadership Team.

Our theme, Reconciling Journey: A Time to Mourn and A Time to Dance, is an invitation to be, as St. Paul says, ambassadors of reconciliation. This transformative journey, beckons us to acknowledge sin, mourn loss, seek healing, and celebrate hope in Christ. It is a movement of individual and communal integration within the context of our personal lives, our profession, our church, and our world.

This reconciling journey is an invitation to mourn and to dance; to move through experiences of lament to find joy. Our journey moves us through the process of identifying and reflecting on the brokenness, ritualizing and validating our lament, and celebrating what we have integrated both personally and communally, as we have become one in Christ or as we have experienced a fresh recognition of our oneness in God.

To this end, our conference critical questions include:

• Reconciliation within our Self
• How do we explore our inner dynamic that is experienced as a tension between who we are and who we desire to be?
• Reconciliation within our Professional Settings
• How are we a reconciling presence in professional settings where brokenness appears in many contexts?
• Reconciliation within the Ecclesial Community
• How do we live gracefully within a church that embodies “the already and the not yet”?
• Reconciliation within our Global Society
• How do we serve as ambassadors of reconciliation within the global community?

Many thanks to Task Force members:

• Ms. Kathleen Ponce (Conference Chair)
• Sr. Kathleen Brady, OP (Local Arrangements)
• Mr. Hugo Gonzalez (Conference Workshops)
• Ms. Karen Nehls (Local Arrangements)
• Dr. Michele Le Doux Sakurai (Plenary Speakers/Leadership Workshops)
• Rev. John T. Crabb, SJ (NACC Board Representative)
• David Lichter, Susanne Chawszczewski, and Jeanine Annunziato from the National Office.

The National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) is preparing for our annual conference to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 19-22, 2012. The theme is Reconciling Journey: A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance. We invite vendors/exhibitors to participate in our conference by displaying your products and/or services via a tabletop exhibit. Conference attendees look for the resources and services that contribute to the work they do as chaplains as well as their own self-care. We anticipate 400-450 attendees that will include chaplains, mission directors and other health care executives.

The exhibitors for the 2012 conference will be located across from the ballroom where all major sessions will be held. This area will host coffee breaks and other high traffic activity. This conference supports the continuing professional development of our members. Know that your exhibit will enhance that development. For more information, please download our Exhibit Specifications and Application form.

Click a logo below or click here for information about, and materials from, past conferences.