1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Consider the NACC Board of Directors
3. National Conference a success!
4. Bishop Calvo presides at Mass and Mission Ceremony for Newly Certified
5. Prior and Current Executive Directors: thanked and blessed
6. The Julian Center receives more than $4,000
7. How are we doing on our NACC plan?
8. Chaplaincy stories now available
9. Plan to give a talk on chaplaincy?
10. The ACE Project: a national palliative, end-of-life/bereavement care program
11. May 2, 2009: Deadline for 2009 Spiritual Care Summit Workshop Applications
12. This Wednesday, April 16, 2008, is National Healthcare Decisions Day
13. Healing Tree: A request for prayers
Note these local gatherings
14. Orlando, FL: April 20, 2008 Florida Chaplains
15. Worcester, MA: May 19, 2008 Northeast Chaplains
16. Irving, CA: June 20, 2008 California Chaplains
17. San Francisco, CA: June 25, 2008 California Chaplains

So I had a “first timer” ribbon hanging from my name tag. I asked all first timers to stand at the beginning of the 2008 National Conference. A good number of participants stood! We all felt welcomed to NACC! The spirit, energy and enthusiasm were palpable. High praise was common. I received well wishes and blessings throughout the conference. Thank you. Over the next few NACC Now’s we will be sharing highlights of the Conference. The June Vision will feature the Conference.

At the conference, many chaplains shared stories of challenges in their ministry settings – including financial ones. It seems across the country healthcare is under financial stress. Spiritual care departments, like all healthcare departments, are under scrutiny to find cost savings – and justify their work. Weeks before the conference I received many e-mails from members who wanted and planned to come to the conference, but whose employers since January either put a freeze on the education budget or cut department staff. It’s the climate today. We now experience all the more the urgency to produce and share research and documents that evidence the value of spiritual care.

One important piece of research is compensation. In the coming weeks, you will be notified and invited to participate in a compensation survey through the Spiritual Care Collaborative. As you might recall, we have had available on our website, and many members found helpful, the APC 2006 salary survey. This coming survey will include members of NAJC, APC, ACPE, and NACC. Your participation is critical to reliable data. Please participate!

Friday, May 16, 2008 is the deadline for nominations to be received for the one member-at-large position on the NACC Board of Directors. Please consider yourself or another member as a candidate. We seek diversity (age, culture, geographic, chaplain/ supervisor, leadership roles), and special skills (finances, marketing/PR, web-based learning, legal). Please go to the NACC Board election page for more information about the nomination process.

More than 500 participants gathered in Indianapolis for the NACC 2008 Conference, “Bringing Gifts that Differ in Splendid Varied Ways.” High energy, great plenary speakers, informative workshops, supportive colleagues, challenging issues, inspiring award recipients, newly certified members, enjoyable common meals, and many other features combined to invigorate and renew those who came. Later this week, many materials from the conference will be available on the website for everyone. Check back at this page soon!

National Conference participants had their first encounter with Bishop Randolph Calvo, USCCB Liaison to the NACC. Bishop Calvo presided and preached at the Sunday Eucharist and Missioning Ceremony at the conference. Members were touched by his humble, warm, and friendly style, and by his words of wisdom and encouragement in his homily. For a copy of his homily go to the 2008 Conference materials page here.

Rev. Thomas Landry, our prior executive director, and David Lichter, our current executive director, received NACC members’ gratitude and blessing at the Conference Banquet during a ritual prepared by and presided over by Karen Pugliese, NACC Board Chair. Join in the thanks and blessing by going to this page.

At this year’s 2008 National Conference, The Julian Center, this year’s National Conference Charity, received more than $4,000 in donations from NACC members after the motivating presentation by Ann Delaney, the executive director! Located in Indianapolis, the Center provides counseling, safe shelter, and education for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other life crises. Through outreach and consultation, it educates the community about the issue of domestic violence and its impact on all our lives.

At the National Conference business meeting, David Lichter shared with participants an overview of the approach to understanding and implementing the new NACC strategic plan, as well as the work of the diverse task forces and advisory panels that are providing direction and action. For a copy of the PowerPoint David used for this presentation, please go to this page. David will continue to provide updates in the future.

Thanks to chaplains who responded to the Pastoral Care Summit Recruitment Task Force’s request for member stories on “How I became a chaplain” or “What chaplaincy means to me.” We are still waiting for your story, but wanted to share the ones that have already arrived. We will be designing a special link on our site where someone considering chaplaincy can go to read your stories (with photo and contact information) – and discover theirs. Please send your story along with a digital photo of yourself to cbridges@nacc.org.

At the National Conference we shared with members the first draft of a PowerPoint presentation that could be used by members if they are giving a presentation to a group. We plan to refine this one, and produce several more in the coming weeks, and then make them available to members via the website. To view the current draft go here. If you have similar presentations, please send them to Cindy Bridges and we will make them available to other members.

The ACE Project is a national palliative, end-of-life and bereavement care educational program administered by City of Hope National Medical Center (COH) designed to enhance the leadership and advocacy skills of psychologists, social workers and spiritual care professionals. The ACE Project was originally funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute. Competitively-selected psychologists, social workers and spiritual care professionals will take part in four annual courses with 75 participants per course followed by a Reunion Conference in October 2010 that reunites all past 300 participants and faculty to disseminate findings, share lessons learned and strengthen participant change efforts. Substantial financial assistance will be provided to ACE attendees. Further information about the ACE Project can be found at their website. **Course 3: November 11-14, 2008. Application materials: NOW AVAILABLE ON LINE! Application deadline: June 30th, 2008. To learn from an NACC member participating in the program, contact Linda.F.Piotrowski@hitchcock.org.

Next year’s NACC National Conference will actually be a first-time summit with all five of the other cognate associations of the Spiritual Care Collaborative (AAPC, ACPE, APC, CAPPE, and NAJC). The theme of this historic summit is “Health and Hope: The Hard Reality of Living Intentionally in a Village of Care” and it will take place in Orlando, Florida, February 1-4, 2009. Applications for 90-minute workshops are currently being accepted with a due date of May 2, 2008. You can view information about the conference, the workshops and the workshop application at the Spiritual Care Collaborative website. Mark your calendars now for this exciting event!

Every state, as well as Puerto Rico and internationally (thanks to the U.S. Army), is participating!

Are you? Here are ways to participate:
• First and foremost: lead by example. Encourage your members/staffs to execute their own advance directives before April 16, so they will be in the best position to help others with theirs. With this alone, we can reach millions. Also remind your members/staff of your existing resources on advance directives.
• You will find here ideas for activities and FREE templates of newsletters, a community presentation, sticker and poster templates, and more. Also consider collaborative events with other participants (see list above).
• Reach out to your media contacts. Let them know what your organization/facility is doing and encourage them to run a story on National Healthcare Decisions Day.
• Complete the brief survey if you haven't already done so. Also, please pass along the survey to others.
• Keep the buzz up. Help recruit even more participants by spreading the word about this event with friends, colleagues, and organizations. They can confirm their participation here. Also please don't limit this to healthcare/legal organizations; we want civic and religious organizations spreading the word about the importance of advance healthcare planning, too.

Please continue to keep in prayer Sr. Nancy Flaig, OSB, during her chemo treatment for cancer, for Sr. Mary Skopal, SSJ, who is recovering from back surgery, Sr. Mary Anna Euring, OP, as she continues her bout with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Sr. Alice Smitherman, OSB, who is recovering from heart surgery.

Orlando, FL: April 20, 2008 Florida Chaplains

Chaplains of Florida will be gathering for a Day of Recollection this coming Sunday, April 20th, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. near Orlando at the San Pedro Center, Winter Park, FL. David Lichter, NACC Executive Director, will be leading the day. TODAY, Monday, April 14th, is the final registration day. E-mail dlichter@nacc.org TODAY if you are planning to come but have not yet registered. Registration form is here.

Please mark your calendar! NACC members are invited to an educational gathering at Assumption College, Worchester, MA, on Monday, May 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Virginia Kimball, a theologian, laywoman and mother of nine, will reflect on Mary and our chaplaincy. David Lichter, NACC’s Executive Director, will also attend and provide news on NACC. Thanks goes to Fr. Tom Garlick for helping to arrange this. For announcement and registration form click here.

Please mark your calendar! We have set aside Friday, June 20, 2008, for NACC chaplains to spend a day together at VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, in Irvine, CA. Thanks goes to John Gillman for helping to arrange this, and Kim Heximer, the VITAS General Manager at Irvine, for her hospitality. Hold this date! If any chaplain is interested in helping to plan this event, please contact David Lichter.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008, NACC members are invited to a day together at the System office of Catholic Healthcare West, 185 Berry Street, Suite 300, through the hospitality of Rey Friel, Vice-President Mission Integration & Spiritual Care Services, Catholic Healthcare West. Hold this date! If any chaplain is interested in helping to plan this event, please contact David Lichter.