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1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. SRTs trained at NACC
3. Status of Fall-2008 Certification Applications & Supportive Materials
4. Reminder: Narrative Statements for Certification Applications due June 1, 2008!
5. Candidates for-at large position for the NACC Board of Directors named
6. Are you deciding about the 2009 Spiritual Care Collaborative Summit?
7. Healing Tree: A request for prayers
8. Recent job postings
9. Please go to the NACC web-link for info on these local gatherings

This past week I had the privilege to spend time in New England and New York with three groups of chaplains/spiritual care professionals. These exchanges provided me with valuable perspectives about you, our very diverse members, and the professional settings within which you minister.

These gatherings also had me reflecting on the importance of local church in knowing and supporting their chaplains. As you recall, goal two of the NACC strategic plan is to “strengthen the NACC’s relationships within the Catholic Church,” and its third objective is “to enhance relationships with Catholic bishops on the local level.” Over the past couple weeks the NACC has encountered situations regarding, or I have been in settings where chaplains have discussed, ecclesiastical endorsement, the desire for more connection to their local dioceses, and the need for some type of commissioning of chaplains by their local ordinary. In visiting the New England and New York area, I was struck by the diocesan structure and support for chaplains of Boston, Brooklyn, and Long Island. We realize that no one structure fits every diocese, yet chaplains have expressed the need for more connection with and a sense of mission from their local church.

On Monday, May 19th, sixty chaplains from the New England States gathered at Assumption College in Worcester, MA, for renewal of spirit, support of one another, an update on NACC, and learning about Mary, Help for the Sick and Suffering through a presentation by Virginia Kimball as she shared the Church’s Marian tradition through songs, prayers, and icons, and reminded us of how believers have turned to Mary in times of sickness and need for healing. Chaplains were very appreciative that Bishop George Rueger, former Auxiliary Bishop of Worcester, and a member of the NACC Episcopal Advisory Council, came, and shared reflections with the group. This connection to the Council and the bishops and hearing their support was very appreciated. The day concluded with commitments to meet at least annually and with volunteers to help these gatherings continue.

On Tuesday, May 20th, I had an early breakfast with Mike Guglielmo and George Handzo of Healthcare Chaplaincy, and a tour of/introduction to their center in Manhattan, NY. It was a valuable exchange on their and NACC’s efforts to advance our profession. As you know, through your reading of PlainViews, Healthcare Chaplaincy contributes immensely to the profession. Mid-morning, on the gracious invitation of Sr. Julie Houser and Sr. Annelle Fitzpatrick, I joined nearly 100 participants of the C.H.A.P. (The Catholic Healthcare Administration Personnel) program at St. John’s University in Jamaica, NY. The day was dedicated to “Cultural Sensitivity and the Patient Encounter” with presentations by three MD’s representing their Hindu, Sikh, and Orthodox Jewish traditions. In the afternoon, the Brooklyn chaplains/members of NACC gathered to have the opportunity to meet one another, be welcomed by the new Director of Healthcare Services for the Brooklyn Diocese, Kevin Roche, and have an exchange with me on NACC. The diversity of the Brooklyn chaplains, and the people they serve, is truly a microcosm of the world! Again, the presence of the person responsible for organizing and supporting the chaplains was greatly valued by the chaplains.

On Wednesday, May 21st, the chaplains of Long Island gathered for their annual prayer/study day at the Dominican Village in Amityville, NY. I presented on "Cultivating a Contemplative Presence for Chaplaincy." You can access my material here. The Rockville Centre diocese’s chaplains are uniquely structured and supported through Cathy Grandjean, the Director of Chaplaincy, who reports to the Vice President for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Education, Mary Teresa O’Neill, who reports to the CEO of the diocese’s Catholic Health Services that manages all the healthcare services of Long Island. About 150 chaplains (approx. 50 religious, 40 priests, 40 lay, 20 interns) serve in the 28 hospitals and other health services on Long Island. You could sense, again, how important it was to the chaplains to have that sense of belonging to the local church and sharing in its mission. The day concluded with Msgr. Brian McNamara, the Cabinet Secretary for Ministerial Personnel for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, presiding for the Eucharist and again expressing gratitude to the chaplains and expressing the importance of their ministry.

We need to keep working on building relationships with the local ordinary and church. One person mentioned that NACC needs to send each diocese the NACC member list for that diocese, encourage them to connect to one another, and to the local church. I am hoping through the state liaisons to learn what will be best for each state and the dioceses within that state. In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts on this area -- dlichter@nacc.org.

Sponsored by the NACC for the second year, the American Red Cross Spiritual Care Response Team training was held prior to the 2008 National Conference at the Sheridan, Indianapolis, April 4-5, 2008. Twenty-two people were trained including the following board certified NACC chaplains:

Linda Amato, MI Kay Berrens, MI Valerie Carlton, WA Nancy Cook, CA David Fitzgerald, MO Theresa Gregoire, CO Alice Hennessy, PA Joan Horgan, MA Louizette Labbe, LA

Caterina Mako, NJ Thomas Meier, IN Jan Metz, OH William Mich, WA Rev. Christudas Nayak, LA Rev. Christopher Okoli, NY Rosemary Partridge, CO Judith Shemkovitz, OH

We congratulate them on their training and we especially thank Catholic Family Life Insurance and Providence Health & Services for their support in helping to provide the training!

We are currently working on preliminary review of the Certification Applications and Supportive Materials. As we move forward, we ask that you please do not make any hotel/travel reservations until you are notified that you qualify for an interview in October 4-5, 2008. Materials will be reviewed in the order they were received. For questions, please contact Rose Mary Blanco-Alvarado at rmalvarado@nacc.org.

The Narrative Statement (the 10-page statement documenting how you meet each of the competencies required for certification citing each Standard, section 300, by number) is due in the NACC National Office by June 1, 2008.

We are very grateful to the following NACC members for being candidates for the at-large position for the NACC Board of Directors. James Castello, Vicki Farley, Blair Holtey, Fr. Dean Marek, Marie Polhamus, Bro. Ed Smink, and Fr. Baaju Izuchi, CSSp. Their statements, photos, and bios will be available in the next NACC Now. Their background and NACC voting procedures will appear in the July-August Vision. What a generous gift to NACC!

You should have gotten a special e-mail announcement with information about the SCC Summit 2009, February 1-4, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Remember that Sunday, February 1, 2009 the Super Bowl is in Tampa. Early booking of flights to Orlando will keep your airfares more reasonable. For more information, go to the SCC website.

Please continue to keep in prayer Sr. Paula Jacobs, SSM (terminal cancer), Dennis Eldridge (Kathy’s husband for cancer treatment), Jeanne Childs (surgery on May 13), Sr. Nancy Flaig, OSB (chemo treatment for cancer), Sr. Mary Skopal, SSJ (recovering from back surgery), Sr. Mary Anna Euring, OP (bout with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), and Sr. Alice Smitherman, OSB (recovering from heart surgery).

The following positions have been posted in the last two weeks. Please go to our Positions Available page for more information about them.

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE
     Jamestown, ND - Ave Maria Village (formerly Central Dakota Village)
CHAPLAIN/SPIRITUAL CARE COORDINATOR
     Rockford, IL - Heartland Hospice of Rockford
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
     Tucson, AZ - Carondelet Health Network
CATHOLIC PRIEST CHAPLAIN
     Miami, FL - Catholic Health Services’ new St. Catherine’s West facility
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
     Baltimore, MD - St. Joseph Medical Center
EVENING CLINICAL CHAPLAIN
     Binghamton, NY - Our Lady of Lourdes
STAFF CHAPLAIN - Yonkers, NY
     St. John’s-Riverside Hospital
STAFF CHAPLAIN, FULL-TIME
     Baltimore, MD - Bon Secours Baltimore Health System

Our local gathering list is growing. Therefore, we ask you to use our local/NACC events calendar for more information on:

• Irvine, CA: June 20, 2008
• San Francisco, CA: June 25, 2008
• Omaha, NE: July 17, 2008
• Portland, OR, September 19-20, 2008
• Alexandria, MN, September 25-26, 2008
• Green Lake, WI, October 26-28, 2008
• St. Louis, MO, November 5, 2008
• Baltimore, MD, November 12, 2008