Click here to return to the main NACC Now page.

1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. The 2010 NACC National Conference dates are set. So what should we do?
3. NACC Chaplain assists disaster victims of Continental Flight 3407
4. How are chaplains being used in the midst of organizational changes?
5. Lenten resources
6. Call for Abstracts
7. PlainViews Subscriptions
8. Practical Bearings Bibliographic Resource
9. Continuing Education Hours – Summit ‘09
10. Who belongs to NACC?
11. Sign up soon for March 7th Chicago NACC Event
12. Plans are final for April 24th Atlanta NACC Event
13. Other local/regional event dates!
14. Resources to help plan local/regional events!
15. CHA November Statement on Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
16. Being Present - Spiritual Directors International
17. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
18. Recent job postings
19. Positions wanted

In the Church of Our Lady of the Desert at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona, the front wall has a large saying inviting those present to reflect on the promise of the surroundings, “The desert will lead you to your heart where God will speak.” The austere landscape pulls one’s eyes to look for life in the strangest, and often rarest, of species. It leads you to think about sustenance and growth in new ways. The Saguaro Cactus of the Sonoran Desert, for instance, might grow an inch a year. Many that populate the landscape are 200 years old, and take 50-100 years to add an arm!

As I have heard the past couple weeks from more members whose jobs have been lost and who are moving into a time of uncertainty, I have been touched by their expressions of faith and hope, and trust that sustenance and growth will come to them in ways yet known. In the midst of the austerity of loss and insecurity, their personal desert, they seek sustenance in the faith they embodied at every bedside they visited.

Yet, I wonder what more NACC can do and be for them? Many of you are providing networking for the ones you know personally. I am concerned that they do not experience the isolation and marginalization that comes with the job search. I know personally how important it was to receive regular communication from my family and friends during that time. In this desert time for them, how are we God’s voice of hope and comfort?

If you have ideas, please let me know at dlichter@nacc.org.

Other signs of life in tough times… As you know, our NACC strategic plan goal five is to engage strategic partners in collaborative work to live out our mission. The past two weeks were dedicated to this goal. The first-ever Spiritual Care Collaborative Summit 2009 assembled over 1800 professionals from our six associations to reflect on Health and Hope from multi-disciplinary ways. More than 350 NACC members participated. We will be making available to our members the plenary and workshop presentations as soon as they are available. The SCC Steering Committee met to reaffirm its commitment to identify and pursue ways to provide a common voice for professional pastoral care, counseling and education organizations in the United States and Canada. The long-term sustenance and growth of the profession count on their collaborative efforts on behalf of chaplaincy.

I also was invited to participate in the Association of Graduate Programs in Ministry’s (AGPIM) annual meeting to share the current and potential partnership of NACC and AGPIM. Forty representatives of graduate schools throughout the USA gathered to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of multiculturalism in their schools. One of the presenters was Rev. Clarence Williams, CPPS, PhD, the founder and director of the Institute for Recovery from Racisms in Washington, D.C., and currently on the staff of Catholic Charities USA, who offered historical and cultural insights into racism and put the group through self-examination exercises on racism. The presentation was instructive in both its content and its method to help us grow in self-awareness regarding our own prejudices. For more information on Fr. Clarence go to www.racialsobriety.org/Fclarence_williams_trg.php or www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=874.

As I presented to these heads of graduate programs in ministry, I was very aware of how indebted to and appreciative I was of staff and NACC members who were instrumental in preparing the materials I shared. With research support from Susanne Chawszczewski, I could let this group know that more than 250 recently (last 4-5 years) certified NACC chaplains received their degrees from these programs represented. This was an eye-opener that helped the AGPIM members realize they have students already considering chaplaincy. With Phil Paradowski’s help, I could share with them the graph that showed the urgency of identifying and preparing the next generations of chaplains. Thanks to the work of our Pastoral Care Education/Credentialing Task Force I could offer them a way to compare their programs to the requirements of the NACC Standards. Thanks to the Care Services Task Force I could offer them the essential functions of the board-certified chaplain. The Pastoral Care Recruitment Task Force made possible the material I distributed (the brochure) and the content on our NACC website accessed through the “Consider Chaplaincy” icon.

Also, we have been working with Laura Richter, Director of Workplace Spiritual of Ascension Health, to create a video on chaplaincy that we can use for recruitment. We are so appreciative of Ascension Health’s willingness to partner with us on this video as they are also preparing one on the spiritual care ministry for their system. I am also appreciative of the several NACC members at the SCC Summit ‘09 who were willing to gather with Jim Castello, our NACC member who is providing us his marketing expertise, and myself to provide their feedback on the content of another brochure on chaplaincy we are preparing.

Wow! What an array of diverse strategic partnerships. We are moving in an important and critical direction.

Appreciatively,
David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

As you know, the 2010 NACC National Conference will be held March 20-23, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza – Riverfront, St. Paul, Minnesota. What would you like to see happen? Visit the 2010 conference page on our website and contact us with your ideas.

Earl Johnson of American Red Cross (ARC) National Headquarters alerted us that the American Red Cross is supporting the family and loved ones of those fifty fatalities in the Continental 3407 crash in the Clarence Center, NY neighborhood, just outside Buffalo, last Thursday, February 12th. The ARC Spiritual Care Response Team was led by NACC member Chaplain Beth Lenegan, Director of Pastoral Care at the Hospice of Roswell Park in Buffalo, NY. Thanks to Beth and all those who ministered there. For a link to Earl’s email see the latest issue of the SRT newsletter: www.nacc.org/resources/fm/E-SRT_Feb2009.doc (NACC member-only content: please sign in)

Every institution where our members are employed is affected by these tough financial times. Spiritual care members are also losing jobs. However, many are also asked to play diverse roles in ministering to fellow employees losing positions. The Care Services Task Force seeks to learn from you what roles (whether seemingly appropriate or inappropriate) you or other spiritual care providers are being called upon to provide. We want to put together resources for all of us, so that we may have more advice from one another on how to be a healing ministry in the midst of these difficult times. Please contact dlichter@nacc.org with your experiences. Send them this week, so we can publish in the next NACC Now the ways we have learned from you.

We have put together some resources for both personal and group reflection on the NACC website. Please consider gathering a group of chaplains/colleagues for a Lenten prayer or reflection group. If we can be assistance to you in any way by including the information about your gathering on the NACC website, please contact Susanne at schaw@nacc.org.

Please see the link below for the call for abstracts for an upcoming Hofstra University conference titled "New Directions in American Health Care: Innovations from Home and Abroad." The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to April 27, 2009. Please consider submitting an abstract and/or sharing the attached with interested colleagues and associates. This conference will be hosted by Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on March 11 and 12, 2010. Call for abstracts

PlainViews is an e-newsletter created to promote dialogue among chaplains and other spiritual care providers on issues of Professional Practice, Advocacy, Education & Research, and Spiritual Development. PlainViews is published on the first and third Wednesday of every month by the HealthCare Chaplaincy. Please go to www.plainviews.org/subscribe.php to subscribe.

The HealthCare Chaplaincy, with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation, introduces Practical Bearings at www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/practicalbearings/, a series of bibliographies and critical reviews of the important books, articles and other publications on the theory and practice of pastoral care. Practical Bearings will publish a new issue at the beginning of each month. Among the issue topics will be:

• By Its Fruits: The Science of Health Care Chaplaincy
• Ministry Amidst Chance, Necessity, Love: Cancer and Health Care Chaplaincy
• The Management of Care: Literature on Leadership and Organizational Development
• The Comfort of Strangers: Trends in the History and Current Practice of Health Care
• To Want to Learn: Educational Theory for Supervision and Training

You can find two forms for Continuing Education Hours from the Summit ’09 at the NACC website at www.nacc.org/conference/2009materials.asp. One form is for general sessions and one form is for workshops/optional sessions. You can print these out, fill them out, calculate your continuing education hours, and keep them in your files for your next renewal of certification.

Did you know that 73 percent of members are certified, 34.7 percent religious women, 33 percent lay women, 16.4 percent priests, 10.9 percent lay men, 3.4 percent deacons, 1 percent brothers? Do you know the average age of each of these groups?

....................	Brothers	Deacons	Laymen	Laywomen	Priests	Sisters	Others	Mean
Average Age	64	67	56	61	60	69	56	63

Over 20 participants already! Join us at the Mulcahy Center, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood IL! For details go to our Calendar of Events and Opportunities.

Members of states in regions 4 & 14, and anyone else are welcome to an NACC sponsored gathering in Atlanta, GA, on Friday April 24th at St. Joseph Hospital. For details go to our Calendar of Events and Opportunities.

Several state liaison groups are working to finalize details for other gatherings. Please review the list below, and mark your calendars. More details of events will be in future NACC Now's.

• Friday, April 17, 2009, Centennial, CO. Joint APC/NACC.
• Monday, May 18, 2009, Assumption College, Worcester, MA.
• Tuesday, June 9, 2009, New Orleans, LA. Details to follow.
• Thursday, July 23, 2009, Omaha, NE. Joint APC/NACC. Details to follow.

Please follow the link here to resources the NACC office staff can offer you to plan for local/regional events. Please contact cbridges@nacc.org if you want assistance with local events or want to set a planning call with other liaisons. We can’t always anticipate your need, so let us know! We are here to help! So please visit the state liaison area on the NACC website at www.nacc.org/volunteers/state_reps.asp for these resources.

NACC has received inquiries about the status and potential impact of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) on Catholic Healthcare. On the public site of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) website you can access SR. Carol Keehan’s statement issued in November 2008 that remains CHA’s public stand on how to monitor and respond to any efforts to move the law forward: www.chausa.org/foca

Houston, Texas - April 17-21, 2009
Join Keynote Presenter Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, and an international faculty in exploring what it means to be truly present to the hope and challenges of the here and now. These events focus on issues of health care and ministry with the marginalized. A special pre-conference Institute on Spirituality and Health Care will be followed by Practices of Presence, a free evening experience open to everyone interested in learning more about the ministry of spiritual companioning. Spiritual Directors International is a global learning community that serves and supports spiritual companioning and emerges from the contemplative traditions of many faiths. For information, please click here.

Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. We continue to pray for Judy Novak (radiation treatment for colorectal cancer), Bro. Brian Boyle, CPPS (broken foot), Rev. Jim Radde, SJ (recovering from surgery), Teddi Tomsic (major surgery), Sr. Hilda Mallet, MHS (cancer treatment), Sr. Rita Rzeppa, IBVM (recovering/rehab from knee surgery), and Dennis Eldridge (Kathy's husband, for cancer treatment).

The following positions have been posted in the last two weeks. Please go to www.nacc.org/positions/available.asp for more information about them.

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE
     New York, NY – The Healthcare Chaplaincy

STAFF CHAPLAIN
     Baltimore, MD – Saint Agnes Hospital

CHAPLAIN
     Ann Arbor, MI – Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

In this time of change and uncertainty it is more important than ever to use every resource available. If you have lost your job recently, if you’re just seeking a new or better position, or if you are an employer seeking a chaplain for your organization, be sure to visit our Positions Wanted webpage. NACC members can take advantage of this free service by placing a job-seeking ad, for free, which will run for 60 days.
To see the ads, visit www.nacc.org/positions/wanted.asp

To place your own ad, send an email to Phil Paradowski.