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1. Executive Director's reflections
2. Dues increase has not taken effect yet
3. Survey to gather chaplaincy data
4. 2008 conference speakers set; workshop proposals sought
5. What are best practices for charting?
6. Certification Commission meets in Milwaukee
7. It's not too late for 2007 Annual Appeal
8. ACPE national conference this week
9. NACC Board adds two new members
10. NACC Awards – Nominations end November 1, 2007
11. NACC staff news

When you read this issue of NACC Now, more than 50 representatives of the Catholic Health Association, the NACC, Catholic health systems, the Spiritual Care Collaborative, Catholic graduate schools of ministry, researchers, and measurement specialists will be gathering in Omaha, NE, for a Spiritual Care Summit. These experienced chaplains, mission integration leaders, and directors of pastoral care are seeking to develop meaningful metrics that demonstrate the value and impact of pastoral care alongside other clinical services. Hosted by Alegent Health, this summit marks the first time that key issues in pastoral care will be addressed in such a comprehensive and coordinated fashion. We look forward to reporting the outcomes of the summit. For more information, click here.

Our members should have received the 2008 NACC membership dues increase notification by now. We appreciate how conscientious you are about paying your dues in a timely manner. However, please note: the increase becomes effective January 1, 2008, and affects those members whose membership renewal month is January 2008, February 2008, March 2008, etc. If your renewal month is August, September, October, November or December 2007, please do not send us the increased amount.

We are very pleased to be partnering with CHA on a pastoral care and chaplaincy survey that is nearly complete. It will be sent in late November/early December by CHA to all healthcare members of CHA and all NACC members. It is designed to provide us with invaluable data about pastoral care departments, chaplains, and their services, preparation, training, compensation, etc. The information will be very helpful to all chaplains and pastoral care leaders. We will tell you more as the time nears to participate.

Four distinguished Catholic theologians will address our annual conference in Indianapolis, IN, when we gather from April 5-8, 2008. The plenary speakers will be Rev. Kenan B. Osborne, OFM; Rev. Richard M. Gula, SS; Dr. Carolyn Osiek; and Sr./Dr. Jamie T. Phelps, OP. For more information, see the November-December issue of Vision or click here. In addition, the Conference Committee is gathering proposals for workshops. Please click here to find information regarding the theme, suggested topical areas, and critical questions for you to address as you put your workshop proposal together. Members may submit both pre-conference workshop and 90-minute workshop proposals. Proposals are due to the NACC National Office by Monday, October 29, 2007.

In an upcoming issue, Vision plans to examine how our members chart. If your institution has a system that you’re proud of, we’d like to hear from you. Have you developed software? Do you have a checklist or a narrative? What are appropriate or inappropriate comments to include? How do you train your department to use the system? Please send a message with your initial thoughts to Vision editor David Lewellen, vision@nacc.org.

This coming Thursday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Oct. 28, the NACC Certification Commission is meeting in Milwaukee. They will be reviewing all the materials and deliberations of the certification interviews that took place throughout the country the weekend of Oct 6-7. They will also complete the revision of certification procedures to accompany the revised standards. Finally, they will be conducting supervisor interviews. They have a full schedule! We appreciate their unwavering commitment and high quality work. The commission currently includes: Rev. John T. Crabb, SJ; Dr. Rodger F. Accardi; Sr. Janet R. Bielmann, RSM; Sr. Geraldine Krautkramer, OSF; Ms. Mary Carole Nelson; Rev. Agustin R. Orosa, OS Cam.; Mr. Robert V. Scheri; Sr. Mary R. Skopal, SSJ; Rev. James R. Yeakel, OSFS; Karen Pugliese, M.A.; Alan E. Bowman, M.Div., M.B.A.

If you have had good intentions of making a gift to the NACC’s 2007 Annual Appeal, we’d like to remind you that you still can. The association’s needs continue year-round, and we do rely on the generosity of our members to continue the important work of our mission, whether that generosity comes in January or March or October. Your gift before Dec. 31 will be greatly appreciated! Please note on the check that the gift is for the 2007 appeal. If you are eager to contribute for 2008, please wait until you receive our letter and return envelope in mid-December. You may send contributions to NACC, 5007 S. Howell Ave. Suite 120, Milwaukee, WI 53207-6159.

The ACPE national conference convenes this week in Dallas. Their theme is “Connecting in a Culture of Complexity: Supervision in the 21st Century,” employing the Eternal Knot used in many cultures and religions to symbolize the infinite wisdom of the Divine. May this be an enriching week for all members, particularly our NACC supervisors who are attending. David Lichter will also be attending, and meeting with members at the Catholic breakfast on Friday. For more background, visit this site.

Ongoing board development is one of the association’s strategic goals. We are pleased and excited to announce the appointment of two new NACC members to the NACC Board of Directors. Bonnie Burnett, M.Div., is System Director, Mission and Spirituality, for Christus Health in Houston, TX. John Pollack, M.Div., is Director of Pastoral Care and Mission Operations at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD. They both bring strong leadership and administrative experience, along with a deep understanding and love for chaplaincy. We are grateful to both of them for saying yes.

Just a reminder to you that NACC will honor one of its own members and an outside person or entity at our NACC conference next spring. We want a wide pool of possibilities to choose from. If you are interested in nominating someone, click http://www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/awards.asp.

In the previous NACC Now we announced Administrative Specialist/Certification, Marilyn Warczak’s departure and the imminent leaving of the Administrative Specialist/Membership Services, Barbara Hempel. We are currently interviewing for Marilyn’s position. In the interim, any certification or renewal of certification questions should be addressed to Kathy Eldridge at certification@nacc.org. Cindy Bridges, currently our Executive Assistant, has offered to assume Barbara’s membership duties, along with the executive assistant duties. Cindy brings wonderful member service organizational skills and abilities and a great personality to the position. She will assume those responsibilities gradually over the coming weeks, as Barbara prepares to leave to be a full-time mom and grandma. We wish her wonderful family time ahead, and are grateful to her for her sensitive and compassionate care of members.