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1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Common Standards of Practice in Acute Care Settings available on SCC Site
3. Invitation to 40 days of action to support healthcare reform!
4. NACC Canadian chaplain expresses appreciation for NACC connection
5. NACC chaplain shares his experience of promoting the chaplaincy vocation
6. A new video resource for promoting the chaplaincy profession
7. Only a few more days to nominate individuals for our NACC awards!
8. Are you familiar with your NACC Board of Directors’ candidates?
9. Workshop proposal for NACC 2010 Conference due this Friday, August 21, 2009!
10. APC Professional Chaplaincy Webinar Fall Schedule announced
11. Foundations of Catholic Healthcare Leadership is being offered
12. American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) holds annual meeting
13. Local/regional event dates
14. Other educational events
15. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
16. Recent Job Postings
17. Positions wanted

This is not a lazy, hazy summer on the national healthcare and economic fronts; and these fronts involve and affect us! The details of the healthcare plans are still uncertain; the reform processes debated; and the local community forums heated. You will notice item three in this NACC Now, an invitation from other faith communities to become more involved and lend our voice to healthcare reform priorities. The Catholic Health Association also invited us to share our voice (and faces, and signs) with our response to “I can’t wait…” at www.catholichealthcare.us/OurVision/HealthReformPhotoInfo.htm. The economic pressures on our organizations… continue to take a toll on our members. Just this week I have heard from more than one member whose position is being eliminated. One chaplain in a non-Catholic setting noted the elimination of pastoral care positions brings the bed-to-chaplain ratio to 300-to-one.

Members of all SCC associations look to our associations to press the advocacy for spiritual care. While we are working with the Catholic Health Association (CHA) on different fronts to promote spiritual care, the NACC is also partnering the other SCC associations in its relation to The Joint Commission.

I want to highlight here and commend the excellent work of the Rev. Sue Wintz, M.Div., BCC, Chair of the APC Board, who has been leading the way, along with the APC’s Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services and its chair, the Rev. Jon A. Overvold, M.Div., BCC. Their work on the Common Standards of Practice in Acute Care Settings has been affirmed by the SCC Steering Committee. This document, along with the SCC Common Standards, is very important for establishing the professionalism of chaplaincy. Sue was also invited to work on the Implementation Guide for the proposed new Joint Commission standards, which is very important for our profession, as the Implementation Guide is what institutions look to for direction.

Our common advocacy efforts are complex, and hold many challenges, including building common foundations of agreed-upon terminology for words we use every day, such as spiritual, pastoral, or chaplaincy; creating a common base of research and resources in the field, and developing common understandings and measurement tools for assessing the effectiveness of our ministry. We also are examining how to be recognized by all healthcare providers by getting on the Health Care Provider Taxonomy Code (National Uniform Claim Committee – NUCC). However, the common foundations are needed for this step.

I am aware that it seems I bring up this “professionalization” issue in every edition. Yet I want to emphasize today that the leaders of the SCC associations feel the urgency and continue to make efforts. It’s the intensity of these times, due to the “heat” around the healthcare reform discussions, coupled with the present and prolonged financial stresses, that makes us feel the urgency of these issues all the more.

In the midst of these intense times we are all the more cognizant that we minister in two time-zones: the kairos/salvation time where we attend to God’s healing mystery and the chronos/daily time where we need to position ourselves as a recognized profession. I pray we continue to be a source of peace and hope in the kairos time, as we strive to advance our profession.

The Spiritual Care Collaborative Steering Committee recently affirmed the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Acute Care Settings that were developed by the APC Commission on Quality in Pastoral Services. We applaud their work on behalf of our profession. www.spiritualcarecollaborative.org/standards_of_practice.asp

Many faith communities joined in preparing and holding the June 24th Interfaith Prayer Service for healthcare reform in Washington, DC. The call for healthcare reform continues. These faith communities now invite us to commit ourselves to 40 days of action as our elected leaders grapple with how to make healthcare reform happen. Also this Wednesday evening, August 19th, the faith community is hosting a national 40 minute call-in and audio webcast on healthcare reform and President Barack Obama has accepted the invitation to join the call. To get involved with the 40 Day Campaign and receive updates on the 40 Minutes for Health Reform call this Wednesday, go to www.faithforhealth.org.

Recently Rev. Jim Huth, BCC, our NACC member ministering in Toronto, wrote reflections on his being “at home” in NACC while attending the SCC Summit ’09. He wants U.S. NACC members to know NACC members are alive and well in Canada. Thank you, Jim! To read his reflections, click here. Jim’s contact is: jim.huth@utoronto.ca.

Blair Holtey, BCC, has served for two years on our Marketing/Recruitment Task Force. He shares his strategy, approach, and content for giving a parish presentation on chaplaincy as a vocation. Please read his story, and consider promoting the ministry. To read his reflections, click here. You can contact Blair at blair.holtey@baycare.org.

With the sponsorship of Ascension Health, the expertise of St. Thomas Health Services Media Operations (Nashville, TN), the able guidance of Jim Castello, BCC, and other NACC members, we are pleased to make available to you a twelve-minute video on the chaplaincy ministry. We have both a recruitment version (that begins and ends with “Is God Calling You?”) and a version without this question. Those who have viewed it (NACC and APC chaplains, and some healthcare leaders) were very positive about it. It will be available in DVD form. We will charge just $6.00, the cost of production and shipping. You may preview the video below or at this link. To order copies please click here for the order form.

Wouldn’t it be good to recognize an NACC member or professional colleague for what they are doing for the spiritual care profession? The NACC Awards Task Force is accepting nominations for the Distinguished Service Award and the Outstanding Colleague Award only until September 1, 2009. Recipients of these awards will be honored at the NACC 2010 Conference. Please go to www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/awards.asp for more details about the awards, their criteria, and the process of submission.

Please take time to learn about the three candidates running for the one seat on the NACC Board of Directors. Go to www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/board_election.asp. As mentioned in the August 3rd NACC now, we will be conducting this election via e-balloting. Elections will be held mid-September to mid-October. You will receive voting instructions in the September-October Vision and NACC Now.

Please consider submitting workshop proposals for the 2010 Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, March 20-23, 2009. Our theme is Winds of Change, Spirit of Promise. Share your expertise! They are due, however, this Friday, August 21, 2009! For more information and the workshop proposal submission form, please go to www.nacc.org/conference.

The APC is offering 90-minute webinars. The dates and topics are below. As with our NACC audio conferences, webinars are priced per terminal and you can involve an unlimited number of colleagues on a terminal. For more details and how to register, please click here.

• August 26, 2009, "Are Your Chaplains Competent? Developing a Competency Validation Process & Measurement Tools for Chaplains,” presented by Elizabeth J. Collier and Roy F. Olson
• September 23, 2009, “Screening for Spiritual Struggle,” presented by Rev. James L. Risk III, BCC, and Chaplain George Fitchett, D.Min, PhD, BCC
• October 20, 2009, "Soulful Aging: The Wisdom of Elders," presented by Scott Cartwright
• November 2009 "Professional Chaplains and Healthcare Quality Improvement: A Research Collaborative," presented by Dr. Nancy Berlinger. (exact date, information and registration TBA)

A Foundations of Catholic Healthcare Leadership program is being offered September 30-October 1, 2009. This is a collaborative offering of Catholic Health Association, Washington Theological Union, and Bon Secours Health System Center for Ministry Leadership. Click here for details of this exciting program.

The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) has requested an affiliate partnership with NACC to help promote their 7th Annual Conference, “Integrating Psychosocial Research and Practice in Quality Cancer Care: Confronting Challenges Together,” February 18-21, 2010, in New Orleans, LA. For the APOS website and more information on the conference go to: www.apos-society.org

Local/regional event dates More local gatherings are being set. Please review the list below, and mark your calendars. More details of events will be in future NACC Now's.

• Thursday, August 27, 2009, Birmingham, AL. See details.
• Saturday, August 29, 2009, Maywood, IL. See details.
• Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Phoenix, AZ. See details.
• Friday, September 18, 2009, Spokane, WA, See details.
• Thursday-Friday, September 24-25, 2009, Alexandria, MN, North Central Prairie, See details.
• Friday, October 9, Buffalo, NY, See details.
• Saturday, October 10, Nazareth, KY, details to come.
• Saturday, October 17, 2009, Boston, MA, details to come.
• Sunday-Tuesday, October 18-20, Green Lake, WI, See details.
• Thursday, October 22, 2009, Sacramento, CA. See details/register.
• Friday, October 30, 2009, Charleston, SC, details to come.
• Sunday, November 15, 2009, Washington, DC, details to come.

We have been alerted to other educational events that you can find on the NACC website. They include:

• Saturday, October 3, 2009, Lisle, IL, “Spirituality in the New Millennium” with Rev. Richard Rohr, OFM. See details/register.
• Friday, October 9, 2009, Albuquerque, NM, “Health and Wholeness: Finding Harmony in a Stressful World.” See details/register.
• Monday-Tuesday, October 26-27, 2009, Mahwah, NJ, “RTS Bereavement Training in Early Pregnancy Loss, Stillbirth & Neonatal Death.” See details/register.
• Monday-Tuesday, November 2-3, 2009, Springfield, VA, 11th Annual Josefina Magno Conference "Pain Has a Measure: Suffering Has a Story." See details.
• Tuesday, November 3, 2009, Hartford, CT, Rabbi Bonita Taylor and Rabbi David Zucker, “Using Lamentations to Lament,” Connecticut Chaplains. See details.
• Thursday, November 19, 2009, Milwaukee, WI, Dr. Daniel P. Sulmasy, OFM, the Bartholomew Lecture Series, Cardinal Stritch University. See details/register.
• Chicago, IL See various summer program offerings at Loyola's Institute of Pastoral Studies at www.luc.edu/ips/.
• Los Angeles, CA Loyola University Marymount offers certificate and degrees in bioethics. See details.

Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. We continue to pray for Kelly Elizabeth Sexton (cancer: daughter of NACC member Melyssa Sexton); Fr. Bill Spacek (detached retina and other eye issues); Sr. Nancy Crane, OP (cancer treatment); 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, PASTORAL CARE
     Evansville, IN – St. Mary's Medical Center

CHAPLAINS
     Walla Walla, WA – Providence Health

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: pparadowski@nacc.org.