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Contents:
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Have you given yet to the 2010 NACC Annual Member Support Campaign?
3. NACC members trained in American Red Cross SRT Training
4. We have a chair for our May 2011 National Conference in Milwaukee!
5. Thank you to all the ITE’s, Site Hosts, and Interviewers of May 1-2!
6. New State Liaison for Virginia
7. New positions for NACC members
8. Handling coverage?
9. Request: Do you know any professionals that help chaplain staffs?
10. Request: What questions are hospitals asking patients upon admission?
11. APC webinars
12. Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?
13. Order your video promoting the chaplaincy profession
14. Sign up now for May-June audio conference!
15. Local/regional event dates
16. Other educational events
17. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
18. Recent Job Postings
19. Positions wanted
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, wrote the foreword to Making Healthcare Whole: Integrating Spirituality Into Patient Care by Christina Puchalski, MD, and Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD. She begins the foreword with recounting a seminar with Joseph Campbell given for physicians on experiencing spiritual reality. He was showing religious visualizations of mystery. One was a dancing Shiva. She recalls:
“I remember being struck by the beauty and joy of the little figure, dancing with abandon in a ring of bronze, one foot lifted high in the air and the other resting on the back of a little man, crouched in the dust, completely absorbed in something that he was holding between his hands. Looking more closely, I could see that the focus of his attention was a leaf. Others, too, were struck by the beauty of the figure, but we were all trained observers and posers of questions and so one of us spoke up and asked Campbell, ‘What is that little man doing there?’ ‘Aha,’ Campbell explained, ‘That little man is someone who is so caught up in the study of the material world that he does not know that the living god is dancing on his back.’”
The story struck me. Dr. Remen noted that Joseph Campbell, after a silence, just smiled. I suspect it was a smile that each of us has in moments when we realize we can really get stuck in and so absorbed by the “material world” of our ministry that we missed the mystery of life and the living God in our midst. Thank God for the myriad of ways we are awakened to the foolishness of our ways in those moments, as a patient, an associate, a colleague, a friend alerts us and awakens us to the mystery about us.
Who has awakened you recently? Who alerted you to the dancing Shiva on your back?
May this May provide you many moments of such awakenings!
Appreciatively,
David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director
We are receiving a good number of gifts to our NACC annual member support campaign. Thank you! As you know, your past generosity has significantly helped us meet member needs. Our member participation increased 66 percent in each of the last two years! Can you please participate again or for the first time? Thank you in advance for your support! With questions, please contact David Lichter.
NACC members trained in American Red Cross SRT TrainingCongratulations to our NACC members trained in St. Paul as members of the American Red Cross SRT Team: Rev. Robert Campbell, O.Praem. (NM), Mr. James J. Castello (PA), Mrs. Sandra Hafey (IL), Mrs. Susan Liguori (CT), Rev. Joseph Monahan, TOR (DE), Deacon Charles Stump (TX), Mrs. Patricia Van Den Heuvel (MN), Mrs. Rosemarie Witt (PA).
We have a chair for our May 2011 National Conference in Milwaukee!We are very pleased that Linda Piotrowski, MTS, BCC, of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, has agreed to chair our next National Conference in Milwaukee, May 21-24, 2011. Linda has helped with planning the SCC Summit 2009 and was a member of our 2010 Conference Planning Task Force. She will help us put together the 2011 Conference Planning Task Force and lead that group in planning our conference. Thank you, Linda!
Thank you to all the ITE’s, Site Hosts, and Interviewers of May 1-2!We are deeply grateful to all our NACC members who served as ITE’s, site hosts, and interviewers for our certification interviews that were conducted last weekend, May 1-2, 2010. Click here and say a prayer of thanks for these generous volunteers.
New State Liaison for VirginiaWe are pleased to announce that Sr. Christine Webb, CBS has agreed to be the new State Liaison for Virginia. Thank you, Sr. Christine! We are also grateful to Susan Murphy, the past Virginia State Liaison, for her service to our members.
New positions for NACC membersJust a reminder to you, please let us know if you have accepted a new position/responsibility. E-mail Cindy Bridges (cbridges@nacc.org). We want to congratulate you and let others know, too. Below is our current list of updates from members:
Rich Woodley
After 15 years of leading the Spiritual Care Department at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System, I am now the Program Director for Ethics Services for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System.
Sister Mary John Fryc, CSSF
As of August 4th, 2009, I've been blessed with a Congregational assignment at our Felician Sisters Generalate in Rome, Italy. My main apostolate here is hospitality.
Michelle Lemiesz
Effective April 1st, I have been promoted from the Director of Chaplaincy Services at Mount Carmel East to the System Director of Chaplaincy Services for the Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, OH. Mount Carmel Health consists of 4 hospitals as well as physicians offices and outpatient services.
Linda Broda Pribble, M.A., BCC
Since my certification in 2004 I have predominately worked as a Hospice Chaplain in New Mexico. Recently, I became Co-Director of San Patricio Retreat Center with my husband Dr. Wayne Pribble. The retreat center was purchased by the Diocese of Las Cruces, NM in September of 2009. This is a beautiful center located near Ruidoso, NM in the amazing Hondo Valley.
Chaplain Louise C. Gregg, M.P.S., M.A., BCC
Recently accepted a new position with Washington Hospital Center in the Spiritual Care Department as the Clinical Pastoral Education Coordinator, ACPE Supervisor.
Father Mark Scheffler, C.ss.R.
As of January 1, 2009, accepted the position as the Assistant Director and Chaplain at St. Clement Health Care Center in Liguori, MO.
Handling coverage?
In the prior NACC Now we asked who might have experience where hospitals changed their coverage from 24/7 to Monday through Friday, first shift only, with no on-call second and third shifts or weekends. We had some response and many who asked to learn more. Therefore, we will plan to hold a conference call in the next couple of weeks for those interested. Please email Susanne at schaw@nacc.org if you would be interested in sharing information and participating in the conference call.
Request: Do you know any professionals that help chaplain staffs?We are requesting whether any members might know of a professional or organization that specializes in crisis intervention assistance for pastoral care staffs. In these trying times almost everyone knows of a family member/co-worker who has either lost their job, been laid off, can't afford their mortgage, lost their house to foreclosure, their adult children have moved back in with the parents, etc.. When chaplains bring such personal problems, as well as ministry stresses, to the chaplain service workplace, it can require crisis intervention for the chaplaincy staff. If you have used and would recommend a profession organization, please contact David Lichter (dlichter@nacc.org).
Request: What questions are hospitals asking patients upon admission?NACC member William Kramer is seeking to learn what questions systems/hospitals are using at admissions that are having patients responding affirmatively about the desire to see a chaplain upon their admission. Some find "Would you like to see a chaplain?" not proving to be very beneficial. Perhaps a better question might be, "Have you had any changes in your life that you might benefit from talking to a chaplain about?" What questions are being used? William will share the responses with those who contact him. Please contact him at wkramer@reshealthcare.org.
APC webinarsHave you visited the APC site to learn about their webinars? The registration deadline for the May 17 webinar is today, May 10th, but you can review and sign up for the others as well. Click here for details.
Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?We continue to encourage members to promote the chaplaincy profession. Please remember that the NACC office staff want to make sure you have resources to share. If you are planning to do a presentation, please contact Cindy Bridges (cbridges@nacc.org) so that she can send you brochures. Also we remind you that you can access on our NACC website the Chaplaincy Ministry video (or order one – see below) as well as two PowerPoint slideshows to use as a basis for the presentation at www.nacc.org/advancing/promo.asp.
Order your video promoting the chaplaincy professionOur video on Chaplaincy, both a recruitment version (that begins and ends with “Is God Calling You?”), and a version without this question, is available in DVD format. The charge is just $6.00, the cost of production and shipping. You may preview the video at this link. To order copies please email Cindy Bridges for instructions.
Sign up now for May-June audio conference!Our first NACC audio conference series is scheduled for Thursdays, May 27 and June 3, 2010, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central Time. It will be “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services Directive 58: What Does the Revision Mean For Us?” by John Paul Slosar, PhD, Senior Director of Ethics, Ascension Health. To register, click here.
Local/regional event datesMore 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.
Here are other events for our members. For a complete listing of events, go to www.nacc.org/resources/edops.asp.
Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. We continue to pray for: Tom Regan’s granddaughter, Kathryn Rose in NICU (born prematurely, weighs 3 lbs. 15 oz. with many developmental issues), Sr. John Marie Stack, OSF (lymphoma cancer), Mary Pawicz (recovering from shoulder surgery), Gloria Troxler (preventive chemotherapy after ovarian surgery), Fr. James Radde, S.J. (radiation therapy), Fr. Kevin Ikpah (eye troubles), Sr. Micheletta McGee, RSM (pancreatic cancer), Lourdes B. Ruta (wife of Peter Ruta, in recovery), Fr. Bob Nee, BCC, LICSW, CT (intractable epilepsy), Kelly Elizabeth Sexton (cancer: daughter of NACC member Melyssa Sexton), Joyce Fink (heart attack/recovery from open heart surgery), 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).
Recent Job PostingsThe following positions have been posted in the last two weeks. Please go to www.nacc.org/positions/available.asp for more information.
PASTORAL CARE MINISTER
Wilton, CT - Villa Notre Dame Residence
CHAPLAIN
Springfield, OH - Springfield Regional Medical Center
CHAPLAIN - FULL-TIME, DAYS
Waterbury, CT - Saint Mary's Hospital
CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION SUPERVISOR
Boston, MA - St. Elizabeth's Medical Center
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.