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Contents:
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. A Reminder about NACC Office Summer Hours
3. NACC Voicemail is down!
4. Did your email to a staffer bounce back?
5. 2010 NACC Annual Member Support Campaign going strong!
6. NACC mentors are offering themselves to members
7. 2010 Renewal of Certification Applications
8. 2010 Renewal of Certification Materials
9. State Liaison calls with members
10. Scheduling local/regional events
11. Using NACC Now to help you
12. New positions for NACC members
13. Upcoming NACC audio conferences
14. 2010 One Book, One Association Selection
15. Request: tools/methods to increase patient satisfaction scores?
16. Pastoral Care Week - October 24-30, 2010
17. APC webinars
18. Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?
19. Order your video promoting the chaplaincy profession
20. Local/regional event dates
21. Other education events
22. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
23. Recent job postings
24. Positions wanted
I was struck by yesterday’s liturgical readings for the feast of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, especially the first one from Genesis 14 that recounts Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who, after bringing out the bread and wine and blessing God, received from Abram “a tenth of everything.” I had not noticed before in this reading the connection between the offering and the tithing – the linking of being given and giving back! It offers us another glimpse into the experience of God’s grace as divine indebtedness, as gratitude-driven generosity. How do each of us make a response to the question, “How can I make a return to the Lord for all the goodness God has shown to me?”
I found myself also asking the question about “what’s enough?” when reflecting on the Gospel story from Luke on the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. In ministry, what’s enough to be fed this day? What is enough goodness for which to be grateful and to be nourished in ministry? I have shared in some settings with some of you, a personal devotional practice tied to Eucharist. When receiving the small wafer or little chunk of bread from a paten or basket full of wafers/bread chunks, I say with belief “amen” to the mystery, “the body of Christ.” When I take a tiny sip from the cup of wine, I say with belief “amen” to the mystery, “the blood of Christ.” Somehow I am sacramentally admitting that this wafer and this sip are enough to become what I receive. Yet daily I am exposed to so many graced moments that I do not apprehend and “receive” any one of which could be enough that day to nourish me. So at the end of the day, I ask myself what was “enough” that day? What was the “wafer” of grace or “sip” of sacredness that was “enough” to mark that day with gratitude for ministry? Then “how do I make a return to the Lord for all the goodness God has shown me?” I will take up the cup…how?
So, for you, in your ministry, what’s enough daily to sustain your gratitude? How do you notice and mark the mystery of your ministry? How does the experience of graced indebtedness fuel your return to the Lord for the goodness shown to you?
Appreciatively,
David Lichter
Executive Director
The NACC Office will again this summer, starting June 1st, be open Monday-Thursday, 8:30-5:00 p.m., CDT, and Friday’s 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. CDT. Thank you.
NACC Voicemail is down!If you have telephoned the NACC National Office in the last few weeks, left a voicemail message, and did not speak to a staff member, we’d like you to call us back or send an email. We recently discovered that our voicemail has not been working for some time – possibly as long as three weeks. We very much regret to say that we have lost any messages left during that time. Please, we urge you, call us back during our regular office hours or email a staff member directly so we can continue to meet your needs, answer questions, and provide assistance. Please note that you will hear the voicemail system answer, but your message will not be saved. We hope to have this repaired very soon. In the meantime we thank you for bearing with us.
For a list of staff email addresses, click here.
Did your email to a staffer bounce back?The national office’s data center is in the midst of a migration from our old server to a new one. When our email accounts were moved to the new server, new default reply-to addresses using staffers’ first names were created automatically by the server program (cindy@nacc.org, e.g.). These were never intended to be permanent, as our policy is to use first initial plus last name (cbridges@nacc.org). Unfortunately the recent removal of the first-name addresses led to an unforeseen consequence: when someone replies to a staffer’s email sent before the change, it still attempts to contact firstname@nacc.org, which produces a “no such recipient” error and bounces the email back as undeliverable. To work around this issue, the first-name addresses have temporarily been reinstated. If you’ve tried to reply to an email recently and had it returned to you, please reply again. The staffer should get your email.
More importantly, please use the email addresses as listed in our staff directory (click here) to contact staffers in future. The first-name addresses will eventually be removed again, and will cease to work.
2010 NACC Annual Member Support Campaign going strong!We have reached two-thirds of our $40,000 goal for our NACC annual member support campaign. Member participation is at 11%, versus 6% last year at this point. Thank you! First time donors have also increased. Thank you! If you have not yet given, can you please participate again or for the first time? Thank you in advance for your support! With questions, please contact David Lichter.
NACC mentors are offering themselves to membersOver the past weeks, we have alerted you to our plans to initiate a mentor offering for members who seek to grow in their professional development. This mentor program was linked to the spiritual leadership competencies developed by the Care Services Task Force. Please go to www.nacc.org/resources/career/mentoring.asp for questions and answers regarding mentoring. Several NACC members are generously making themselves available to be mentors. You are welcome to contact us to discern whether such a relationship might be possible. Again, we are grateful for these mentors’ generosity. These mentors will also be invited to participate in regular group conference calls.
2010 Renewal of Certification ApplicationsRenewal Reminder Letters were mailed to those members due to renew their certification by 12/31/2010.
Thank you to members who submitted 2010 Renewal of Certification Applications early. These renewal materials will be reviewed at our upcoming Certification Commission meeting, which will be held July 8-10, 2010 (Milwaukee, WI), and Notification Letters will be mailed, via U.S. Postal Service, by August 10, 2010.
For those of you working on your Renewal of Certification Application and materials, please note there is still time to submit. Items received by June 25, 2010 will be reviewed at our July 2010 Certification Commission meeting.
*Please Note: For those members requiring notification prior to December 31, 2010, it will be necessary to submit your Renewal Application and materials in time to be reviewed at our last Commission meeting of the year (October 2010). Although you have until December 31, 2010, to complete the process, we urge you not to wait until November or December unless you are okay with waiting until mid 2011 for your notification letter.
2010 Renewal of Certification MaterialsPlease be sure to visit www.nacc.org/certification/renewal.asp to print your renewal of certification materials.
State Liaison calls with membersSeveral NACC state liaisons have requested conference calls with their state members. The NACC office has helped schedule several of them for June and July. If you want to set up such a call or are interested in learning more about such calls, please contact Cindy Bridges.
Scheduling local/regional eventsAs you can see by the local events listed below, the NACC staff continues to help schedule and provide administrative support to such events. If you are interested in a local event in your area, contact your NACC State Liaison, or Jeanine Annunziato at the NACC office.
Using NACC Now to help youAs you have noticed, we have members using NACC Now to inquire about resources and practices other members are using to enhance their ministry. This has been overall very helpful. To a recent request by Bill Kramer of Resurrection Healthcare in Chicago, Bill let us know, “I have gotten 20 to 30 responses and will be putting a summary together of those responses in the coming weeks. Thanks very much for your interest and follow up. Utilizing the NACC Now e-mail is a great way to go. Thank you!!” We are glad members utilize NACC Now in this way, and results are shared with those who responded. For requests, e-mail David Lichter (dlichter@nacc.org).
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:
Sr. Mary Jo Szpila, SND, M.A.P.S.
Sr. Mary Jo was hired January 11, 2010 as Coordinator of Pastoral Care, Mercy St. Charles Hospital, Oregon, Ohio.
Jim Retzner, OSA
After leaving hospital chaplaincy for a parish assignment for three years I have been blessed to return to fulltime chaplaincy at Children’s Hospital – Los Angeles. An all pediatrics ministry is going to be a different ministry than general hospital chaplaincy. Please keep me in your prayers.
Rev. Peter Gelfer, OH, BCC
I will be moving to Ojai, California on June 1st to take up my new assignments as Chaplain, Vocation Promoter, Initial Spiritual Formation.
Sr. Ruth Brings
On May 3, 2010, I began a new position at Nativity of Mary Parish in Janesville, WI. The new position is Director of Pastoral Outreach.
Here are NACC audio conferences planned for July through September. Please mark your calendars. We will continue to hold these on Thursdays so as not to conflict with the Champion Series that are held on Wednesdays. More details to follow. For questions about our audio conferences, please contact Jeanine Annunziato.
We are excited to introduce our One Book, One Association selection for 2010 – The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner. This NACC project has been designed to gather you, the members, together as a community by selecting one book and encouraging reading, writing, and discussion. More information will be available in the July/August issue of Vision and on the website. Be sure to start reading now! We thank all of the members who have participated in our book selection group. If you have questions or are interested in hosting a book club gathering that we can help to advertise to other members in your area, please contact Susanne at schaw@nacc.org.
Request: tools/methods to increase patient satisfaction scores?Are any systems (other than Trinity Health) using Press Ganey as a tool for patient satisfaction that includes a question about spiritual care? If so would you be willing to share how the question was worded? Also I am looking for suggestions as to how to increase patient satisfaction scores. Is there anything you have done or used which has been helpful that you would be willing to share? Please contact Michelle Lemiesz, System Director, Mount Carmel Health System, Columbus, OH at mlemiesz@mchs.com. Thank you for your help.
Pastoral Care Week - October 24-30, 2010This year's theme is Healing Presence. Pastoral Care Week gives opportunities for organizations and institutions of all kinds and types to recognize the spiritual caregivers in their midst and the ministry which the caregivers provide. For PCW resources, including ways to celebrate, prayers, press releases, posters, merchandise, the history of Pastoral Care Week, and more, visit the official website at www.pastoralcareweek.org.
APC webinarsHave you visited the APC site to learn about their webinars? You can review and sign up for them by going to this link.
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.
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: Marcella Keefe-Slager (lung cancer and treatment), Fr. Art Schute (at the death of his father, Arthur Edward Schute), 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. 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.
CPE RESIDENT/CPE EXTENDED INTERN
La Crosse, WI - Gundersen Lutheran Health System
CPE RESIDENT
San Pedro, CA - Providence Health & Services
SPIRITUAL CARE MANAGER - FULL-TIME
Burbank, CA - Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
CHAPLAIN
Pensacola, FL - Sacred Heart Hospital
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.