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Contents:
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. A Reminder about NACC Office Summer Hours
3. Recent appointments to NACC Commissions and Panels
4. New State Liaisons
5. Theme of NACC 2011 National Conference
6. New members needed for Editorial Advisory Panel
7. When do you need a mentor?
8. How do I count continuing education hours within the revised NACC standards?
9. State Liaison calls with members
10. New positions for NACC members
11. Supportive Care Coalition Congress
12. Request: Electronic Charting
13. Specific Electronic Charting Request
14. Request: Career Ladders for Chaplains
15. Upcoming NACC audio conferences
16. Remember the Spiritual Care Champions Series!
17. 2010 One Book, One Association selection
18. APC webinars
19. Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?
20. Order your video promoting the chaplaincy profession
21. Local/regional event dates
22. Other education events
23. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
24. Recent death of a former member
25. Recent job postings
26. Positions wanted
As part of my prior Executive Director reflection, I was commenting on the experience of the chaplain as trying to have “no agenda” when entering a patient’s/resident’s room. An NACC member responded with an excellent point. In your reflection this sentence called me to write you: You enter a patient’s or resident’s room with ‘no money bag, no sack, no sandals’ and no agenda. The ’no agenda’ comment can no longer be a part of our vocabulary. Today we are called to have a Care Plan like any other discipline to show to our team and administrators that we are value added in the health care setting. Our administrators and team want to know what we think about the patient’s spiritual state and how we are helping them deal with their issues which we know as chaplains does help physical healing. This member’s point highlights the tension of holding in balance the professional demands/requirements of our clinical practice while possessing the spiritual disposition of being open/attentive to whatever/whenever the person we are encountering might want/need to share with us, without being limited by our preconceived, preplanned agenda. Spiritual assessments and care plan requirements are integral practices of our chaplaincy profession as we are members of interdisciplinary teams. We are well trained to effectively assess, document, chart, and communicate what we encounter, which are all vital competencies of our healing ministry. We are expected to identify and communicate “the patient’s spiritual state and how we are helping them deal with their issues.” We must capture accurately the spiritual state, needs, and recommended directions for that person. These are vital functions of our clinical practice. We have to enter each room prepared and intending to capture and communicate what we encounter.
Yet, as ministers we still want to be open to what God is doing in this person and how we need to be the listening, caring presence who might facilitate God’s movement in this person’s life. It’s a challenge as we can so often feel the press of time and professional expectations. We can also remember and carry into the room remnants of the previous meeting that can condition our listening. We want to be attentive to when and how God is working in this person, alongside (and through) our agendas.
It reminds me that we, as God’s ministers, also live simultaneously in two time zones. The chronos time zone has us living sequentially in linear time as we name our work, complete our tasks, and track our time - all important work in our professional lives. We also live in the biblical kairos time zone where God’s saving activity is always at play and ready to break into people’s lives. We want to be compassionately responsive to the right moment when the person is ready to embrace more deeply his/her spiritual state and resources. Paul reflected on this experience in his ministry in 2 Corinthians 6:2, as he quoted and reflected on Isaiah 49:8, “‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation.” It’s this kairos, Now moment that we are not able to plan for. Because we know God is at work at every moment in each of us calling us to deeper, fuller life, we want to be open to how God might break into the person’s life. How are we attentive to it, how do we contemplatively stay “ready and alert” to recognize it when we are ministering?
What are your thoughts?
Appreciatively,
David A. Lichter
Executive Director
NACC
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.
Recent appointments to NACC Commissions and PanelsThe NACC Board of Directors at its recent board meeting appointed Judith A. Shemkovitz, BCC, LPC, Spiritual Care & Volunteer Coordinator, Hospice Care Center, Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio, to the NACC Certification Commission and Sandra Lucas, BCC, M.Div., Regional Director of Spiritual Care, Humility of Mary Health Partners, Youngstown, OH, to the Editorial Advisory Panel. Thank you Judith and Sandra for your service to NACC!
New State LiaisonsPaul Lewis, who works for Mercy Health Services in Oklahoma City, OK, has accepted to be the new State Liaison for Oklahoma. Nancy Flaig, Spirituality Educator for St. Mary’s Medical Center, Duluth, MN, will join the current State Liaisons of Minnesota to provide more leadership and support to their state efforts. Hyun Underwood, Chaplain Resident at Pohainani Good Samaritan, in Kaneohe, HI, will be the Hawaii State Liaison. Thank you Paul, Nancy, and Hyun! For all State Liaisons go to www.nacc.org/volunteers/state_reps.asp.
Theme of NACC 2011 National ConferencePathways to Healing: People and Communities is the theme of the NACC 2011 National Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This theme will enable us to seek plenary speakers and workshop leaders to develop our theme through the lens of theologian Bernard Lonergan’s transcendental imperatives. The Planning Task Force for the 2011 Conference is complete. We put thought and prayer into developing our theme. Many thanks to Task Force members:
We appreciate your prayers and your ideas as we move toward finalizing speakrs and workshop leaders. Please contact Linda Piotrowski, Conference Chair, with your ideas at Linda.F.Piotrowski@hitchcock.org.
New members needed for Editorial Advisory PanelIn addition to Sandra Lucas, we still need a couple more members for the NACC Editorial Panel. It meets every other month by conference call to assist Laurie Hansen Cardona, Vision Editor, with strategic thinking and planning for Vision direction and content, as well as helping as best one can with writing, selecting, and suggesting authors for articles. Would you consider this? For the Editorial Advisory Panel roles and responsibilities and an application to be a candidate, please go to www.nacc.org/vision/panel.asp.
When do you need a mentor?Are you dealing with a tough pastoral question? Are you in a first time pastoral care leadership role but do not have someone to process issues with? Is the ethics committee posing questions you are not sure of? Are you thinking about moving toward a pastoral leadership role, but not sure where to start? These and other situations might prompt the need for someone else to be a peer support to you. Over the past weeks, we have alerted you to NACC’s mentor program for members who seek to grow in their professional development. 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. Please contact us to discern whether such a relationship might be helpful.
How do I count continuing education hours within the revised NACC standards?We continue to receive calls from our members regarding how to categorize/count their continuing education hours within the framework of the revised NACC Standards. Go to www.nacc.org/certification/renewal.asp for guidelines and suggestions, particularly noting the Certification Procedures Manual section on Renewal of Certification. Each particular revised Standard from 302 through 305 (Theory of Pastoral Care, Identity and Conduct, Pastoral, and Professional) corresponds to one of the old Standards (Theological, Pastoral, Professional) and you will need to read over the revised Standards (302-305) in order to see where your continuing education hours may fit in. A very helpful document which compares our old Standards with our Revised Standards is the Parallel of 2-2006 NACC Standards and Revised 11-2007 Standards at the same location. For more information, please plan to participate on our Renewal of Certification Audio Conference, August 19 (12:00 noon central time).
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 (cbridges@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:
Frank Beazley
Frank is the new Director of Pastoral Care at Providence Hospital, in Washington, DC. Providence is a member of Ascension Health.
Mary Alice Westerlund
Mary Alice has been promoted at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, NY from Evening Chaplain to Director of Spiritual Care. The new position took effect on June 14, 2010.
The Supportive Care Coalition is pleased to present Recovering our Traditions, our fourth national congress on palliative care, October 28-30, 2010, in St. Louis, MO. Grounded in the roots of the Catholic healthcare ministry, this exceptional event has a distinguished faculty of nationally recognized experts and will examine current trends, recent developments and leading practices in interdisciplinary programs across the continuum of care.
You will learn from innovative models of clinical excellence that blend the art and science of palliative care in diverse ministry settings. Join us for an inspiring and invigorating conference that will ignite your passion and commitment to transform palliative care throughout your organization. See you in St. Louis! Please note that early-bird pricing is available through Friday, August 27. For complete information and to register, click here.
Request: Electronic ChartingAn NACC member’s system is looking at beginning an electronic charting system for spiritual care. If you are currently using a particular system, and are willing to share what system and the basic chartering categories being used, it would be appreciated. NACC will collect these and make them available on the NACC website. Please send to David Lichter at dlichter@nacc.org.
Specific Electronic Charting RequestElizabeth Heffernan, NACC member from New York, is looking for hospital systems that may be using the McKesson Corporative Electronic Charting for chaplaincy and spiritual assessment. If you are using this in your facility, can you please email Elizabeth at: Elizabeth.Heffernan@sjhsyr.org.
Request: Career Ladders for ChaplainsRecently we have received requests for what systems are doing with developing career ladders for chaplains. We know of a couple of systems that have begun developing/ implementing a career ladder for chaplains, including titles, job descriptions, performance measures, compensation, etc. If your system is using or preparing one and is willing to share what you are doing, please contact David Lichter at dlichter@nacc.org. We would like to make these samples available on the NACC website as well.
Upcoming NACC audio conferencesNACC is pleased to announce our audio conferences planned for July through September. Please mark your calendars and register early as space is limited.
1. “Theology of Self-Care” presented by Elizabeth Berne DeGear and Mary Winters
July 22 and July 29, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. central time to 2:00 p.m. central time
These audio conferences (2) will provide participants an introduction to new perspectives on self care.
For more information and to register, click here.
2. Renewal of Certification with the NACC
August 19, 2010 at 12:00 noon central time to 1:30 p.m. central time
This audio conference will provide participants with an overview of the renewal of certification process and documentation and provide a forum for answering questions about NACC renewal of certification.
This audio conference is offered to our members at no cost. For more information and to register, click here.
3. Certification with the NACC
August 26, 2010 at 12:00 noon central time to 1:30 p.m. central time
This audio conference will provide participants with an overview of the NACC certification process, with special attention to the revised NACC standards and procedures. We will present key information about certification and provide a forum for answering questions about certification with the NACC.
This audio conference is offered at no cost. For more information and to register, click here.
4. “Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying: Theology and Practice of the Rites” presented by Bruce T. Morrill, S.J.
September 9 and September 16, 2010 at 12:00 noon central time to 1:00 p.m. central time
These audio conferences (2) will start with an overview of what the best of current biblical and historical scholarship tells us about the phenomenon of healing. We shall then turn to the anointing of the sick, viaticum for the dying, and the other pastoral rites associated with them in Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum (1983) to explore how these renewed rites grace us with treasures from the tradition that meets genuine human needs today.
For more information and to register, click here.
We will continue to hold the audio conferences on Thursdays so as not to conflict with the Champion Series that are held on Wednesdays. For questions about our audio conferences, please contact Jeanine Annunziato (jannunziato@nacc.org).
Remember the Spiritual Care Champions Series!Please remember that you can sign up for individual sessions of the Spiritual Care Champions Series. For more details on how to register for these sessions, go to: www.che.org/mission/index.php?id=46. Upcoming sessions include:
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.
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. Also please let us know when you want us to remove your name from our Healing Tree. We continue to pray for: Ginny Conron (POP surgery), Sister Maria Theresa Hronec, SS.C.M. (surgery late June), Marcella Keefe-Slager (lung cancer and treatment), Fr. Art Schute (at the death of his father, Arthur Edward Schute), 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), and Sr. Rita Rzeppa, IBVM (recovering/rehab from knee surgery).
Recent death of a former memberOur past NACC member, Joy Long, of Lafayette, LA, died this past week, July 14th. She was certified with NACC in 1988. We mourn her passing, and extend to her husband, Don, our deepest sympathy.
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.
MANAGER OF PASTORAL CARE
Lowell, MA - D’Youville Senior Care
STAFF CHAPLAIN
Hoffman Estates, IL - Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital
CATHOLIC PRIEST CHAPLAIN Part-time, Pool
Milwaukee, WI - Froedtert & Community Health
DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE
New Haven, CT - Hospital of Saint Raphael
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.