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Contents:
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. A reminder about NACC Office Summer hours
3. Ongoing thanks for our annual member support campaign!
4. New State Liaisons
5. Mark your calendars for the NACC 2011 National Conference, May 21-24, 2011!
6. When do you need a mentor?
7. How do I count continuing education hours within the revised NACC Standards?
8. New positions for NACC members
9. Request: Electronic Charting
10. Specific Electronic Charting Request
11. Request: Career Ladder for Chaplains
12. Upcoming NACC audio conferences
13. Remember the Spiritual Care Champions Series!
14. APC webinars
15. Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?
16. Order your video promoting the chaplaincy profession
17. Local/regional event dates
18. Other education events
19. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
20. Recent job postings
21. Positions wanted
Tough readings yesterday! Quoheleth exclaims, “Vanity of vanities; all things are vanity!” as he reflects on the ephemeral and vacuous nature of what we believe we have worked for and possess. St. Paul in Colossians counsels us to “take off” the old self with its practices. And Luke’s Jesus cautions us, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Striving for non-possession is an integral spiritual practice for most of the major world religions. Jainism refers to it as aparigraha or non-attachment to people, places, or things. It is part of the Buddhist’s process of liberation, and closely connected to the Hindu’s understanding of ahimsa or non-violence. Non-possession is less about not having and more about not holding on to, craving, or needing. It is easily misunderstood and even hard to practice. I suspect for most of us this spiritual practice is not in our top five or top ten “things I want to do to deepen my spirituality.”
However, in the chaplaincy ministry we are with individuals for whom this experience has been thrust upon them intensely and mercilessly, as they now have to struggle with “not being attached to” their limb (that they are losing), their job (that is in jeopardy), their loved one (who has died), their life savings (as they pay medical bills), their lives (as they personally face death). This is not a freely chosen ascetical exercise, but a passion they must now undergo. In the midst of this passion the deepest questions about life, human freedom, what is important, what we truly possess, how to receive life as is, how to let go, pass through and pester their human spirit and emotions, seeking answers not given from without but emerging from within them as they lie awake during the endless night, breathe on their respirators, sit in silence with family members, or listen to a physician’s report. The plaintive cry of Quoheleth might ring true for them, as they wonder, “Where does all this leave me?” Leave is the operative word, as each of us faces daily the mini experiences of “leaving” something of what life has offered us.
I remember when studying St. Ignatius and his suscipe or “Take, Lord, Receive” profound prayer for inner freedom and openness to God’s Love, that a fundamental idea was to offer it (my freedom and openness) to God. The “take” offering was most difficult.
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding and my entire will –
all I am and possess. You have given all to me; now I return it to you
for you to dispose of it according to Your will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace;
that is enough for me, I desire nothing more.
This was always and remains a prayer of desire, a spiritual goal, hoping as I pray it truly encompasses more of my spirit each time it is prayed. I suspect, however, that it will only be in the crucible of some suffering or passion, like the people we minister to each day, that its real meaning and the true test of my “non-possession” will be known.
I suspect for each of us, as we minister daily with those who are undergoing this crucible we pray with them for their strength, then later ask God to ready us as well to hear yesterday’s reading with a renewed heart and spirit. Maybe this spiritual practice of non-possession might even move up a few notches on our top ten spiritual practices!
What do you think?
Appreciatively,
David Lichter
Executive Director
We remind our members that the NACC Office summer hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:30-5:00 p.m., CDT, and Friday, 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. CDT. Thank you.
Ongoing thanks for our annual member support campaign!Thank you again to those who have so far given to this year’s Member Support Campaign! 13 percent of our members have contributed so far to our Campaign. We have raised $31,567 or 79 percent of our $40,000 goal! Thank you! In 2009 15.3 percent of our members participated. Our goal for 2010 was to reach 20 percent member participation. We are sending this coming week a second invitation to participate to those from whom we have not yet heard. Please join your colleagues in support our Annual Member Support Campaign!
New State LiaisonsWe have three new NACC State Liaisons - Francesco Marshall for Washington, Robert Irish for Nevada, and Claire Richardson for Alaska! Thank you and welcome, Francesco, Robert, and Claire! To view our NACC State Liaisons, click here.
Mark your calendars for the NACC 2011 National Conference, May 21-24, 2011!Pathways to Healing: People and Communities is the theme of the NACC 2011 National Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 21-24, 2011. We appreciate your prayers and your ideas as we move toward finalizing speakers and workshop leaders. Please contact Linda Piotrowski, Conference Chair, with your ideas at Linda.F.Piotrowski@hitchcock.org.
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).
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:
Beverly Beltramo
Bev has recently taken a new position as Director of Spiritual Support for Oakwood Health Care System. This is a brand new position for the system--and for her as well. She would certainly welcome hearing from other system leaders, especially from secular health systems, as they continue to work to define this role. Email firesmom2003@yahoo.com
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.
Thanks to several of you for responding to the request of sharing your electronic charting system. 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 make them available on the NACC website by mid-August. Please send to David Lichter at dlichter@nacc.org.
Specific Electronic Charting RequestElizabeth Heffernan, NACC member from New York, is grateful to all those who contact her regarding your use of the McKesson Corporative Electronic Charting for chaplaincy and spiritual assessment. What a generous and quick response! Thank you! If you are using this in your facility, can still want to respond to her please email Elizabeth at: Elizabeth.Heffernan@sjhsyr.org. We will be making available the responses to those who did respond so that you can share among yourselves your wisdom and support.
Request: Career Ladders for ChaplainsThank you to those of you who responded to the request for learning what other systems are doing with developing career ladders for chaplains. 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 will 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. 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.
2. 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.
3. “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.
4. “The Parables of Jesus: Hope for a Broken World” presented by Dr. Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan
October 14 and October 21, 2010, at 12:00 noon central time to 1:00 p.m. central time
More details coming soon.
5. “Spirituality and Aging” presented by Dr. Kathleen Fischer
November 11 and November 18, 2010, at 12:00 noon central time to 1:00 p.m. central time
More details coming soon.
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:
Have 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, are available in DVD format. The charge is just $6.00, the cost of production and shipping. You may preview the video below. To order copies please email Cindy Bridges for instructions.
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.
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: Kathy Brier (hospitalization-daughter of NACC member Theresa Brier), 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 job postingsThe following positions have been posted in the last two weeks. Please go to www.nacc.org/positions/available.asp for more information.
PRIEST CHAPLAIN - FULL-TIME
Eau Claire, WI - Sacred Heart Hospital
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Billings, MT - St. Vincent Healthcare
PRIEST/CHAPLAIN
Lindenhurst, IL - The Village at Victory Lakes
CPE RESIDENCY (1 position remaining), EXTENDED UNIT
La Crosse, WI - Gundersen Lutheran Health System
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.