Vision | NACC Now | Member Login | Giving | Contact Us | Site Map | Search
Click here to return to the main NACC Now page.
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. NACC office will be closed Friday afternoons during the summer
3. Next NACC Now issue will be issue 100!
4. Bishops vote to create new subcommittee to certify ecclesial ministers
5. Thank you for your continued responses to the annual member campaign letter!
6. Calling NACC writers and poets for World Day of the Sick prayer
7. NACC 2011 Conference Business Meeting PowerPoint
8. Have you ever considered volunteering to serve NACC members?
9. Have you moved recently and not told us?
10. Have you received a new position or promotion and not told us?
11. Receiving NACC Now, but you are not an NACC member?
12. Register today for the NACC July Audio Conference!
13. 2011 NACC audio conferences!
14. Spiritual Care Champions Webinar Series
15. Request: booklet for physicians on chaplain services
16. Are you planning to give any presentations on chaplaincy?
17. Order your video promoting the chaplaincy profession
18. Local/regional event dates
19. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
20. Recent job postings
21. Positions wanted
Last Monday, June 20, 2012, Nancy Frazier O’Brien of Catholic News Service published the story about the Catholic bishops deciding to dissolve the USCCB Commission on Certification and Accreditation (USCCB/CCA) and moving the responsibility for certifying Catholic ministers to a subcommittee of the USCCB Secretariat of Education. This was the recommendation of the USCCB’s Committee on Priorities and Plans. In NACC Now item four below you can read these announcements. Several members have asked, “What does this mean for NACC?”
First of all, I want to emphasize a point that was not able to be captured in the article where I was quoted. The NACC expresses its gratitude to Sr. Kay Sheskaitis, IHM, executive director of the USCCB/CCA and its board of directors for its excellent ministry to the Church. We recognized Sr. Kay at our 2010 National Conference with our Outstanding Colleague Award for her service to the profession and her support of the NACC mission. In this transition time for her and her staff, we extend our prayer and support. The highest quality of ministry in the name of Church was their goal.
Second, the NACC leadership is grateful for being informed in advance of these proposed plans, and has been able to be in dialogue with our Episcopal Liaison, Archbishop Paul Coakley, our NACC Episcopal Advisory Council, Sr. Kay and USCCB representatives regarding these proposed plans and the anticipated transition. While nothing was certain until the Bishops formally approved the plan, the NACC board and the Certification and Standards Commissions have had some time to discuss this.
Third, we have been most attentive to the impact of the USCCB no longer accrediting programs. The USCCB/CCA has been accrediting CPE programs. Twenty CPE programs nationally are accredited with USCCB/CCA. All twenty exist in some Catholic entity, one in a diocese and the rest in a Catholic healthcare facility. Fifteen of the twenty are dually accredited with ACPE and USCCB/CCA. While these programs will no longer seek accreditation with the USCCB, they maintain their accreditation with ACPE. We want to assist in every way we can the USCCB/CCA-only accredited programs in their process to become accredited with ACPE. We have been in dialogue with the CPE supervisors who run these programs, ACPE, and the USCCB so that all care is taken in this matter.
Fourth, we have no more details as to how the Sub Committee of the Secretariat of Education will be formed or function. However, we are grateful for the dialogue already established with the Executive Director of the Secretariat, Marie Powell. We look forward to being in communication with her, and being of whatever assistance we can be in the process.
Fifth, we have been submitting to the USCCB/CCA an annual report and, most likely, some form of reporting will continue. We also submitted our Standards and Procedures for Certification and Ethics for approval as changes were made. We most recently in November 2007 had our Standards for Ethics, Certification, and Renewal approved, and in April 2008 the Certification and Ethics Procedure Manuals for these standards. Most likely we will continue this process in some way in the future.
As you find in the articles below, the work of this sub committee will include:
We look forward to working with them to accomplish these responsibilities. Please pray for this transition. As I learn, more I will inform our membership.
Appreciatively,
David A. Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director
NACC office will be closed Friday afternoons during the summer
Please note that beginning the week of June 6th, the NACC office will be closed Friday afternoons. On Fridays NACC office hours will be open 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (central time). Monday- Thursday office hours remain 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Next NACC Now issue will be issue 100!Our July 11th issue of NACC will be issue 100! How has NACC Now been most helpful to you? Please let us know and we will publish your comments. If you have suggestions to improve NACC Now, please let us know that also! Send your comments to Cindy Bridges, cbridges@nacc.org.
Bishops vote to create new subcommittee to certify ecclesial ministersBELLEVUE, Wash. (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops have decided to move the responsibility for certifying Catholics for ecclesial ministry from a separate civil corporation in Milwaukee to the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Milwaukee-based Commission on Certification and Accreditation will be dissolved by Jan. 1 and become a subcommittee of the USCCB Committee on Catholic Education, following a 194-1 vote, with one abstention, June 15 at the bishops' spring general assembly near Seattle. The new Subcommittee on Certification for Ecclesial Ministry also will work closely with the USCCB committees on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth and on Evangelization and Catechesis, Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, reported to his fellow bishops before the vote. As USCCB secretary, Bishop Murry chairs the conference's Committee on Priorities and Plans, which proposed the change following a review of the commission's work in light of the USCCB reorganization in 2007. Bishop Murry said the USCCB had been contributing “an annual subsidy in excess of $200,000” to support the work of the Commission on Certification and Accreditation in Milwaukee. The move will save about $46,000 and eliminate one staff position, he said. With the move, the USCCB will end its involvement in accrediting lay ministry formation programs, although the subcommittee will be available for consultations with dioceses and academic institutions about improving the quality of those programs, Bishop Murry said.
Links:
U.S. Catholic
America Magazine
National Catholic Reporter
We continue to receive your gifts to our annual member campaign. Thank you! As of June 22, 2011, our members have donated $33,908. In 2010 a total of $44,267 was donated. We are deeply grateful for our members’ support to this campaign. Please consider renewing your giving or giving for the first time!
Calling NACC writers and poets for World Day of the Sick prayerEvery year, the NACC prints prayer cards for World Day of the Sick, for use in hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, parishes, and anyone else interested in the spiritual needs of sick persons and caregivers. February 11, 2012, World Day of the Sick seems like a long way off, doesn’t it? However, we plan to have a pre-order process in place by fall, rather than having you order cards in December and January. These cards have been highly sought. Each year is a challenge to order sufficient numbers.
So we are starting early to invite our members to consider writing a prayer to be used on the prayer cards for 2012. We will again publish two cards: Prayer for Sick Persons and Prayer for the Caregiver. You may submit prayers for either or both. Prayers may be written in any style or format you like, but they should be no more than 32 lines long, with an average line length of not more than 10 syllables. To see examples of past prayers, visit www.nacc.org/resources/wds/pastPrayerCards.asp. All submissions must be received at the NACC office by Friday, July 15th. We will notify the person(s) whose prayers will be used by July 28. We are not able to offer payment, but the authors will be credited. We will share a total of two prayers in print, although some runners-up may be featured on our website later in the year. Please send your submissions to Cindy Bridges (cbridges@nacc.org). Thank you in advance for sharing your gifts!
NACC 2011 Conference Business Meeting PowerPointTo access the PowerPoint David Lichter used at the Conference 2011 Business Meeting, please use the links below:
PowerPoint version: click here
PDF version (includes all slides): click here
At the NACC National Conference we invited members to consider volunteering to serve the NACC. Everyone had a Time and Talents Volunteer Form in their conference bag. Even if you are not able to help right now, it would be very helpful to us to know more about your gifts and interests. Please click here to download and complete a Time and Talents Volunteer Form and send it to Cindy Bridges at cbridges@nacc.org.
Have you moved recently and not told us?When you have moved personal residences or places of employment, or have a new e-mail address or phone number, please don’t forget to contact Mary Pawicz (mpawicz@nacc.org), our membership support staff person at the NACC office, to let her know! We don’t want you to miss our communications to you!
Have you received a new position or promotion and not told us?We like to recognize our members who have recently received a new position or promotion. Please let Cindy Bridges (cbridges@nacc.org) know so we can publish it in NACC Now! Below is our current list of updates from members:
Sr. Pam Nosbusch, OSF, MA, BCC
Sister Pam has accepted a position as a Chaplain at St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville, Indiana and will start the end of June.
If you are one of the 900+ who are not members of NACC but are receiving NACC Now, have you considered becoming an NACC Member? Join the more than 2500 members who advance the ministry of spiritual care, and support one another’s ministry! Receive additional members’ benefits! Visit the NACC website for more membership information. Join today!
NACC Audio Conference, The Ethical and Religious Directives, Part Four, Beginning of Life Issues, presented by Thomas A. Nairn, OFM, Ph.D., is being offered Thursdays, July 7 and July 14, 2011, 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Central Time (GMT-6). You can register today at this link.
2011 NACC audio conferences!Be sure you mark your calendar for these 2011 NACC audio conferences. They will again be offered on Thursdays at noon (Central Time). More details will follow. Here are the presenters and topics for the remainder of 2011:
For questions about our audio conferences, please contact Jeanine Annunziato (jannunziato@nacc.org).
Spiritual Care Champions Webinar SeriesPlease consider the webinar offerings of the Spiritual Care Champions Series offered on Wednesdays. Go to www.che.org/mission/index.php?id=46.
Request: booklet for physicians on chaplain servicesOur NACC member, Kathy Ponce, serving in Resurrection Healthcare, is in the process of preparing a booklet on chaplaincy services for their physicians. Have any members prepared such a resource, and would you be willing to share your work with Kathy? Kathy and NACC plan in turn to share the samples received. You can contact Kathy at ponce.kathy@gmail.com.
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 datesWe will add more 2011 local events as the dates are set. We look forward to providing you information on them in future NACC Now's.
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: Marian Louwagie (Cancer), Deacon William Hetzel (general health issues), Susan Murphy (recovering from hospital stay), Fr. Gene Pocernich (surgery), Elizabeth Couble (ovarian cancer), Sr. Bernadette M. Sullivan, OSB, BCCM (recovery from foot and ankle surgery), Sr. Margaret Dougherty, DC (cancer), Linda Piotrowski (bi-lateral knee replacement surgery), Jim Castello (double knee replacement surgery), Bonnie Burnett (at the death of her brother); Francis Potts (neck/spine surgery); Maureen Moran (ovarian cancer), Fr. James Radde, SJ (cancer), Sr. Mary Clare Boland, SP, Sr. Phyllis Ann DiRenzo (treatment for breast cancer), Kathy Brier (hospitalization-daughter of NACC member Theresa Brier), Ginny Conron (POP surgery), Marcella Keefe-Slager (lung cancer and treatment), Gloria Troxler (preventive chemotherapy after ovarian surgery), Fr. Kevin Ikpah (eye troubles), 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), Sr. Nancy Crane, OP (cancer treatment), and Sr. Hilda Mallet, MHS (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.
CATHOLIC PRIEST DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE
Miami, FL - St. Anne’s Nursing Center and Residence
CHAPLAIN – CERTIFIED
Honolulu, HI – St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii
SPIRITUAL CARE MANAGERS
Anchorage, AK - Providence Alaska Medical Center
MANAGER of SPIRITUAL CARE
Tarzana, CA - Providence Tarzana Medical Center
CHAPLAIN
Springfield, OH - Springfield Regional 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.