ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS: APRIL 1999

• Executive Director's Column
  • Rev. Joseph Driscoll ponders the issue of Catholic identity in the current health care environment. He asks the question: Is there anything that sets us apart, or makes us distinct, from other health care providers?
  
  
• Special Features
  • SUPER-Vision CPE Forum. In a Q&A headlined "Supervisor Scarcity and Educational Future of NACC," Mary E. Johnson and Ann O'Shea discuss the recent dialogue in the CPE Forum on the question: Should the NACC discontinue the accreditation of clinical pastoral education centers and the certification of Supervisors? The dialogue followed the publication of the results of a survey published in the November/December 1997 issue of the Vision which indicated a sharp decline in the number of actively practicing NACC certified Supervisors and in the current number of CPE programs accredited by the United States Catholic Conference Commission on Certification and Accreditation (USCC/CCA). Mary and Ann look to the future and envision where we should go from here.
  
  
• President's Report
  • Sr. Monica Lucas, SC, writes her last report as President of the NACC. She looks back at the progress made in recognizing and affirming the gifts and talents of others outside NACC as well as those who have served within the NACC to create new visions of ministry. Sr. Monica is leaving Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, to engage in a new ministry in Cincinnati, Ohio.
  
  
• Happenings
  • Fr. Leo Burke reports on the annual conference of Australian chaplains held in February.
  
  
• Horizons: Book Reviews
  • John Gillman, a Chaplain at Scripps Mercy Hospital and CPE Supervisor at The Center for Urban Ministry in San Diego, California, reviews two books on intercultural challenges in health care: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, and Caring for Patients from Different Cultures: Case Studies from American Hospitals, by Geri-Ann Galanti.
  
  
• Poetry
  • A poem, "Willing Spring," by poet and NACC Chaplain Deborah Cooper is featured on the cover of this issue. Deborah's mother, Colleen Gordon, who started writing poetry at the age of 70, is the author of a Good Friday poem, "A Cross of Wood."
  
  
• What's Coming in Future Issues
  • The July 1999 issue will include a special special section, "Windows onto the World: Spiritual Care International." The deadline is Monday, May 10, 1999. We invite members to submit articles and accompanying photographs from their experience of spiritual care ministry in different cultures.