Issue #248 – May 8, 2017

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(Items marked with a * are new or updated items)

1. Executive Director’s Reflection
One of our members attending the 2017 Conference mentioned to me that she was the only Catholic chaplain among her colleagues. Along with her deep appreciation for her diverse faith chaplain colleagues was the feeling of aloneness in her experience of this being her ministry of the Church, as well as it being her profession. Being at the Conference for her was an affirmation of her call and ministry, of her being part of the greater healing ministry of the Church. It was a wonderful experience of being connected with her sisters and brothers in ministry.

As I looked around the hall at the 350+ participants at the 2017 NACC Conference, I could not help but reflect on the words, pastoral and spiritual. While they are often used interchangeably in chaplaincy settings, I wonder if there might be a distinction worth noting.

Let’s reflect on pastoral for a moment. Yesterday’s gospel was the familiar one from John’s Gospel, chapter ten of the Good Shepherd where we read about Jesus as the gate for the sheep (John 10:1-10). Later in chapter ten Jesus is presented as the Good Shepherd who knows and tends his own, who would lay down his life for his own. As we know, the Latin word for shepherd in pastor that is the source of the word pastoral. The use of this term in chaplaincy, appropriately so, does not have universal acceptance due to its Christian and Jewish roots, and provides little meaning to other faith traditions. Thus, when our strategic partners among our chaplain associations (ACPE, APC, CASC, and NAJC) revised the Common Qualifications and Competencies (CQC’s) it was a very intentional decision to replace “pastoral” with “spiritual” in all cases to make the CQC’s more universally acceptable to all chaplains.

However, from a Catholic/Christian vantage point, there is much richness to “pastoral” for both our motivation for our ministry and the moral perspective on those to whom and with whom we minister. When we read Part Two: The Pastoral and Spiritual Responsibility of Catholic Health Care Services (CHA 2009) of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care (ERD’s), it is interesting to notice that both the terms pastoral and spiritual are used.

At the 2017 Conference our members were introduced to Dr. Emmanuel Lartey who has done much publishing on Pastoral Care and Theology. In his chapter, “Pastoral Theology in healthcare settings: blessed irritant for holistic human care,” found in Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare (Edited by Mark Cobb, Christina M. Puchalski, and Bruce Rumbold, 293-297), he wrote, “Pastoral theology may be understood as a critical reflection on the nature and caring activity of the divine, and of human persons in relation to the divine, with the personal, social, communal, and cultural contexts of the world.” (My italics)

For us Catholic Christians, the nature and caring activity of the divine was given one description in John 10 with a “pastoral” image – Jesus as Shepherd. In the Introduction of Part Two of the ERD’s we are given more insight into the nature and caring activity of God who created us and of Christ who redeemed us; and of the human person in relation to the divine as we are created in God’s image and given a remarkable and transformed destiny. The Introduction states: “The dignity of human life flows from creation in the image of God (Gn 1:26), from redemption of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:10; 2 TM 2:4-6), and from our common destiny to share a life with God beyond all corruption (1Cor 15:42-57).

That Introduction also emphasized that our human activity should imitate the divine care where it stated that: “Catholic health care has the responsibility to treat those in need in a way that respects the human dignity and eternal destiny of all. The Words of Christ have provided inspiration for Catholic health care: “I was ill and you cared for me.”(Mt 25:36). (Italics mine)
We get a sense from this Introduction that, along with honoring the human person’s dignity (creation) and destiny (redemption), that another characteristic of our pastoral care “embraces the physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of the person.” As the shepherd knows intimately (by name) and totally (lays down one’s life those in one’s care), we in turn make every effort to know the fullness of the person for whom we care and approach each in his/her unique dignity and destiny. What is important to them? What do they cherish? How do they express life’s ultimate purpose? Choices are based on values and relationships, rather than purely functional or external realities. Could we say that our “pastoral” care provides us a motivation (we love as Jesus did) and perspective (we view and treat the care recipient as a human being, deserving of love, respect, and care)? This person is not an object for study or a disease to cure.

Does our ministry then, as spiritual care, refer more to what we focus on (the spiritual needs of those for whom we care) and what we provide (spiritual assessments, interventions/care plans, etc.) as tending to the spirituality of the care recipient? Do you recall where, Part Two Introduction refers to “spiritual needs” in context of the sentence, “Directed to spiritual needs that are often appreciated more deeply during times of illness…” Is this a worthwhile way of describing “spiritual”?

These are just some of my reflections on the adjectives pastoral and spiritual. What are your reflections on these descriptors?

Thank you for your pastoral ministry and spiritual care!

Blessings,

David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

2. NACC Board of Directors held its Business meeting during the 2017 National Conference.
The NACC Board of Directors led the 2017 NACC Business meeting during the 2017 National Conference at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa, in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico near Albuquerque. Most of the Conference participants were present to meet the two new board members, Bev Beltramo and Carolanne Hauck, to receive from David Lichter, Executive Director, an update on the NACC strategic initiatives, a synopsis of key points from the recent member survey from Bev Beltramo, and an overview of the NACC’s future strategic priorities from Jim Letourneau. Those in attendance discussed at table the presentations and provided their feedback for the Board. This feedback will be summarized and shared with the Board and our members in the coming weeks. We appreciated all who participated in the Business meeting. See below to review the PowerPoint that was shared and the 2016 NACC Snapshot that was provided to members.
2017 Business Meeting PPT REV
8 Business Meeting Snapshot2016

3. We welcome our new NACC members who joined us in April 2017!
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to all those who joined the NACC in April!

Full Members
Mr. Peter Guarisco (Baton Rouge, LA)
Rev. Edmund C. Nnadozie MSP (Baltimore, MD)
Rev. Anthony Mtauli Nyari AJ (Fountain Hill, PA)
Rev. Augustine N. Okwuzu SMMM (Tampa, FL)
Sr. Sini Paul SSS (Woodway, TX)

Associate Member
Mr. Victor Vidaurre (Walker, LA)

Student Members
Dr. Kimberly A. Borin (Lebanon, NJ)
Sr. Mary P. Dabrera (Long Island City, NY)
Mr. Ray G. Henson (Nashville, TN)
Ms. Mildred S. Hoch (Feasterville-Trevose, PA)
Mr. Mark Vizioli (Vernon, NJ)
Ms. Elizabeth A. Weigel (Chicago, IL)

4. 2017 Annual Campaign Letter will be sent to you on Monday, May 15.
We want to let you know that the NACC 2017 Annual Campaign letter will be sent to our members on Monday, May 15. We hope that you are able to participate in our 2017 Campaign. Last year our Annual Campaign ended as a record year for giving. Nearly 22 percent of our members gave to last year’s campaign compared to 6.5 percent of our members contributing to the 2007 Annual campaign. We hope this percentage of members giving will increase each year. Would you help us grow this percentage?

Also, we want to mention we received some larger unexpected gifts last year, including a member’s $5,500 gift from their family foundation and another member’s $4,000 gift in honor of a special event. We also had members include NACC as a designated memorial at the time of a loved one’s death. We mention these gifts with gratitude, and as a reminder and an invitation to you and all our members to remember NACC at important times. Is this something you could consider?

5. Newly certified NACC members received their BCC Certificates at the Missioning Mass at the 2017 Conference.
Twenty-three of the fifty-nine NACC members who had been board certified in 2016 received the BCC certificate, as well as one of the two ACHPC certified, from Fr. Jack Crabb, BCC-S, and the NACC Certification Commission at the Missioning Mass on Saturday, April 29, during the 2017 National Conference. Those present joined in praying for them and for those recently certified whose names were also read during this ceremony. Please join us in congratulating them.

6. Mark your calendars for APC/NACC Joint Conference, July 12-15, 2018!
Mark your calendars for the APC/NACC Joint Conference in 2018! This conference will be held Thursday, July 12, through Sunday, July 15, 2018 at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, California. It will be preceded by preconference workshops and our NACC retreat. Plan to join us!

7. Death of NACC members
We recently learned of the death of two NACC members. Please join us in commending them to the Lord of Life.

Our former NACC member, Sr. Blanca Sagels, died February 1, 2017. Sr. Blanca joined NACC in 2010, and retired from NACC in 2015. Her obituary can be found at www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?pid=184082760

Our NACC member, Sr. M. Donna Cooper, died October 30, 2016. Sr. Donna joined NACC in 2005 and was board certified in 2006. She remained an NACC member until her death. Her obituary can be found at obits.al.com/obituaries/mobile/obituary.aspx?pid=182225911

8. Read about the conference on our NACC blog!
To provide our members with more timely conference coverage in the May-June issue of Vision, we experimented this year with a new NACC blog. Vision editor David Lewellen posted several articles about the conference before members caught their flights out of Albuquerque, and more coverage is still being posted almost daily as you settle back into your routines. To read all about it, remember to visit the NACC Blog, or check our Facebook or LinkedIn pages for alerts to new posts.

9. Are you aware of the very helpful overview of the new Common Qualifications and Competencies?
Whether you are preparing your certification materials or will be preparing your materials for renewal of certification, you need to be aware of and familiar with the recently revised NACC certification qualifications and competencies. In 2016 the five strategic partners of the chaplaincy associations (ACPE, APC, CASC, NACC, NAJC) revised and adopted the Common Qualifications and Competencies (CQC’s). NACC then added the USCCB-approved NACC competencies to the CQC’s. You can read about the background of these changes, and access these revised CQC’s at the Important Background on NACC Certification Competencies page.

Also, our NACC members, Tom Chirdo and Jim Letourneau prepared an excellent background on these new CQC’s that will help you understand them. You can access this video at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLHeqkdIMi4.

10. We are grateful to the many people contributing to the May 20-21, 2017 Certification Interviews!
The National Office and many volunteers have been busy completing preparations for the May 20-21, 2017 certification interviews. The interviews are being held in five locations: Milwaukee, WI; Middletown, CT; Indianapolis, IN; Omaha, NE; and Torrance, CA. There are at least 120 people involved in the interview weekend: 47 applicants, 51 interviewers, 11 Interview Team Educators, five Site Coordinators, one Certification Commissioner-on-Call, and five Pastoral Presence Volunteers as well as Other Volunteers. Thanks so much for all our volunteers’ hard work and dedication to the NACC Certification process! Please keep our certification applicants and all those involved in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare for certification interviews.

11. 2017 NACC Networking calls for May, June 2017
If you wish to participate on any of these calls and are not already on that particular call list, please contact Ramune Franitza at rfranitza@nacc.org.

NACC Outpatient Group Call – Monday, May 15, 2017 – 10 am CT

NACC Palliative Care/Hospice Call – Thursday, May 25, 2017 – 10:30 am CT

NACC Canadian Group Call – Tuesday, June 20, 2017 – 2 pm CT

NACC Palliative Care/Hospice Call – Thursday, June 22, 2017 – 11 am CT

2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 28-MAY 1, 2017

12. Thank you to all who prayed for the success of the 2017 Conference!
We are deeply grateful to all of our members who were not able to attend this year’s national conference in New Mexico but remembered the participants in prayer. You and your ministry were remembered daily in our liturgies. You were not far from us in spirit.

13. Thank you to all who made our 2017 National Conference in New Mexico a success!
More than 350 participants gathered for our 2017 Conference in New Mexico and experienced its inspiration, information, and nourishment through plenaries, workshops, liturgies, business meeting, and social gatherings. We extend our special thanks to the Conference Planning Task Force, Beth Lenegan (Chair), Tom Chirdo (Plenary Speakers), Richard Bartoszek (Liturgy), Mary Catherine Casey (Local Arrangements), Eve Kelly Corcoran (Local Arrangements), Alex Chamtcheu-Tchamtcheu (Workshops), Michael Saxton (board liaison) and our NACC staff, Jeanine Annunziato and Andris Kursietis, as well as our other NACC staff who were on site and in the NACC office, for all their tireless planning, support and guidance! We are grateful to our attendees for coming and for the sacrifices they made to do also.

14. Ordering audio recordings of 2017 National Conference materials
If you are interested in audio recordings of any of the 2017 National Conference offerings, you can place an order at www.dcprovidersonline.com/nacc/.

15. 2017 Conference resources can be accessed on the NACC website.
Whether you participated in the 2017 National Conference or not, you can access the support materials and PowerPoints for many of the workshops on our NACC website on the 2017 Conference Workshops page.

16. If you missed the NACC Conference, you do not need to miss the excellent plenary sessions. You can still get the live-stream videos of the Plenary Sessions!
The NACC 2017 national conference is over, but you can still have the opportunity to enjoy the opening prayer ceremony and the four plenary speaker sessions by registering for the recordings of these sessions which were live-streamed.

The charge for accessing the recordings is $80 for NACC members and $100 for non-NACC members. The fee covers the welcome/opening prayer service and all four plenary speaker sessions. Please note that this is a package deal that includes all the four plenary sessions and welcome/opening prayer and we do not offer separate registration for individual sessions.

We hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to view these sessions.

The sessions that were the subject of live streaming and were recorded are:

Friday, April 28, 2017: Conference Welcome/Opening Prayer
Friday, April 28, 2017: LIVING TRADITION: Were Not Our Hearts Burning. Presented by Dr. Dianne Bergant, CSA
Saturday, April 29, 2017: REMEMBER! AND THEN JESUS WALKS AND TALKS US BACK INTO LIFE. Presented by Dr. Megan A. McKenna
Sunday, April 30, 2017: WHO IS THIS? Encountering God in Other People and Traditions. Presented by Dr. Emmanuel Lartey
Monday, May 1, 2017: Catalytic Conversions with Conversing Narratives: Alchemical Traditions that Transform Us. Presented by Dr. Raymond Reyes

7 CEH hours (1.75 hours per plenary session) are offered.

To view the recorded sessions requires a computer with internet access. Please take a few moments to register online: Register. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with a link to the site where the recordings may be viewed.

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

17. Please hold this day, Tuesday, October 17, 2017, for a Chaplaincy Leadership Summit!
The NACC is collaborating with its Strategic Partners in Chaplaincy (ACPE, APC, CASC, and NAJC) in preparing an important Leadership Summit on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. Dr. Christina Puchalski will be the key note presenter, along with the presidents of these five chaplaincy associations. The program will provide an overview of the state of chaplaincy and our collaborative initiatives to advance the profession. Please plan on participating via live-streaming. While the event will be held at the APC headquarters in Hoffman Estates near Chicago, this day program will be available to all through live streaming. So please hold the date! More details to follow in the coming weeks.

18. Request: What patient satisfaction question(s) are you using and what is your data?
In 2008 the Metrics Task Force (including representative from Press Ganey) that was organized as a result of the CHA/NACC Spiritual Care Summit in Omaha 2007, had recommended a Patient Survey question of If you were visited by a hospital chaplain during your stay, rate your satisfaction with the spiritual care the chaplain provided. It seems that question did not get much traction among hospital/systems. There is a renewed interest to learn what question is being used and what the patient survey data is telling us. Questions vary: Were you visited by a chaplain? Did a member of the pastoral care department respond to your needs? How would you rate your experience with…?

Would you be interested to share your question(s) and your experience/data from the question(s) with other colleagues? It would be good to learn if there is a more widely-used question(s) and what national data from the question(s) could be gained. If you are interested, please let David Lichter (dlichter@nacc.org) know in the next couple of weeks (by Tuesday, May 30), and you will be included in process.

19. Don’t miss the upcoming NACC Webinar on May 25, 2017!
The next NACC webinar in our 2017 program is scheduled for Thursday, May 25, 2017 – 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time. Rev. Victoria M. Kumorowski, JD, LLM, MJS, DMin will present “Promoting Inner Healing From Addiction”.

If you have not already done so, it is still not too late to register for this webinar.

Program Summary
This webinar is based upon the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual (BPSS) Model of Addiction, which takes into consideration the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dynamics that combine to form substance addictions (Horvath et al. 2016, 1). It primarily focuses upon the underlying spiritual nature and consequences of all addiction. It demonstrates that healing from substance addiction requires much more than just abstaining from the addictive behavior (Rohr 2011, xx). It emphasizes that real healing involves a spiritual transformation of the self that only results from “living into” God’s radical grace (Rohr; May 1988, 125-126). The webinar concludes by discussing ways in which chaplains can help to promote this type of inner healing among patients who are imprisoned by their addictions.

Program Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants will have:
1. Gained a greater understanding of the nature of addiction.
2. Gained a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of addiction.
3. Gained a greater understanding of the recovery process as a spiritual journey.
4. Gained an understanding of the type of spiritual care that promotes healing from addiction.

About the Presenter
Victoria Kumorowski practiced law for a number of years and served four years as a state trial court judge in Kansas, before changing careers and becoming an ordained minister and board certified chaplain. She received a Masters of Divinity from Phillips Theological seminary in 2000, and a Doctor of Ministry in Formational Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary in 2012. During the past ten years, she has served as the director of Spiritual Care (and voluntarily as an ethics consultant) for Genesis Health Care System in Zanesville Ohio, which is partially owned by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. During the past four years, she has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching online courses in Principles of Biomedical Ethics (Phil 305), Global issues and Values (Religion 393), and Legal Issues in Health Care (HLSC 406) for Muskingum University. Most important of all, she is the mother of three adult sons, whom she greatly loves and respects, and has three wonderful grandchildren.

Participants qualify for 2.0 CEHs total for the session (which includes 90 minutes for the webinar plus 30 minutes preparation time).

To register for this webinar, as well as for any other NACC 2017 webinars, please visit the webinar page on our website by clicking on this LINK. The web page contains a link to a downloadable paper registration form, and also a link enabling you to register online and pay by credit card.

20. For information on our NACC 2017 Webinar Series, please go to:
NACC Webinars and Audio Conferences.

21. Can you make the NACC event in New Jersey on May 20, 2017?
We are pleased to announce a local education event that will be held at the Parish Hall of the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine in Freehold, New Jersey on May 20, 2017. There is still time to register. The theme for the event, which will be presented by Sharon Douglas, BCC, Debra Sheridan, BCC, and Dr. Mary T. O’Neill, BCC-S is: Best Practices for Chaplains.

A $35 participant fee will cover lunch and the program. 5.5 CEH’s are offered. You have the option to register online, or by downloading, completing and submitting a paper registration form. For more information, and to register online for this event, please visit our website at this link: May 20 local gathering. To download the paper registration form, please go to our website: Best Practices for Chaplains.

We hope that you will accept this opportunity to enhance your learning and to meet with fellow chaplains in your region. Please invite your colleagues, even if they are not members of the NACC – all are welcome. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Andris Kursietis at the national office at: akursietis@nacc.org.

22. A very helpful resource provided by our NACC Member, Dan Lunney, BCC, DMin.
Our NACC member, Dan Lunney, BCC DMin, is graduating from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, with his Ecumenical Doctor of Ministry degree. He is graciously making available to members his thesis-project, “Personalized Music as a Spiritual Intervention with People Living with Dementia. To access his thesis-project, you can go to Personalized Music as a Spiritual Intervention with People Living with Dementia (D.Min. Thesis-Project) at the Academia.edu site.

23. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
Healing Tree: a request for prayers *
Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. We will leave the person’s name on the Healing Tree list for three months, unless you ask us to remove your or the person’s name earlier. You can always request us to leave the name on longer.

We continue to pray for: Bernadette Bolton (mother of NACC member, Patrick Bolton), Sr Marie V. Janousek CSJ, Sr. Romona Nowak, OP, Sr. MariaTheresa Hronec, Sr. Mary Thecla Kuhnline, Fr. Jim Radde, SJ, Mason Richter, Shane Rebholtz, Rosemary Benya BCC, Julie Bablin, Marie Coglianese, Sheila Amrich (niece-in-law of NACC member Sr. Paracleta Amrich), Isabelita Boquiren, Sister Stephanie Morales, FMI, Susan Balling, Jim and Frances Castello, Marga Halala, Glenn and Pat Teske, and Gloria Troxler.

24. Recent job listings
The following positions have been posted recently on our Positions Available page.
For more information go to www.nacc.org/resources/positions.

CHAPLAIN – PASTORAL CARE – Full-Time (Days)
Des Moines, Iowa – Mercy Medical Center

CHAPLAIN
Baltimore, Maryland – Mercy Medical Center

DIRECTOR of PASTORAL CARE
Fraser, Michigan – Fraser Villa

CHAPLAIN I – PRIEST
Evanston, IL – Presence Health

NACC Now #248

Issue #248 – May 8, 2017

NACC

2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 28-MAY 1, 2017

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 28-MAY 1, 2017

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

Job Listings

Free Publications

Donate Now

Issue #248 – May 8, 2017

NACC

2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 28-MAY 1, 2017

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 28-MAY 1, 2017

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

Job Listings

Free Publications

Donate Now

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