Issue #263 – December 4, 2017
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(Items marked with a * are new or updated items)
NACC
1. Executive Director’s Reflection *
2. Welcome to new NACC members who joined us in November 2017! *
3. A big THANK YOU to all who contributed to #Giving Tuesday success toward our 2017 Annual Campaign goal! *
4. This Friday, December 8, is deadline for submitting prayers for the World Day of the Sick cards! *
5. In Vision: Caring for ED staff takes time and trust *
6. NACC Networking Calls for December 2017 *
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
APC/NACC 2018 CONFERENCE, Thursday, July 12, to Sunday, July 15, 2018!
For more information about the Conference go to:
https://www.nacc.org/conference/
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
7. In case you did not see these two recent articles *
8. Don’t miss the final 2017 NACC Webinar on ways to develop your competencies! *
9. FINAL CALL: This Friday, December 8, is deadline for applications for the 2018 NACC Webinar Series! *
10. CHA webinar offering, “Spiritual Care Interventions for Persons with Dementia,” Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 2:00 p.m. Central Time
11. Healing Tree: a request for prayers *
12. Recent job postings *
1. Executive Director’s Reflection
“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mk. 13:33) So begins yesterday’s Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent.
When reflecting on our spiritual care ministry, I realize how much this ministry’s primary disposition is just that: be watchful, be alert! Being “on call” is a daily, minute-by-minute reality, as we are attentive to lives about us – the spiritual and emotional currents in our colleagues, and all care recipients. Whether we are moving room to room, on an elevator or walking steps, writing in the chart or exchanging in a casual conversation, sitting in a meeting or eating with others, our ministry meter is never off! I hear so many of you who, at the end of day or night, depending on your shift, comment on the fatigue or fullness that the day/night has brought because there is little down time.
As in the Cleveland Clinic’s video, Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDWvj_q-o8 we are aware of the hidden drama in each person’s emotional and spiritual life. Without being invited in, we seem to be alert to those dramas that are often never articulated by those to whom we minister. Yet, we are Advent people, aware of others’ deep yearnings for deliverance and desiring the healing only the Divine healer can provide. Each of you could write a book on what you are attentive to and aware of! Being watchful and alert are core competencies of being an effective spiritual care provider.
We probably most encounter this competency expressed as mindfulness. As one author expresses it: “Chaplain’s deep listening skills to experience patient’s pain and suffering, awareness of his emotions/memories triggered by patient’s story and ability to set aside personal emotions, and judgmental thoughts formed intra-personal mindfulness. Chaplain’s insights on and ability to remain mindfully aware of possible emotions/thoughts in the patient, and facilitating patient to return and re-return to become aware of internal emotions/thoughts helps the patient develop own intra-personal mindfulness leading to self-healing.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4314912/
Would it be fair also to reflect on this “mindfulness” in our Advent season as a type of Christian virtue of being watchful and alert to the coming, grace-filled presence of God in a person’s life on his/her road to “self-healing”?
What do you think?
Blessings on your Advent Season,
David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director
2. Welcome to new NACC members who joined us in November 2017!
Full Members
Mr. Philip F. Boettcher (Chelsea, AL)
Rev. Corneille Ekila Boyeye MSC (Smithtown, NY)
Sr. Marie Eleanor A. Caisido CVI (Houston, TX)
Rev. Ikechukwu C. Ikeocha (Redondo Beach, CA)
Rev. Joseph F. Mali (Albany, NY)
Mr. Nathan H. Meierbachtol (Green Bay, WI)
Mrs. Lindsay A. Napoli (Columbus, OH)
Cecilia M. Pracher (Bradenton, FL)
Ministry Volunteer
Ms. Marilyn L. Buehler (Sacramento, CA)
Student Members
Mr. Joseph M. Frias (San Francisco, CA)
Ms. Rachel E. Guerrera (Littleton, CO)
Ms. Katharine S. Parparian (Vero Beach, FL)
Ms. Patricia A. Spruill (Haddow Township, NJ)
3. A big THANK YOU to all who contributed to #Giving Tuesday success toward our 2017 Annual Campaign goal!
Last week Tuesday, November 28, was #Giving Tuesday, and we did send a special request to our members and supporters to consider giving that day. Included was a special offer from three anonymous donors to each give $10 for every member who gave (or pledged to give) that Tuesday and had not yet given to the 2017 Annual Campaign. NACC received 38 such gifts and pledges that Tuesday totaling $4,140, as well as an additional $445 in gifts from those who have already given once this year! Adding the $1,110 from the three anonymous donors brings last Tuesday’s donations to $5,695. This was wonderful and brought us to $54,580, surpassing our 2017 goal of $54,000. Wow! Thank you for your generosity.
Also some members contacted us to let us know that they could not give, but would keep us in prayer. We are deeply grateful to all our members who hold up daily in prayer our NACC mission and members to continue the healing ministry! THANK YOU!
To date we have received 417 gifts totaling $57,974.50, compared to 483 of gifts totaling $54,277 at this time last year. You might recall that last year we far exceeded ($66,747) our $54,000 goal. If you have not yet been able to make a donation, and want to make an end-of-year donation, we greatly welcome it! Thank you!
You can make your donation online by going to the Annual Campaign webpage (www.nacc.org/donate) or just click here to donate. Blessings!
4. This Friday, December 8, is deadline for submitting prayers for the World Day of the Sick cards!
This Friday, December 8, is the deadline for submitting prayers for the World Day of the Sick cards. We invite our members to write prayers to be used on these prayer cards for the February 11, 2018 World Day of the Sick. We hear from many people who appreciate and utilize these cards in hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, parishes, and for anyone else interested in the spiritual needs of sick persons and caregivers.
We 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, click here. We will notify the person(s) whose prayers will be used by Friday, December 15. We are not able to offer payment, but the authors will be credited. We will share a total of two prayers in pdf printable form. Please send your submissions to Ramune Franitza (rfranitza@nacc.org). Thank you in advance for sharing your gifts.
5. In Vision: Caring for ED staff takes time and trust
To minister effectively to emergency department staff, chaplains must first make a deliberate effort to build relationships. In the current issue of Vision, three Penn Medicine chaplains describe how to support ED staffers in their stressful jobs.
https://www.nacc.org/vision/november-december-2017/caring-ed-staff-takes-time-trust/
6. NACC Networking Calls for December 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
- Palliative Care/Hospice Networking Group Call; Thursday, December 7 at 11 a.m. CT
- Nurse Chaplain Networking Group Call; Thursday, December 7 at 2 p.m. CT
- CPE Educators Networking Group Call; Friday, December 8 at 10 a.m. CT
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
APC/NACC 2018 CONFERENCE, Thursday, July 12, to Sunday, July 15, 2018!
For more information about the Conference go to:
https://www.nacc.org/conference/
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
7. In case you did not see these recent articles and resources
- Are you familiar with the Dynamic Catholic series? You can register for the Best Advent Ever” series of brief reflections. They are helpful aids to your Advent.
https://dynamiccatholic.com/best-advent-ever - Pope Francis’ recent thoughtful comments on compassion at the heart of health care.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/compassion-is-the-heart-of-healthcare-pope-francis-says-86762?utm_source=CNA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter - Excellent article that introduces the new PBS documentary, “Your Health: A Sacred Matter” (yourhealthasacredmatter.com) that investigates the crisis of faith in health care from the perspective of patients and medical professionals. The familiar experts of Drs. Harold Koenig, Daniel Sulmasy, Christina Puchalski and Rachel Naomi Remen are featured.
A Crisis of Faith in Healthcare? Award-Winning Documentary ‘Your Health: A Sacred Matter’ Airing on WORLD PBS Stations Nationwide
8. Don’t miss the final 2017 NACC Webinar on ways to develop your competencies!
On Thursday, December 14, 2017, the final NACC webinar for 2017 will be Developing & Competent Chaplains, presented by Tom O’Connor, PhD. It will provide valuable insights into how you can intentionally focus on growing professionally in a competency. Good perspectives for all of us! Watch your email in the coming days for more information!
To register now for this webinar, as well as for recordings of previous 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.
9. FINAL CALL: This Friday, December 8, is deadline for applications for the 2018 NACC Webinar Series!
The NACC is in the process of planning its 2018 webinar schedule and would like to invite you to submit an application to present a webinar next year. NACC webinars (hereafter referred to as webinars) are usually held on the second or third Thursday of each month of the year, excluding the month in which the NACC National Conference falls (in 2018 the conference will take place in July). Each webinar is scheduled for 90 minutes (including a 15-20 minute Q&A session after the presentation itself), starting at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. All webinars are recorded, and therefore the presenter(s) will be required to sign a consent form to that effect.
Below is a suggested list of topics that the NACC Education Advisory Panel thought would be of interest to NACC members for our 2018 webinar series:
- Mental health
- Substance abuse
- Palliative care and end of life
- Self-care
- Outpatient services
- Research (how to apply research to accentuate the effectiveness of chaplaincy; how to apply research to improve one’s practice; how research helps us; being able to read and understand existing research)
- Death of a child
- Ethics
- Those at most risk today:
- Abuse victims
- Sex trafficking victims
- Immigration issues (working with people in ICE detention centers)
If you are interested in presenting a NACC webinar in 2018 on one of the above topics (or if you have a suggestion for a different topic), please complete the application form and return it to the NACC national office (akursietis@nacc.org) by December 8, 2017. Submissions will be reviewed and decisions made by December 21, 2017, at which time you will be notified of the results.
10. CHA webinar offering on “Spiritual Care Interventions for Persons with Dementia,” Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 2:00 p.m. central time
CHA is offering a webinar “to explore aspects of dementia that affect spiritual care and interventions designed to reignite spirituality in persons suffering from memory loss. The program will cover spiritual care needs in various stages of dementia and suggest approaches for addressing these needs. The program will also discuss outreach to faith-based organizations to help them meet spiritual care needs of persons with dementia within their congregations.” For more information and to register go to: www.chausa.org/store/meeting?ID=3600
11. 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: Anne Murphy, Sr. Mary Clare Boland SP,
Fr. Jim Radde, SJ, Julie Bablin, Sheila Amrich (niece-in-law of NACC member Sr. Paracleta Amrich), Isabelita Boquiren, Susan Balling, Jim and Frances Castello.
12. Recent job postings
The following positions have been posted recently on our Positions Available page.
For more information go to www.nacc.org/resources/positions.
DIRECTOR of MISSION INTEGRATION & SPIRITUAL CARE
Medford, OR – Providence Medford Medical Center
DIRECTOR of MISSION INTEGRATION & SPIRITUAL CARE
Colville, WA – Providence Mt. Carmel Hospital
PART-TIME CHAPLAIN OPPORTUNITY
Redding, CA – Mercy Medical Center Redding – Dignity Health
PALLIATIVE CARE CHAPLAIN
Elk Grove Village, IL – Alexian Brothers Medical Center
PER DIEM CHAPLAIN
Santa Rosa, CA – Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital
View these jobs and more at: www.nacc.org/resources/positions.
