Issue #317 – January 20, 2020

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

NACC

1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Death of former NACC members, Wilda Gazik, BCC, Sr. Eugenia Kaster OP, and Patricia Militello.
3. Remember the Saturday, February 15, 2020 DEADLINE for Initial Certification and Palliative Care and Hospice Advanced Certification (Track 1-Interview) Applications!
4. In Vision: Prayer ritual helps cancer-stricken vet resolve moral injury
5. Request for Vision articles: Vision seeks authors on organ donation
6. You should have gotten a “We Need Your Help” e-announcement last week
7. Have you seen on NACC’s Facebook the brief videos and the memes?
8. ATTENTION CORRECTIONS CHAPLAINS!
9. ATTENTION OUR HISPANIC/LATINO MEMBERS!
10. NACC Networking Calls for January-March 2020 – All are welcome to participate!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
2020 CONFERENCE, Monday, May 11 – Thursday, May 14 in Cleveland, Ohio!

11. Registration for Vision 20/20 The Future of Spiritual Care Conference is now open!
12. As you register, please consider a donation to the Scholarship Fund.
13. Conference Scholarships

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

14. Last opportunity to register for this Wednesday’s free webinar: Preparing Our People to Provide Pastoral Care: NACC Partners in Pastoral Care!
15. Don’t miss this special 3-part February NACC webinar series on “Her Smile Is Enough for Me: Critical Care Pediatric Chaplaincy”, presented by Jim Manzardo and Glenda Spearman.
16. Register now for the 2020 NACC webinar series!
17. NACC Local Event
18. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
19. Recent job postings

1. Executive Director’s Reflection *
As we enter into 2020, I find myself challenged by this Sunday’s readings, especially the reading from Isaiah and the verse 49:6, “It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” The words, “It is too little…,” really struck me.

Isaiah’s message was certainly to emphasize God’s expansive reach beyond the Israelite nation to the “ends of the earth.” However, “it is too little” challenges me to be open to God’s expansive love and plan for us, for the NACC, for our ministry, for our world, calling me beyond my smallness, my fears, my misgivings, my misperceptions, my own “littleness.” I realize daily how I can be more of a stifling than igniting influence on others. Whether it’s holding on to past patterns, lingering misgivings, subtle prejudices, etc., I need to hear again how Paul addressed “the church of God that is in Corinth,” who were “called to be holy,” as he also expanded his greeting to “all those everywhere who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” (1 Cor.1:1-3)

How open am I to God’s imagination and expansiveness? Where and how will I listen for it?

On this commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am reminded of the book entitled, Christian Imagination, Theology and the Origins of Race, by Willie James Jennings. Jennings challenges the reader to examine how little or narrow our Christian vision and imagination are because they are “enclosed in racial and cultural difference, inconsequentially related to its geography, often imaginatively detached from its surrounding of both people and spaces, but one yet bound to compelling gestures of connection, belonging, and invitation…” (pg.4). He diagnoses us with suffering with “diseased social imagination” (pg.6). The book made me examine all the ways our culture and society breeds smallness that fosters all types of “ism’s.” Our own understanding of God, our theology, can be more a source of stifling smallness and denigrating segregation in all forms, rather than fostering God’s expansive love and compassion that is always instructing us, “it is too little.” Certainly Dr. King exuded God’s prophetic expansiveness in his “I have a dream” speech.

So, I continue moving across this threshold of 2020, mindful of God’s chiding to me, “it is too little.” How open will I be to God’s expansive love and plan for us, for the NACC, for our ministry, for our world, calling me beyond my smallness, my fears, my misgivings, my misperceptions, my own “littleness?”

How do you hear God’s voice saying to you, “it is too little”?

Blessings on your 2020!

David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

2. Death of former NACC members, Wilda Gazik, BCC, Sr. Eugenia Kaster OP, and Patricia Militello. *
We recently learned of the deaths of three of our former members:

• Our former NACC Emeritus member, Wilda Gazik, BCC, who died August 7, 2019. Wilda joined NACC in 1987 and was certified in 1989 and was a member until 2017. We commend her to the Lord for her healing ministry. www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/wilda-gazik-obituary?pid=193845439
• Racine Dominican Sister Eugenia Kaster died on January 8, 2020. Sr. Eugenia was an NACC member for 25 years from 1981 to 2006. She certified in 1987. We commend her to the Lord of Life. Learn more about her life and ministry on the Racine Dominican website: www.racinedominicans.org/editoruploads/files/Obituaries/Eugenia.pdf
• Our former NACC Emeritus member, Patricia Militello, who died January 15, 2020. Wilda joined NACC in 1992, was certified in 1997, and was a member for seventeen years. She was particularly known for her volunteer work and her ministry to AIDS patients. We commend her to the Lord for her healing ministry. buffalonews.com/2020/01/18/patricia-militello-92-chaplain-who-ministered-to-aids-patients/

May they rest in God’s limitless compassion.

3. Remember the Saturday, February 15, 2020 DEADLINE for Initial Certification and Palliative Care and Hospice Advanced Certification (Track 1-Interview) Applications! *
Your application portfolios for initial certification need to be mailed to the office or uploaded on our website (www.nacc.org/certification/certification-submission-form) by midnight on Saturday, February 15, 2020! Palliative Care and Hospice Advanced Certification applications should be emailed to lisasarenac@nacc.org. If you have any questions or would like informational materials on initial or advanced certification, please contact Lisa Sarenac at lisasarenac@nacc.org or call (414) 483-4898 Ext. 304. Please keep our applicants and those considering Board Certification in your prayers.

4. In Vision: Prayer ritual helps cancer-stricken vet resolve moral injury *
Many veterans suffer from moral injury, the feeling that they have transgressed their own values. In the new issue of Vision, Rev. Alejandro De Jesus writes of a woman who saw combat in Iraq and who was able to arrive at self-forgiveness through a series of chaplain visits and prayer sessions.
www.nacc.org/vision/january-february-2020/prayer-ritual-helps-cancer-stricken-vet-resolve-moral-injury

5. Request for Vision articles: Vision seeks authors on organ donation *
The March-April Vision will cover the topic of organ donation, and we are eager to receive articles from members with experience in this area. We particularly would like to address working with organ donation companies; conflict within a family; at what point a donor is declared dead; and working with living donors of kidneys. If you can address those topics or have another idea for an article, please write to Vision editor David Lewellen, dlewellen@nacc.org. The copy deadline is February 14.

6. You should have gotten a “We Need Your Help” e-announcement last week *
The NACC office sent an email asking if you would help promote chaplaincy at a local level. An opportune time may be the weekends surrounding the World Day of the Sick (February 11, 2020). Over the past year we have developed and distributed Choose Chaplaincy materials, as well as created our www.ChooseChaplaincy.org webpage. We already received several replies. Thank you! We do need your help! Please consider taking these steps. Here again is a link to that message. Please respond to rfranitza@nacc.org with a request for brochures and posters. They are also available in Spanish.

7. Have you seen on NACC’s Facebook the brief videos and the memes? *
If you have not recently been to our NACC Facebook www.facebook.com/choosechaplaincy, please go to it, and view, like, and share with others the brief videos on chaplaincy, www.facebook.com/pg/choosechaplaincy/videos.

Also, have you seen our memes? www.facebook.com/pg/choosechaplaincy/photos/tab=album&album_id=10150553181828253?. You can click on any meme, view, like, and share it with others also.

Both of these links can be shared as a way of spreading the awareness of chaplaincy.

8. ATTENTION CORRECTIONS CHAPLAINS! *
We hope you have read about NACC’s recent partnership with new Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition (www.catholicprisonministries.org). The NACC is collaborating on the development of spiritual care formation and certification for those providing Spiritual Care to the incarcerated, and their families. Please join our networking group on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 10 a.m. CT to support one another and to learn more about these initiatives, and the pilot projects underway. Contact rfranitza@nacc.org with your interest.

9. ATTENTION OUR HISPANIC/LATINO MEMBERS! *
Over the past year, in the NACC’s efforts to promote chaplaincy and to appeal to compassionate, caring individuals, we have also prepared resources in Spanish including our Pastoral Care Competencies (www.nacc.org/about-nacc/partners-in-pastoral-care) with plans to continue translating other Partners in Pastoral Care materials. As we continue our efforts, we would value your expertise and support to represent our ministry in a comprehensive way. Please join our networking group on Monday February 17, 2020 at 2 p.m. CT to support and test the initiatives being proposed and piloted. Contact rfranitza@nacc.org with your interest.

10. NACC Networking Calls for January-March 2020 – All are welcome to participate! *

To sign up or for more information, questions, comments or concerns contact Ramune Franitza at rfranitza@nacc.org.

You must reply to participate and receive the ZOOM code for the call. If you reply, we will forward ZOOM passcodes for a video connection through internet or, if you prefer, you can still call in on a phone line. Registering for the call, even if you cannot participate, will allow you to receive notes of the conversation and resources shared. Calls with less than 5 participants may be postponed.

If you’ve had difficulty in joining calls using ZOOM please let Ramune Franitza (rfranitza@nacc.org) know so that we can address the difficulty. THANK YOU!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
2020 CONFERENCE, Monday, May 11 – Thursday, May 14 in Cleveland, Ohio!

11. Registration for Vision 20/20 The Future of Spiritual Care Conference is now open! *

Hopefully you have received your email announcement that the registration for our 2020 Conference is now open. There will not be a mailed announcement. Visit the 2020 website to learn all about the conference. www.nacc.org/2020-vision

The Early Bird special pricing is only until February 14, 2020!

12. As you register, please consider a donation to the Scholarship Fund.
Please consider a donation to the Conference scholarship fund. All donations received will help members to attend the Conference. Every dollar counts: no amount is too big or small. Thank you for your support.

13. Conference Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships will be available from the National Association of Catholic Chaplains for registration fees for the 2020 Conference. The applicant must apply no later than Monday, January 27, 2020. Visit the NACC website for more information.

For more information about the Conference go to:
www.nacc.org/2020-vision

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

14. Last opportunity to register for this Wednesday’s free webinar: Preparing Our People to Provide Pastoral Care: NACC Partners in Pastoral Care! *

This Wednesday, January 22, 2020 (12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. Central Time), Harry Dudley, DMin, and David Lichter, DMin will present a free webinar on the topic of Preparing Our People to Provide Pastoral Care: NACC Partners in Pastoral Care.

Program Summary
In October 2016, the NACC, with the support of a Raskob Family Foundation Grant, first convened leaders from several Catholic ministry associations and USCCB to explore where pastoral care is being provided, and what competencies are needed for individuals to provide pastoral care in diverse settings, such as homebound, prison/corrections/detention centers, senior care or other facilities. Since then, our Partners in Pastoral Care have teamed with the NACC to develop many resources for pastoral care preparation with plans for more: https://www.nacc.org/about-nacc/partners-in-pastoral-care/. This free NACC webinar aims to introduce this Partners in Pastoral Care initiative, and the current resources and future plans for pastoral care preparation.

Intended Audiences

• NACC members
• Diocesan pastoral care formation leaders
• Permanent diaconate formation leaders
• Lay formation program leaders
• Graduate theological school leaders
• All ministers working in diverse pastoral care settings, including homecare, senior care, correctional and prison settings

Program Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Learn the background and purpose of the Partners in Pastoral Care Initiative
• Gain an understanding of its current resources and how to utilize them
• Come to know the plans for future resources
• Learn how to become a partner in this national initiative

About the Presenters
Harry Dudley, DMin, with his wife, Pat, heads Ambulans Vobiscum Consulting that helps non-profits and churches develop curriculum, leaders and formation for service. Harry was the first to hold the role of the Director for Certification of Ecclesial Ministry for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in the Secretariat for Catholic Education. He has a lifetime of experience and expertise in the formation of men and women for ministry. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition. He received the 2019 NACC Outstanding Colleague Award and has been a key partner in the development of the Partners in Pastoral Care Initiative.

David Lichter, DMin, has been Executive Director of the NACC since 2007, and has helped shepherd this Partners in Pastoral Care initiative from its outset. He also serves on the Catholic Health Association Pastoral Care Advisory Committee and on the Steering Committee of the Catholic Prison Ministry Coalition.

Registration
Although this webinar is offered at no charge, you are requested to register so that we can send you the access information. You can register online at this LINK. Alternatively, please complete the form below, and mail it to the national office: Pamela Jones, NACC, 4915 S Howell Avenue, Suite 501 Milwaukee, WI 53207.

15. Don’t miss this special 3-part February NACC webinar series on “Her Smile Is Enough for Me: Critical Care Pediatric Chaplaincy”, presented by Jim Manzardo and Glenda Spearman.
This case-based three-part webinar series builds on the presentation “Her Smile Is Enough for Me: Critical Care Pediatric Chaplaincy”, given at the 2019 NACC National Conference, and is a response to both positive feedback and requests for more specific interventions. The presenters will describe the pediatric patients’ world through the developmental spectrum, the parents/caregivers’ world, and the healthcare providers’ world and ways the chaplain assesses and responds to the breadth of situations and needs.

Jim Manzardo, BCC is a chaplain at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago where he has worked for the past two years in the pediatric intensive care unit. Previously, he was the primary chaplain for the Hematology-Oncology-Stem Cell Transplant service for nineteen years. He also has been part of the Palliative Care and Ethics teams and is a facilitator of a nursing transitions program for new nurses during their first year of nursing. Jim also has been incorporating mindfulness meditation into the hospital environment.

Glenda R. Spearman, MDiv, BCC, is currently a Senior Staff Chaplain at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital) where she has served since 2000. Glenda was board certified by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains in 2008. Glenda coordinates the Minister of Care volunteers who bring Communion to the Catholic patient families at Lurie Children’s. Glenda has been Primary Chaplain for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the past ten years. Glenda facilitates the hospital’s Schwartz Rounds, and is a member of the hospital-wide Bereavement Committee, and Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Glenda is part of the Spiritual Care Chaplain Team who provides Mindfulness Meditation to staff. Glenda coordinates the annual televised Christmas visit by the Cardinal to the hospital’s patient families. In October 2017, Glenda was awarded the Bishop Quarter Award by Chicago’s Blasé Cardinal Cupich for the many years of ministry as a pediatric hospital Chaplain, especially to the Catholic patient families.
Participant cost for these three sessions is $75 for NACC members, $90 for non-members, which includes all three sessions. A special rate of $30 is available to NACC retired and student members. This series will provide 4.5 CEH’s.

The three sessions will take place on the following dates:

• Wednesday, February 19 (12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m. Central Time)
• Wednesday, February 26 (12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m. Central Time)
• Wednesday, March 4 (12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m. Central Time)

For further details, including information on how to register for this webinar series, please click on the following link: REGISTER.

16. Register now for the 2020 NACC webinar series!
Don’t forget to register for the 2020 NACC webinar series! The series comprises 11 webinars, plus free webinars on Certification with the NACC, Renewal of Certification, and Certification of Associate Chaplains with the NACC. Details of each of the webinars and information on how to register for them are available on our website: https://www.nacc.org/education-resources/nacc-webinars-and-audio-conferences/.

For NACC members the registration fee for each individual webinar is $40 per connection for the live sessions or $40 to purchase access to the recordings. There is a special rate of $20 per webinar for those who have NACC student membership. For non-members the registration fee is $55 per connection for the live sessions or $55 to purchase access to the recordings. We are offering a special package that includes all of our regular January – December 2020 webinars at a discounted rate of $340 for NACC members ($170 for NACC student members) and $450 for non-members.

To register online and pay by credit card, please visit the registration page by clicking on this LINK. NACC student members wishing to register online should use the following special link: STUDENTS. If you prefer to register using a paper registration form and pay by check, a downloadable registration form can be accessed at this LINK.

NOTE: All of the NACC webinars are recorded, and online access to the recordings is made available to all registrants. If you cannot participate live, you still have the opportunity to enhance your learning (and earn CEHs) by means of the recordings.

17. NACC Local Event *

• Tucson, Arizona – February 6 – Register today!
  On February 6, 2020, the NACC is hosting a gathering of area chaplains at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona. Bonnie J. McCulley, LPC, Ch.T., BCC will present on the topic of “Gravitate to the Highest Energy”. Based on the work of Dr. Brené Brown’s best-selling book, Daring Greatly, we will explore how developing shame resilience, understanding trust, and practicing vulnerability can grow the connection we have to others, to ourselves and in God. NACC Executive Director David Lichter will be in attendance and will inform participants about trends and movements in professional chaplaincy. For further information and details on how to register, please use this LINK.

18. 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: Marybeth Harmon, Fr. Art Schute, Kathi Schaaf (Sister of Sr. Charlene Schaaf CDP who recently died) and for Sr. Charlene and her family, Nolan (4-year-old grandson of member Dale Recinella), Fr. Jim Radde SJ, Isabelita Boquiren, Susan Balling, Jim and Frances Castello.

19. 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.

FOUNDING CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATOR/FACULTY POSITION
Baton Rouge, LA – Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University

PRIEST CHAPLAIN/SACRAMENTAL MINISTER
Nashville, TN – Ascension Saint Thomas Health