Issue #329 – July 6, 2020

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

NACC

1. Executive Director’s Reflection *
2. Save the date! Friday, September 25, 2020, 12:00-1:30 pm Central for the NACC Annual Meeting: Honoring the Mission of Chaplains! *
3. Welcome to our new NACC members who joined us in June! *
4. Congratulations to the following NACC members who were approved for Chaplain Board Certification following their interviews in May 2020. *
5. NACC continues to hold a COVID-19 listening/resource sharing ZOOM session this week. *
6. NACC Networking Call for July 2020 – All are welcome to participate! *
7. Do you need a Listening Heart?
8. Would you like to meet with other chaplains to process your experience during these times?
9. Vision blog: When so many can’t breathe, chaplains witness to the breath of God *
10. Vision seeks articles about grief
11. Healing Tree: a request for prayers *

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

12. Don’t forget to check the NACC Coronavirus page for resources! *
13. Don’t miss this special two-part NACC Webinar in July! *
14. Recent job postings *

1. Executive Director’s Reflection *
If there is one consistent theme I hear from family, friends, colleagues, and our members in these days is that a certain weariness can infect us in the midst of these days and weeks of living with the pandemic. These are challenging times. I find myself reflecting on how, in fact, these are spiritually concerning times. How do we continue to live in the graciousness of each day as the specters of this virus and its resurgent effects continue? How do we continue to live in the graciousness of each day, while be awakened anew by the growing righteous social unrest and call to action against the reality of racism? How do I stay alert and grateful each day to the call to discipleship and continuing healing ministry? I appreciated hearing three verses from yesterday’s readings again.

Of course, the two Gospel verses of Matthew 11: 28-29, are very familiar and comforting, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” I do need to continue to come to the Lord with my own meekness and humility and ask the Lord to calm my anxious and distracted mind and heart. In these days, it’s ever more vital for me to live in the gracious goodness of the Lord.

However, I was struck also by the power of the verse from the second reading, Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.” How do I get my head around such a concept, such an image? The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me? The Spirit that was instrumental in bringing the dead Jesus back to life; that brought again breath to his dead body; that helped roll away to stone; that Spirit also dwells in me!

Wow! In the midst of times of weariness, how do I let this Mystery awaken me also? It reminds me of the verse of 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” How do I live in this Spirit daily? How do allow the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead stir my heart and spirit today? How do I allow it to awaken in me daily the gift of gratitude, the gift of alertness and responsiveness to the needs of others about me? How do I cooperate with this Spirit so that She does not dwell dormant but enlivens me?

How are you living with that Spirit dwelling in you?

David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

2. Save the date! Friday, September 25, 2020, 12:00-1:30 pm Central for the NACC Annual Meeting: Honoring the Mission of Chaplains! *
We were not able to gather as NACC members at an annual conference. We still want to gather virtually in 2020 as NACC members to honor our members and our mission. Please hold this date, Friday, September 25, 2020, 12:00-1:30 pm central for our NACC Annual Meeting: Honoring the Mission of Chaplains! More details to come!

3. Welcome to our new NACC members who joined us in June! *

4. Congratulations to the following NACC members who were approved for Chaplain Board Certification following their interviews in May 2020.

5. NACC continues to hold a COVID-19 listening/resource sharing ZOOM session this week. *
This Wednesday, July 8, 2:00 pm central time will be this week’s COVID-19 listening/resource sharing ZOOM session. You can register for this session here.

6. NACC Networking Call for July 2020 – All are welcome to participate! *
In addition to the COVID-19 Listening Calls, NACC is offering this networking call in July.

Wednesday, July 8 12 p.m. CT — NACC Palliative Care/Hospice Networking Call

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 replied, we will forward the ZOOM passcodes for a video connection via internet or you may still call in using your phone. 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!

7. Do you need a Listening Heart?
We recognize that these are unusual and uncertain times. You are being stretched in new ways and faced with challenging choices. We have a resource called, “Listening Hearts,” to provide you one on one support. For more info, click here.

Listening Hearts is available for NACC members seeking a listening presence from a NACC retired chaplain colleague. You may be experiencing and feeling the cumulative impact of the present global Pandemic. For those providing support for others and navigating the new normal without the opportunity to gather with extended family/friends, visit a favorite restaurant or workout at the gym, we invite you to share the load by reaching out for a listening heart of an experienced and compassionate retired chaplain. Please contact Ramune Franitza (rfranitza@nacc.org) if you would like to speak with a Listening Heart.

8. Would you like to meet with other chaplains to process your experience during these times?
“Sharing of Feelings for Chaplains in the Field” will be a 50-minute bi-weekly group ZOOM session offering an opportunity for our members to express personal feelings and stresses related to ministry in this era of dramatic health care crisis.

Guidelines:

1. Minimum number of 3 and maximum of 6 persons in each group.
2. Open group – must register through NACC and can participate in one or many sessions.
3. Group members are expected to stay with the 50-minute session once it has started.
4. Commitment to strictest confidentiality,
5. Free expression of feelings, with acceptance, support and understanding from each group member to be facilitated by an experienced retired chaplain.
6. There will be no notes or recordings.
7. More groups available, if more than 6 people apply.

We invite you to be a part of this intimate sharing group. Please contact Ramune Franitza (rfranitza@nacc.org) to express your interest and to set up a mutually convenient time for these sessions.

9. Vision blog: When so many can’t breathe, chaplains witness to the breath of God *
COVID patients can’t breathe. Victims of police violence can’t breathe. In these wrenching times, Anne Windholz reminds us in the newest Vision blog post to bear witness to the breath of God in every one of us. To read more, visit www.nacc.org/nacc-blog

10. Vision seeks articles about grief
The first adrenaline rush of the pandemic has faded. COVID-19 has not gone away, but it feels like we have shifted from the acute phase to the chronic phase. And we are going to do a shift of emphasis on our NACC Vision blog. We have heard from our members that they like the format of one or two short articles per week, and for the time being we will continue that format. But as the effects of the virus continue to ripple through our society, we have a new question: How is grief showing up for you? In your personal life and in your interactions at work, what are you seeing and hearing? What are people grieving, and how? What coping techniques are helping? Please send your thoughts to Vision Editor David Lewellen, dlewellen@nacc.org.

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: Rev. Jose Luis Hernandez Rios, Susan Balling, Isabelita Boquiren, Fr. Jim Radde SJ, Kathy Ponce, Denice Foose, Sr. Mary I. Powers DC, Rev. George J. Henninger BCC, Rev. Paul Merry, Autumn Vaughn (great-niece of member Linda Bronersky), Cosmas Ahiarakwem (deceased brother of member Fr. Gabriel Ahiarakwem), and Joe Keegan (brother of Sr. Betty Keegan).

We ask you to pray for our members who are exposed daily to the threat of the Coronavirus, for those who have tested positive and for those who are ill. We ask for blessing of protection for them, their families, and loved ones.

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

12. Don’t forget to check the NACC Coronavirus page for resources! *
Most recently a document on Sacramental Guidelines from CHA and NACC was posted.
www.nacc.org/resources/coronavirus-resources.

13. Don’t miss this special two-part NACC Webinar in July! *

Spiritual Care Relevance in an Environment Which Champions Revenue Producers ~ Part 1
Presented by Jennifer Wilroy Paquette, DMin, BCC

Program Summary
Chaplains advocate for patients. Theirs is more than a role; it is substantively who they are. But who, exactly, is the person for whom the advocacy occurs? Soul searching questions are asked. Spiritual histories are gathered and assessments made to reveal the source and depth of spiritual pain and suffering of the patient. The hope is that these will yield insights to the functioning of the patient’s spirituality as it complements the clinical healing modalities. The institution envisions patient centeredness in all patient touchpoints. What would the patient say? What is relevant?

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

1. Discover what patients have said about the “patient centeredness,” i.e., the relevance of who they are, within the care they received.
2. Discover the criticality of understanding the “who” of the patient in order to understand the functioning of the patient’s spirituality.
3. Learn techniques to discover the “who” of the patient, techniques rarely found in spiritual assessments or spiritual histories.

Thursday, July 16, 2020 – 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time: Spiritual Care Relevance in an Environment Which Champions Revenue Producers. This webinar is very much from the perspective of the leadership of the hospital or system in which the chaplain is employed. In other words, how can Spiritual Care be recognized as relevant by the most senior leadership, e.g., CEO, CNO, Division leaders and so forth?

Thursday, July 23rd – 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time: Spiritual Care Relevance, from the Patient’s Perspective, in an Environment of Revenue Producers. This webinar is from the patient’s perspective, in a very different lens of relevance. It asks and then demonstrates what is relevant from the patient’s perspective.

About the Presenter
Dr. Paquette is dedicated to the experience of patients and those who serve them. Her employment with a large technology corporation, first as a Systems Engineer (software) and later as a Services Solutions Manager (consulting), led to the study of the traits of successful business units, that is, what made one relevant and not another. Leaving that world to enter the world of Chaplaincy, she understood immediately how important that knowledge could be when applied to Spiritual Care departments. She received her doctorate, jointly, from San Francisco Theological Seminary and Seattle University. Before her recent return to Seattle, she was Director of Mission services for the seven St. Joseph’s Hospitals in Tampa, Florida.

NACC Certification Competencies Covered by the Webinar: ITP5, ITP6, PIC2, PIC5, PIC5.1, PPS1, OL1, OL2, OL2.1, OL3

Register here

14. 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

SPIRITUAL CARE PRACTITIONER – ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST (2 Full-time Positions)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Unity Health Toronto

CATHOLIC PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Stony Brook, NY – Stony Brook Medicine

PASTORAL CARE CHAPLAIN
Farmingdale, NY – Good Shepherd Hospice/Catholic Health Services of Long Island

DIRECTOR of SPIRITUAL CARE
Zanesville, OH – Genesis Healthcare System

FULL-TIME CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN
Portland, Maine – Northern Light Mercy Hospital