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Issue #339 – November 23, 2020

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

NACC

1. Executive Director’s Reflection
2. Plans for our 2021 Education/Formation Theme, “Stretched by Life; Lifted by Faith”
3. Thank you to those of you who have already given to our 2020 Annual Member Campaign! Please join them!
4. Deaths of former NACC members: Paul Kselman and Barry K. Estadt, PhD.
5. In Vision: Fighting racism also has to happen from within
6. Still looking for contributors to New Vision theme: Mental well-being in the time of COVID
7. NACC Networking Calls for December 2020 – All are welcome to participate!
8. Do you need a Listening Heart?
9. “Sharing of Feelings for Chaplains in the Field”
10. Healing Tree: a request for prayers

2021 NATIONAL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 29 – NOVEMBER 1, 2021

11. Friday, October 29, to Monday, November 1, 2021, for NACC National Conference!

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

12. Don’t forget to check the NACC Anti-Racism page for resources!
13. Don’t forget to check the NACC Coronavirus page for resources!
14. End your professional education 2020 by participating in our NACC December webinar, Serving At-Risk Adolescents Presented by Alan J. Schmitt, MA, BCC Thursday, December 10, 2020 – 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time
15. Are you aware of the diverse offerings by the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition?
16. Another continuing education opportunity
17. Recent job postings

 

1. Executive Director’s Reflection
So, yesterday was the pinnacle and end of our Liturgical year with the Feast of Christ the King. Every year it occasions reflections on the sovereignty, rule, and judgement of Christ at end times. However, the first reading from Ezekiel offers us again those descriptions of a compassionate shepherd that provides a beautiful job description of your ministries every day:

I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal…

I was taken this time by all the action verbs (rescue, pasture, give, seek out, bind up, and heal). It reminded how our ministry is so often described with less active and soteriological verbs, such as be, listen, facilitate, assess, educate, communicate, and translate. Yet, we continue the healing ministry of Jesus through these actions (that do not seem much like action).

How our faith allows us to enter into this mystery of this healing power! Each of us could write a book about our sacred encounters where we just were, listened, facilitated, assessed, educated, communicated, or translated allowed Jesus to rescue, pasture, give, seek out, bind up, and heal!

As we enter into this week of gratitude, I invite each of us again to hold sacred one of those encounters where we did not seem to “do much” but much happened. If you want you might want to go back and reread the brief, beautiful narratives our members wrote for NACC’s 50th Anniversary that David Lewellen edited. You can access it at www.nacc.org/resources/chaplain-encounters.

Please know how grateful your NACC staff members are for you and your pastoral care ministry! Thank you!

David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

 

2. Plans for our 2021 Education/Formation Theme, “Stretched by Life; Lifted by Faith”
Over the past weeks, representatives from our Board, Committees, Commissions, and Panel have been meeting to discuss and plan how we will approach 2021 from the perspective of our need for both professional and personal development. The theme for 2021 will be “Stretched by Life; Lifted by Faith.” We will begin our year within the context of our Liturgical cycle with an Advent event. Watch for details to come.

 

3. Thank you to those of you who have already given to our 2020 Annual Member Campaign! Please join them!
We are deeply grateful to all those who have been able so far to give to the 2020 Annual Member campaign! To date, we have received 406 gifts totaling $48,137.10. We sent this past week a reminder letter to those who have not yet been able to donate. If you are able to join your fellow members in giving, that’s wonderful. If not, we understand and appreciate your prayers for a successful Campaign.

Please note: You can also make your donation online RIGHT NOW by going to the Annual Campaign webpage (www.nacc.org/donate) or just click here to donate.

Please give as you can! Blessings!

 

4. Deaths of former NACC members: Paul Kselman and Barry K. Estadt, PhD.
We recently learned the death of two NACC former members:

 

5. In Vision: Fighting racism also has to happen from within
The weekly articles about racism that we posted on our blog this fall have now been collected in a permanent issue of Vision, with their own web addresses. Please click below to see what you might have missed — and also to read the thoughts of our executive director, David Lichter, on his own personal antiracism journey over the past 50 years.
www.nacc.org/vision/september-october-2020/fighting-racism-also-has-to-happen-from-within

 

6. Still looking for contributors to New Vision theme: Mental well-being in the time of COVID
We hope you have enjoyed the last two months of Vision articles about racism and how it has affected the lives of our members. Now it is time to address a new theme, one that has been developing with us for months but may become especially acute as Advent and the holidays approach. We are looking for articles about mental well-being in the time of COVID. If you have thoughts about how to maintain balance, how to find hope (if not joy) in the current moment, how to recognize and tend those feelings in others, how those needs intersect with race and equity, or other related topics — we want to hear from you. Please send a summary of your idea to Vision editor David Lewellen, dlewellen@nacc.org.

 

7. NACC Networking Calls for December 2020 – All are welcome to participate!

NACC is offering these Networking calls in December:

Tuesday, December 8, 2020; 10 a.m. CT Ministry Volunteer Networking Call
Wednesday, December 9, 2020; 12 p.m. CT Palliative/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 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.

Due to ZOOM Security requirements, you may be placed in a waiting room. Do not disconnect. Please be patient until the host joins the call and allows you access. If you have difficulty in joining calls using ZOOM please let Ramune Franitza (rfranitza@nacc.org) know so that we can address the difficulty. THANK YOU!

Member COVID Listening Calls will continue in December. Please be aware that you will receive an email once they are scheduled.
For more resources and blog updates be sure to read the latest update on our Coronavirus resources page.

 

8. 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.

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.

 

9. “Sharing of Feelings for Chaplains in the Field”
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:

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

 

10. Healing Tree: a request for prayers
We continue to pray for: the special intentions of Maritza Ramos-Pratt BCC, Sr. Mary A. DuPlain SJSM, Susan Balling, Isabelita Boquiren, Fr. Jim Radde SJ, Denice Foose, Fr. Jose Hernandez, Barbara McKee, Mary Lou O’Gorman, Joe Keegan (brother of Sr. Betty Keegan), Liam O’Neill (brother of Mary T O’Neill), Sr. Emily Demuth CSC (on the death of her sister Patricia), Autumn Vaughn (great-niece of member Linda Bronersky), and Nolan (grandson of Br. Dale Recinella, in gratitude for healing).

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.

 

2021 NATIONAL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 29 – NOVEMBER 1, 2021

10. Friday, October 29, to Monday, November 1, 2021, for NACC National Conference!
Mark your calendars for the NACC Conference in 2021! This conference will be held Friday, October 29 through Monday, November 1, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo Hotel in Buffalo, NY. It will be preceded by preconference workshops and our NACC retreat. Plan to join us!

 

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

12. Don’t forget to check the NACC Anti-Racism page for resources!
Please continue to check our NACC Anti-Racism page for resources.
www.nacc.org/resources/antiracism-resources

 

13. Don’t forget to check the NACC Coronavirus page for resources!
Please continue to check our NACC Coronavirus page for resources.
www.nacc.org/resources/coronavirus-resources.

 

14. End your professional education 2020 by participating in our NACC December webinar, Serving At-Risk Adolescents Presented by Alan J. Schmitt, MA, BCC Thursday, December 10, 2020 – 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Time

On Thursday, December 10th, 12:00-1:30 pm central time, Alan J. Schmidt, MA, BCC, will present the webinar on Serving At-Risk Adolescents. You can register for it here

Program Summary
This webinar will identify challenges and helpful interventions in working with teens with mental health issues. We will identify ways to approach spirituality in a broad manner which does not alienate adolescents but builds upon things that enhance the human spirit, like music, art, teamwork, and meditation. We will explore group topics and approaches that draw youth into the process, encourage self-reflection and sharing. We will also learn how to facilitate the teens to be seekers in a journey of discovery which brings the day’s topic to life.

Program Objectives
1. Identify the challenges in working with adolescents with mental health issues.
2. Be introduced to a broad-based spirituality to help adolescents identify positive spiritual connections.
3. Learn new interventions in spiritual care for at-risk youth.

About the Presenter
Alan has worked with adolescents for six years in behavioral health and for 25 years in parish education programs and teen ministries, especially appreciating the service, retreat, and social components. His journey toward pastoral ministry began in a faith-based volunteer program immediately out of college at St. John’s University in Minnesota, serving in a mountain town on the western slope of the Rockies in Southwest Colorado with an inspired pastor in a community with a big heart. He returned to the Midwest four years later, earned an MA in theology at Loyola University in Chicago, began to serve at a suburban parish, and met his wife the following summer at a young adult ministry program. His pastoral and personal journey continued from there, raising 3 sons, serving in a variety of parishes, and completing CPE at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove, IL.

NACC Certification Competencies Covered by the Webinar: ITP2, ITP3, ITP5, PPS3

To register online for 2020 Webinars, please click on this LINK. Student members who are eligible for the special, reduced rates are asked to use the following link: STUDENTS. Alternatively, complete the registration form and send with your check, made payable to NACC, to: National Association of Catholic Chaplains, 4915 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 501, Milwaukee, WI 53207. Registration will not be considered complete until the NACC receives your registration form and fee. Access information and presentation materials will be made available to participants a few days before the webinar session. When you register for the live sessions, you will automatically be eligible for a copy of the recordings.

 

15. Are you aware of the diverse offerings by the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition?
As you know, last May the NACC became the Fiscal Sponsor of the Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition (CPMC). To learn more about the CPMC go to www.catholicprisonministries.org. Monthly they offer several professional development and networking opportunities. Please participate as you can, and please pass on this information to anyone you know serves the populations affected by incarceration. You can view all the offerings on the CPMC homepage www.catholicprisonministries.org including these December offerings:

 

16. Another continuing education opportunity

  • Racial Differences in Spiritual Care: Existing Evidence and Future Research, a free webinar offered on Tuesday, December 1st, 1:00 pm CT/2:00 pm ET, by Transforming Chaplaincy. Click here to Register

    Data from several large U.S. studies suggests Blacks are somewhat more likely to receive chaplain visits and Blacks may be more likely than Whites to request chaplain care. In this webinar we will review these findings and what they do and don’t tell us about possible racial disparities in the provision of spiritual care in healthcare. We will also discuss directions for future research about racial issues in spiritual care in healthcare.

    Presenters:
    George Fitchett, DMin, PhD, is the Director of Transforming Chaplaincy and Professor in the Department of Religion, Health and Human Values, Rush University Medical Center
    LaVera Crawley, MD, MPH, is the Director of Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education at the California Pacific Medical Center
    Kelsey White, MDiv, MSc, BCC is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Health Management & System Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville. She is a former Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellow.

    Moderators:
    Marilyn J. D. Barnes, MS, MA, MPH, BCC, Vice President, Mission and Spiritual Care, South Wisconsin & Central Chicagoland PSA, AdvocateAurora Health. She is a former Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellow
    Christina Shu, BCC, Lead Interfaith Chaplain, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

 

17. 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

HOSPICE CHAPLAIN
Rochester, MN – Mayo Clinic

CATHOLIC PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Rochester, MN – Mayo Clinic

MANAGER of SPIRITUAL CARE
Springfield, OR – PeaceHealth

PRIEST/CHAPLAIN – FT
Camden, NJ – Lourdes Health System

CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN – Part time
Sturgeon Bay, Door County, WI – Door County Medical Center

SPIRITUAL CARE SERVICES MANAGER
St. Louis, MO – Barnes-Jewish Hospital

RESIDENTIAL LIFE ASSISTANT
Rochester, MN – Assisi Heights

DIRECTOR, SPIRITUAL CARE
Camp Hill, PA – Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center

SPIRITUAL CARE MINISTER (two openings)
Green Bay, WI and Eau Claire, WI – HSHS St. Vincent’s Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital

National Association of Catholic Chaplains
4915 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 501
Milwaukee, WI 53207
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Phone: (414) 483-4898
Fax: (414) 483-6712
Email: info@nacc.org

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