Issue #205 – August 31, 2015
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(Items marked with a * are new or updated items)
NACC
1. Executive Director’s Reflection*
2. Only ten days until the deadline for nominating candidates for the NACC awards!*
3. Please cast your vote for NACC member, Tim Serban, for NACC Board of Directors*
4. We announce the deaths of two NACC members: Linda L. Rodgers and Fr. Jerry Niklas*
5. New NACC member pins are being sent to members
6. Upcoming NACC Networking Calls*
7. Please contribute to the NACC 2015 50th Anniversary Annual Member Campaign!
8. September 15th Initial Certification Application Deadline Approaching*
NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY
9. A Moment in NACC History: 2006 Vision and Action Committee leads to New Mission*
10. Reflecting on the ministry: “Is it OK to ask God to come and take me?” By Charles W. Sidoti*
2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016
11. Thank you to all those who submitted workshop proposals!*
12. Mark your calendar for April 22-25, 2016, for the NACC 2016 National Conference!
13. NACC announces plenary speakers for the 2016 NACC Conference!
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
14. Does your chaplaincy ministry involve the developmentally disabled?*
15. Deadline for commenting on revised Standards of Practice is September 7!*
16. NACC Local Gatherings*
17. Sign up for NACC webinar on Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, September 10 & 17!*
18. NACC 2015 Webinars
19. Healing Tree: a request for prayers*
Executive Director’s Reflection*
“From within people, from their hearts, come…” so Jesus begins to confront the Pharisees on what evil comes from within after the Pharisees noted that some of his disciples ate their meals without washing their hands first. Jesus’ line carries greater depth than the two different teaching that I share now, but I offer them, as they came to me. One was of popular self-help writer, Fr. Wayne Dyer, who said to his audience, “When you squeeze an orange you get orange juice because that is what’s inside.” Then the question follows, “When someone squeezes you, what comes out?” What’s inside? Is it love or anger? Peace or resentment? Passion or listlessness? So what is inside of me that comes out of me?
The other teacher was the Buddha, who in the first three of his eight-fold paths, instructs the disciples first to obtain a right view or understanding of the world (based on the four-fold truths that suffering exists, the source of suffering is cravings, there is a way out, which is the eight-fold path), then embrace a right resolve or aim to overcome suffering from which the third path, right speech, will flow. What flows from within needs to be rooted in right understanding and resolve. In Buddha’s worldview, the human person has the capacity to be aware of, and overcome the disordered inner world that often enslaves people and, unfortunately, flows out of them. Thus mindfulness is essential to right living.
So what is inside of me, today? If someone squeezed me, what will come out?
David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director
Only ten days until the deadline for nominating candidates for the NACC awards!*
The Distinguished Service Award honors a member who embodies the criteria for the award. Also, we invite you to nominate a non-NACC member professional colleague who embodies the award criteria for the Distinguished Colleague Award. Finally, in 2015, we introduced a new Emergent Leader Award for an NACC member 50 years of age or younger who is serving NACC in some leadership capacity. These awards will be presented at our 2016 Annual Conference. Criteria and nomination forms can be found here. Please send in your nominations by Wednesday, September 9.
Please cast your vote for NACC member, Tim Serban, for NACC Board of Directors*
We invite you to vote in this fall’s election for the open seat on our National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) Board of Directors. The membership will be voting to fill one elected seat on the NACC Board.
NACC colleagues in leadership positions on the NACC Nominations Panel, the Governance Committee, and the Board of Directors worked conscientiously to discern leadership needs, seek from our membership board applicants, assess the potential applicants based on current board needs, and provide you with a board candidate that brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Board. We are grateful to those who offered to be applicants for candidacy to the board.
The Board of Directors is pleased to present to you Tim Serban as the candidate for the one open seat. While there is only one candidate for this position, it might seem your vote does not matter. However, your vote is a vital sign of your endorsement of this process and this individual. This elected member will serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors beginning January 1, 2016. Please go to www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/board_election to read about Tim Serban’s background.
We will be inviting members to vote via email. Those NACC members who do not have email addresses, will be sent a letter about voting eligibility, timeline and process.
Eligibility
Members in the following categories are eligible to vote: Board Certified Chaplain, Certified CPE Supervisor/Associate Supervisor, Certified CPE Supervisory Candidate, Missionary, Retired, and Emeritus. Members in the following categories are not eligible to vote: Student, Associate, Ministry Volunteer, Inactive Board Certified Members.
Timeline
The voting time period will be three weeks, from Tuesday, September 1, 2015, through Monday, September 21, 2015.
We announce the deaths of two NACC members: Linda L. Rodgers and Fr. Jerry Niklas*
We recently received a letter from the husband of our member Linda Lee Rodgers informing as Linda had died. We remember Linda’s husband, Jerry, and their family in prayer.
www.desmondfuneralhome.com/obituary/Linda-L.-Rodgers/_/1464944
We also learned of the recent death of our NACC member, Fr. Jerry Niklas, who had impacted the development of CPE in the Cincinnati Area, wrote one book, and co-authored another.
www.thecatholictelegraph.com/father-gerald-niklas-retired-chaplain-dead-at-81/26183
Let us commend to the Lord both Linda and Fr. Jerry.
New NACC member pins are being sent to members
If you have renewed your NACC membership during the months of January-July 2015, you should have received in the past few days the new NACC member pin, or you will be receiving it soon. Many of you who have received it notified us and said that you enjoy the new look! As you renew your membership in the coming months of 2015, you will be sent the new pin. All new members will receive the new pin. May the pin remind us of continuing the healing ministry of Jesus in the name of the Church.
Upcoming NACC Networking Calls*
In the coming weeks, the NACC will be hosting several networking calls.
If you would like to participate, please contact Tim Charek (tcharek@nacc.org).
- Friday, September 11, at 10:00 a.m. Central Time – CPE Supervisors
Please contribute to the NACC 2015 50th Anniversary Annual Member Campaign!*
We are deeply grateful to those who have already given to the 2015 50th Anniversary Annual Member Campaign! Thank you! If you have not yet contributed, please do so as soon as you can either by sending your gift in the donation envelope provided to you, or you can go right now to our NACC website and contribute online at https://nationalcatholicwiassoc.wliinc32.com/forms/donation. If you are not an NACC member (more than 1,600 non-NACC members subscribe to NACC Now), we also invite and encourage you to contribute to this special 50th Anniversary Campaign, by going to: https://nationalcatholicwiassoc.wliinc32.com/forms/donation. Your contribution helps us provide what we do, including this NACC Now and all NACC resources. Thank you in advance for your commitment and generosity!
September 15th Initial Certification Application Deadline Approaching*
September 15th is the fall certification application deadline. All materials must be postmarked no later than September 15, 2015 for consideration for a May 2016 certification interview. For questions regarding the application process, please contact Ramona Zeb at rzeb@nacc.org or at (414)483-4898 ext. 304. Best wishes to all those who are working to prepare their materials!
NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY
A Moment in NACC History: 2006 Vision and Action Committee leads to New Mission*
It was a momentous time in recent NACC history only ten years ago, when the NACC Board leaders and Interim Executive Tom Landry led the NACC through a strategic visioning and planning process that resulted in the 2007-2012 Strategic Plan. The process began with a visioning retreat in the summer of 2006, which was followed by two retreats of the twenty-four member Vision and Action Committee who reviewed the feedback from numerous members both the focus groups and surveys. This highly engaging and energizing process resulted in revised Mission, Vision, and Values that remain guideposts for us today.
Reflecting on the ministry: “Is it OK to ask God to come and take me?” By Charles W. Sidoti*
It was 10 a.m. on Monday, and I was doing drop-in patient visits on the fifth floor. An alert and conversant 87-year-old woman responded to my introduction with, “I have a question for you.” I responded, “OK, may I sit down?” She replied, “Oh yes, please do.” When I was ready, the woman told me that she had not spoken to anyone about this … but “is it OK for me to ask God to let me die, to come and get me?”
She continued, “I have lived a long and happy life. My children are all grown and doing fine. My husband went to be with God many years ago. I have been sick for a long time and I am ready to go. All of my friends are gone; I want to see my husband again.” She asked again, “Do you think it is OK to ask God to come and take me?”
I paused just for a moment and said, “There is nothing wrong with that at all.” My response felt completely natural. I spoke from my heart as I went on to say, “It is perfectly fine to tell God whatever you are feeling. If that is how you feel, then there is nothing wrong with asking God to take you home; the rest is up to God.” She pulled a paper from her nightstand and said excitedly, almost like a giddy child, “Look, I’ve written out everything! I planned my own funeral; the scripture I would like read and even the songs!” I was still holding the paper when I said, “I think this is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with telling God how you feel.”
Before leaving I asked the woman if she would like me to pray with her, and she said, “Yes, I would like that.” I held her hand and said a prayer. She thanked me, we said goodbye, and I left the room. I went on my way visiting with other patients and did not think anything more about it.
The next morning while I was waiting for an elevator, the patient’s doctor noticed me. “Chuck, I know that you spoke with my patient yesterday,” she said. “I’m curious what you might have talked about, because she died very unexpectedly yesterday evening. The family was shocked as well; no one expected it.”
I remember feeling awkward. I didn’t know how to respond; I was surprised, too. But I repeated the conversation I had with the patient. Although she said little, the doctor appeared confused, to say the least. But I walked away feeling honored to have taken part in this patient encounter and deeply affirmed in my vocation as a chaplain.
Charles W. Sidoti, BCC, is coordinator of spiritual care at South Pointe Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Health System, in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
In each NACC Now, during this 50th jubilee year, we are featuring a reflection by one of our NACC chaplains on his or her ministry and an experience of a gift of that ministry. Please allow Charles’ reflection to inspire you in writing this year one of your “gifts” of ministry. Your own reflection is welcomed! If you want to share a reflection, please contact David Lewellen (dlewellen@nacc.org).
2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016
Thank you to all those who submitted workshop proposals!
We are grateful to all those who submitted workshops proposals for the 2016 National Conference. The Conference Planning Task Force will be reviewing and making selections during the next two weeks.
Mark your calendar for April 22-25, 2016, for the NACC 2016 National Conference!
Please mark your calendars for our 2016 NACC National Conference to be held Friday, April 22, to Monday, April 25, 2016, at the Chicago Marriott near Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
NACC announces plenary speakers for the 2016 NACC Conference!
We are excited to announce our plenary speakers for the 2016 Conference! They will be:
George Fitchett, DMin, PhD, is Professor and the Director of Research in the Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago Illinois. (See more)
Brother Loughlan Sofield, ST, is a Missionary Servant of the Most Holy Trinity, and currently the Director of the community’s Senior Ministry house. (See more)
Carol Taylor, PhD, RN, is a senior clinical scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and a Professor of Medicine and Nursing. (See more)
C. Vanessa White, DMin is Assistant Professor of Spirituality and Ministry, Director of the Certificate in Pastoral Studies and the Director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union. (See more)
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
Does your chaplaincy ministry involve the developmentally disabled?*
Our NACC chaplain, Noelani Sheckler-Smith, BCC, who currently works with the developmentally disabled, seeks to learn if more of our members are working with this population and would appreciate networking to learn from one another. If you are working with the developmentally disabled and would like the opportunity to network, please contact Noelani at noelanishecklersmith@gmail.com. The NACC will be glad to help set up these networking calls.
Deadline for commenting on revised Standards of Practice is September 7!*
We encourage our NACC members to review and comment on the proposed revisions to the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains. NACC, as part of the Spiritual Care Collaborative had affirmed and promoted the original version of the Standards of Practice. After the conclusion of the comment period on September 7, 2015, feedback on the SOPs will be reviewed and carefully considered as the final version of the document is prepared. When the final draft is complete, the NACC plans to again affirm and promote these standards. Here is a link to the Standards of Practice.
The invite reads:
All chaplaincy professionals, as well as interdisciplinary colleagues, are invited to review and comment on the integrated Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains. These new standards provide chaplains with one unified resource to turn to and speak from as we hold ourselves accountable and promote our profession. Just like the competencies for certification are the same no matter what the setting of the chaplain, so too are the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains. Having one set of standards will create consistency in our diverse profession and will make us stronger.
Whether you use the Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains for your own goal setting or to promote professional chaplaincy in your organization, they now speak to any specialty setting without having to redefine terms to speak the language of your context.
The comment period will close September 7, 2015, after which time, the standards will be finalized based on the feedback received, and a final draft will be published.
Several local gatherings are being scheduled for 2015. Some have registration details. For the others, please “hold the date,” as details will follow. If you would like to consider hosting and helping plan an NACC local event to mark our 50th Anniversary, please contact Andris Kursietis (akursietis@nacc.org).
- September 14, 2015, St. Louis, MO, see details
- September 17-18, 2015, Alexandria, MN, see details
- October 17, 2015, Chicago, IL, see details
- October 29, 2015, Pontiac, MI, see details
- October 30, 2015, Denver, CO, see details
- November 6, 2015, Buffalo, NY, details to follow
- November 17, 2015, Washington, DC area, see details
Sign up for NACC webinar on Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, September 10 & 17!*
Don’t miss the excellent webinar on Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying: Theology and Practice of the Rites, being presented by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ. Fr. Morrill’s past webinars for NACC have been exceptionally well received! Sign up online today at ONLINE REGISTRATION. To download and submit a paper registration form, please click on this LINK.
The NACC webinars for 2015 are in full swing. They address often-requested topics by our members. All are scheduled, as in past years, on Thursdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Central Time. For these webinars we offer the option of registering (and paying by credit card) online: ONLINE REGISTRATION. The registration form may be accessed by clicking on this link: REGISTRATION FORM. Mark your calendars now, and stay tuned for the special invitation to register online coming later this week!
September 10 & 17
Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying: Theology and Practice of the Rites
Presented by Bruce T. Morrill, SJ
October 15 & 22
The Journey of Mental Illness for Chaplains, Family Members, & Caretakers.
Presented by Kathleen Hagerty, CSJ, BCC
November 5 & 12
Practical Theology and Implications for Professional Ministry.
Presented by Kathleen A. Cahalan, MA, Ph.D
December 17
90 minutes
“Honoring the Gift: NACC and Chaplaincy Going Forward”
Presented by David A. Lichter, D.Min and Mary Lou O’Gorman, BCC
Healing Tree: a request for prayers*
Please let us know if you would like our membership to pray for your health and healing. Also please let us know when you want us to remove your name from our Healing Tree.
We continue to pray for: Jane Chiamaka Onuoha (very young baby of our NACC member Michael Onuoha), Kathleen (Kate) Sullivan, Sandy Tiefenbrun (spouse of Anita Barni), Marie Coglianese, Nancy and Sheila Amrich (nieces-in-law of NACC member Sr. Paracleta Amrich), Isabelita Boquiren, Michael Harkay, Diana Annunziato (Mother-in-law of NACC staffer Jeanine Annunziato), Sister Patricia Watkins, GNSH, Rev. Gerald U. Onuoha, David Markiewicz (grandson of NACC member Roberta Markiewicz), Sister Stephanie Morales, FMI, Marybeth Harmon, Renato Fallico, Susan Balling, Maria Meneses, Chaplain Julia Mary Sweeney (mourning the death of her sister, Margaret Maureen Lewis, BA Honors), Sr. Sheila Prendeville, CPPS, AnaLisa Bischoff, Sister M. Dianna Hell, Sister Maria Theresa Hronec, Betty and Louis Skonieczny, Jim Castello, Jeff Michel (brother-in-law of David Lichter), Thomas from Chicago (12 years old), Thomas Smiley (brother of member Diane Smiley), Marga Halala, Donn Renfro (son-in-law of Karen Pugliese), Amy in Atlanta (friend of NACC member Theresa Sullivan), Thomas (grandson of NACC member Ginny Grimes Allen), Beth from Boston (friend of NACC member Dana Sandlin), Sr. Janet Bielmann, Mary Potts (twin sister of Deacon Francis Potts), Elizabeth A. Walsh, Francesco Marshall, Glenn and Pat Teske, Susan Murphy, Fr. Jim Radde, SJ, Sr. Mary Clare Boland, SP, Sr. Phyllis Ann DiRenzo, Kathy Brier (daughter of NACC member Theresa Brier), Gloria Troxler, Fr. Kevin Ikpah, and Kelly Elizabeth Sexton (daughter of NACC member Melyssa Sexton).
