Issue #209 – October 26, 2015
Click here to return to the main NACC Now page.
(Items marked with a * are new or updated items)
NACC
1. Executive Director’s Reflection*
2. Thank you! And please help us reach our NACC 2015 Annual Member Campaign goal!*
3. Upcoming NACC networking calls this week and next*
4. News about two former NACC members.*
5. Ordering audio recordings of 2015 National Conference materials possible
NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY
6. A Moment in NACC History: Relationship of NACC to the USCCB/CCA*
7. Reflecting on the ministry: A cup of tea and friendship, by Margaret Jones*
2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016
8. Mark your calendar for April 22-25, 2016, for the NACC 2016 National Conference!
9. What do you know about NACC 2016 Conference plenary speaker Carol Taylor, PhD, MSN, RN, who is delivering the Monday, April 25, 2016, Rev. Richard Tessmer Leadership Lecture?*
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
10. Have you ever considered chaplaincy research? Fellowships are available now!!!*
11. Accessing the new survey about education for professional chaplains.*
12. Request: professional liability insurance for chaplaincy practice.*
13. Spiritual Care Initiative for Professional Excellence (SCIPE) Completes Its Mission*
14. Plan on the November NACC Webinar by Kathleen A. Cahalan, MA, PhD, on Practical Theology and Implications for Professional Ministry*
15. Two remaining NACC 2015 Webinars*
16. Remaining 2015 NACC Local Gatherings*
17. Not many days left before Pastoral Care Week, October 25-31!*
18. Healing Tree: A request for prayers*
19. Recent job postings*
Executive Director’s Reflection*
The theme for this year’s Pastoral Care Week is Spiritual Care Together. We know how important partnerships are for providing spiritual care, whether it is the commitment to spiritual care of the organization where we work, our supervisor’s partnership, the collaboration of the interdisciplinary team, or the strong working relationship among our chaplain colleagues. We are grateful for all those who value and advocate for spiritual care!
I do want to highlight here also two other very important “spiritual care together” works that are being done right now. First of all, among our cognate groups who were part of the development of the Common Standards in 2004, ACPE, APC, CASC, NACC, and NAJC, we are working together right now on the review/revision of the Common Standards. Our consideration of this has been in development for several years, since an initial review was undertaken in 2011 by CASC, NAJC, and NACC. Well over a year ago, as the documents reached their 10-year anniversary and we knew our profession was requiring an examination of our preparation and the competencies required of us, we began considering this collaborative review by those who developed the Common Standards.
Secondly, as you will see in item number 10 below, a significant “spiritual care together” work in research literacy for chaplains is being done through the initiative of George Fitchett and Wendy Cadge and the collaborative support of ACPE, APC, NACC, and NAJC. This “spiritual care together” project entitled, Transforming Chaplaincy: Promoting Research Literacy for Improved Patient Outcomes, will “better equip healthcare chaplains to use research to guide, evaluate, and advocate for the spiritual care they provide,” as quoted from the project website. (www.researchliteratechaplaincy.org/about/)
We are grateful this week for all the partnerships that help us provide “spiritual care together.”
Blessings on your Pastoral Care Week, and thank you for your ministry!
David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director
Thank you! And please help us reach our NACC 2015 Annual Member Campaign goal!*
We are deeply appreciative to our members who have been able to contribute to our 2015 Annual Member Campaign. Our 2015 goal is $52,000, and we are at $47,780. In the past two years we have been able to raise $52,040 in 2013 and $51,278 in 2014. If you have not yet contributed, and can do so, please help us reach our 50th Anniversary goal!
To make an online gift right now, click here!
Upcoming NACC networking calls this week and next*
We have scheduled the following NACC networking calls this week and next.
If you would like to participate, please contact Tim Charek (tcharek@nacc.org).
- Tuesday, October 27, at 11:00 a.m. Central Time – African Members
- Tuesday, October 27, at 1:00 p.m. Central Time – Hispanic/Latino Members
- Tuesday, October 27, at 2:00 p.m. Central Time – New Members
- Wednesday, October 28, 10:00 a.m. Central Time – New Members
- Thursday, October 29, at 11:00 a.m. Central Time — Palliative Care/Hospice Group
- Monday, November 2, at 10:00 am Central Time – Outpatient Settings
- Tuesday, November 3, at 1:00 p.m. Central Time – Directors of Departments/Pastoral Care
- Tuesday, November 10, at 10:00 a.m. Central Time – 45 and under
If you wish to participate and currently do not receive notice of this call, please contact Tim.
News about two former NACC members.*
Article on our former NACC member, Sr. Judith Green SSJ, for her correctional ministry. Congrats, Sr. Judith!
Article on our former CPE Supervisor, Sr. Claudia Blanchette SND, for her ministry in training chaplains. Congrats, Sr. Claudia!
Ordering audio recordings of 2015 National Conference materials possible
If you are interested in ordering audio recordings of any of the 2015 National Conference offerings, you can access the order form at www.dcprovidersonline.com/nacc/. Recordings are also available for past conferences from 2010 through 2014.
NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY
A Moment in NACC History: Relationship of NACC to the USCCB/CCA*
A key partner with NACC over the years was the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission on Certification and Accreditation (USCCB/CCA). The USCCB/CCA accredited CPE programs and approved NACC Standards for Certification. In 2011 the USCCB decided to no longer accredit CPE programs, to close the USCCB/CCA, and to move their oversight of certification of ecclesial ministries to the Subcommittee of the USCCB Secretariat of Education in Washington, Subcommittee on Certification for Ecclesial Ministry and Service.
You can find here a history of the USCCB/CCA written in 2006 by Dr. Kay Sheskaitis, the Executive Director of the USCCB/CCA, as well as the July 2011 communication from David Lichter to the NACC about the USCCB decision.
In 2007 the NACC’s Standards for Certification and its Professional Ethics were last approved by the USCCB/CCA, and in the fall of 2014 the NACC submitted to the new USCCB Subcommittee the revised NACC Standards for Certification. The NACC was the first organization to have its Certification Standards approved by this newly formed Subcommittee. See the letter that Bishop John Quinn, the chair of the Subcommittee, sent last spring to the NACC to mark the NACC’s 50th Anniversary.
Reflecting on the ministry: A cup of tea and friendship, by Margaret Jones*
After knocking, I gently opened the door to the patient’s room and said, “It’s the chaplain, may I come in?”
I heard the patient reply in a familiar Australian voice, “I am an atheist. I don’t need a chaplain.”
“That’s all right,” I replied, “but may I ask if that is an Oklahoma accent I hear?”
“Come in here,” he said. I entered smiling.
The patient was smiling, too, and said, “You visited me the last time I was in the hospital and asked me about my Oklahoma accent.”
After a brief lighthearted moment, I asked if there was anything he needed. “Well, it is tea time,” he said. “I would like a cup of hot tea.”
“I can do that,” I said, and went and prepared the tea with lemon and sugar, the way he had requested.
“Where’s yours?” he asked. I took that as an invitation to stay and made a similar cup for myself. We began to speak of general topics and eventually made our way to the subject of his illness. He said he had Stage IV cancer and although he had many, many friends around the world, no one knew of it except his wife.
“Why haven’t you told anyone?” I asked.
“Because I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.”
“You told me, and I’m not feeling sorry for you. I just want to support you in any way I can,” I said, “like getting you a cup of hot tea.”
The conversation continued, never touching the subject of religion or religious beliefs, only friendship. Wanting to leave him with a reminder of the pastoral visit, I asked if I might give him something. I gave him one of our brightly colored prayer scarves, renaming it a “friendship scarf.” He put it next to his pillow and thanked me.
The next morning when I arrived at the hospital, I discovered my friend had been moved to the intensive care unit and was unresponsive. The ICU physician informed me that he was near death and that his wife was on her way. The doctor also said the spouse had declined any need for spiritual care.
I quietly walked into the room and told my friend goodbye.
Maggie Jones, BCC, ACHPC, is a chaplain at Christus Santa Rosa-New Braunfels near San Antonio, TX.
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 Margaret’s 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
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.
Carol Taylor, PhD, MSN, RN, is a senior clinical scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and a Professor of Medicine and Nursing. Experienced in caring for patients who are chronically and critically ill and their families, Carol chose doctoral work in philosophy with a concentration in bioethics because of a passion to “make healthcare work” for those who need it.
At Georgetown, Carol directs an innovative ethics curriculum grounded in a rich notion of moral agency for advanced practice nurses. Her research interests include clinical and professional ethics, and organizational integrity. She works closely with healthcare professionals and leaders who are exploring the ethical dimensions of their practice. She lectures internationally and writes on various issues in healthcare ethics and serves as an ethics consultant to systems and professional organizations. She is the author of Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Nursing Care, which is now in its 8th edition, and co-editor of Health and Human Flourishing: Religion, Medicine and Moral Anthropology and the 4th edition of Case Studies in Nursing Ethics. Here is a link to a YouTube presentation on the ethics of waiting uploaded from Providence Health Services just this past month.
CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS
Have you ever considered chaplaincy research? Fellowships are available now!!!*
In recent past NACC Now’s we have alerted you to the new website on research for chaplaincy www.researchliteratechaplaincy.org. Please give special attention to the fellowships being offered to study research! Applications for (8) Round 1 fellowships are now being accepted. Find the online application here. Application deadline is January 6, 2016, with award decisions on March 15, 2016.
The Fellowship will pay for all tuition and associated fees as well as a yearly stipend of $43,300. Some research funds as well as support to attend program conferences will also be provided. (The Kickoff Conference is scheduled for July 27-29, 2016, in Chicago, IL, and will include Cohort 1 Fellows and the Transforming Chaplaincy Advisory Committee. It will be designed to orient Fellows to the program, research, and graduate-level studies. Further details will be posted as they become available.) The NACC hopes that NACC members will also consider applying for this fellowship! For further questions, please contact Catarina Mako (Caterina.Mako@chsli.org), the NACC representative on the Project Advisory Committee.
Accessing the new survey about education for professional chaplains.*
A new survey about education for professional chaplains has just been published. The paper, “Education for Professional Chaplains: Should Certification Competencies Shape Curriculum?” by George Fitchett, Alexander Tartaglia, Kevin Massey, Beth Jackson-Jordon, and Paul Derrickson, was published in the October-December, 2015 issue of the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (volume 21, number 4, pages 151-164). The article is open-access to all on the journal website (www.tandfonline.com/toc/whcc20/21/4).
Abstract
The growing importance of professional chaplains in patient-centered care has raised questions about education for professional chaplaincy. One recommendation is that the curricula of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency programs make use of the chaplaincy certification competencies. To determine the adoption of this recommendation, we surveyed CPE supervisors from 26 recently re-accredited, stipended CPE residency programs. We found the curricula of 38% of these programs had substantive engagement with the certification competencies, 38% only introduced students to the competences, and 23% of the programs made no mention of them. The majority of the supervisors (59%) felt engagement with the competencies should be required while 15% were opposed to such a requirement. Greater engagement with chaplaincy certification competencies is one of several approaches to improvements in chaplaincy education that should be considered to ensure that chaplains have the training needed to function effectively in a complex and changing healthcare environment.
Request: professional liability insurance for chaplaincy practice.*
One of our board certified members has requested information on the need and type of professional liability insurance that might be needed if one offers chaplaincy services outside of an employee situation. If any of our members or readers of NACC Now has professional liability insurance or knows of a board certified chaplain who does, could you please contact David Lichter (dlichter@nacc.org) and he will put you in contact with the person requesting this information. We are appreciative of any help that can be provided.
Spiritual Care Initiative for Professional Excellence (SCIPE) Completes Its Mission*
From John J. (Jack) Gleason, Editor, SKIPE, Volume 8, Numbers 3 & 4 (Final Issue):
With the recent publication of the final two volumes of The Pastoral Caregiver’s Casebook, the Spiritual Care Initiative for Professional Excellence (SCIPE)—formerly the Ideal Intervention Project (IIP)—has completed its nine-year mission. You can now order online at Judson Press or Amazon all four volumes of The Pastoral Caregiver’s Casebook, a collection of 330 actual spiritual care cases as written up and critiqued by the care providers themselves. The collection is divided into these categories.
Volume 1: Ministry in Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Ultimate Relationships
Volume 2: Ministry in Physical and Psycho-Spiritual Crises
Volume 3: Ministry in Behavioral and Physical Health
Volume 4: Ministry in Specialized Settings (Corrections, Clinical Education, Single Visits, Miscellaneous Ministry).
Please remember that this collection is the first-ever professional spiritual care knowledge base.
It can and should be used:
- to teach pastoral care to seminarians, clinical pastoral education students, lay visitors, and others;
- to get second opinions on difficult current situations;
- to keep one’s own practice sharp by using the simple four-heading format to write up and study troublesome cases, preferably with a few trusted colleagues;
- to educate administrators, congregation members and the public on the incredibly wide scope of our activity;
- to do research toward professionally determined evidence-based best practices, including replication studies, thereby contributing to bottom lines.
Special Thanks to These SCIPE Contributors
… to Fr. Henry G. Heffernan, SJ, who in 2006 adapted a Reality Therapy training tool for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) students to summarize learnings from their verbatim presentations to peers and supervisors in a document called the Ideal Intervention paper;
… to Rev. John Ehman, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education Research Network Coordinator, who provided a free-access base for the collection at http://www.acperesearch.net from 2009 to 2013, at which time it was withdrawn for publication by Judson Press;
… to Leigh McMillan Avery, for Information Technology support;
… to Workshop leaders Rev. Ralph Ciampa, Rev. Yoke Lye Lim Kwong, Rev. Paul Steinke, and Rev. James Travis;
… to CPE Supervisors Rev. Yoke Lye Lim Kwong and Rev. Connie Bonner, whose students provided the highest number of Ideal Intervention Papers nationally;
… to the many CPE students, CPE supervisors, and experienced pastoral/spiritual care providers who willingly shared their sacred ministerial work in the prescribed format for publication; and finally,
… to you, the readers of the SCIPE e-News. Thank you, thank you, thank all of you! Jack
Do you know about practical theology? How does that relate to the pastoral theory and practice we learned? What difference does it make for ministry and professional chaplaincy? You will be surprised! Intrigued enough? Dr. Cahalan is one of the foremost scholars in the field, but also one who works with all in daily professional ministries, like chaplaincy. Great session for CPE groups also! Please plan to join us. For more about Dr. Cahalan go to: www.csbsju.edu/sot/about-us/sot_facultystaff/sot_faculty/cahalan_k
Two remaining NACC 2015 Webinars*
We have just two more NACC webinars for 2015. They address often-requested topics by our members. They take place 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 paper registration form may be accessed by clicking on this link: REGISTRATION. Mark your calendars now!
November 5 & 12
Practical Theology and Implications for Professional Ministry
Presented by Kathleen A. Cahalan, MA, PhD
December 17
90 minutes
“Honoring the Gift: NACC and Chaplaincy Going Forward”
Presented by David A. Lichter, DMin, and Mary Lou O’Gorman, BCC
Remaining 2015 NACC Local Gatherings*
Please see the local gatherings scheduled for 2015. 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)
- October 29, 2015, Pontiac, MI, see details
- October 30, 2015, Denver, CO, see details
- November 5, 2015, Cincinnati, OH, see details
- November 6, 2015, Buffalo, NY, see details
- November 17, 2015, Washington, DC area, see details
Not many days left before Pastoral Care Week, October 25-31!*
The theme of this year’s Pastoral Care Week, October 25-31, 2015, is “Spiritual Care Together.”
For more information and resources, please go to: www.pastoralcareweek.org
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: Maritza Ramos-Pratt, 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, 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, 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).
The following positions have been posted recently on our Positions Available page. Please go to www.nacc.org/resources/positions for more information.
PRIEST CHAPLAIN (Full-time)
Las Vegas-Henderson, NV – Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Hospitals
CHAPLAINS
Central Ohio – Mount Carmel Health System
SPIRITUAL CARE OPPORTUNITIES
Pennsylvania – Geisinger Health System
MAYO CLINIC CPE (Residency)
Rochester, Minnesota – Mayo Clinic
DIRECTOR of PASTORAL CARE
Cleveland, OH – St. Vincent Charity Medical Center
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Baton Rouge, LA – Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center
MAYO CLINIC CPE
Rochester, Minnesota – Mayo Clinic
DIRECTOR of PASTORAL CARE
Cleveland, Ohio – St. Vincent Charity Medical Center
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Baton Rouge, LA – Our Lady of the Lake
FULL-TIME CHAPLAIN OPPORTUNITY
Redding, CA – Mercy Medical Center Redding
COORDINATOR, SPIRITUAL CARE
Grand Rapids, MI – Mercy Health
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Ann Arbor, MI – University of Michigan Hospital and Health Systems
HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN
Appleton and Neenah, WI – ThedaCare Regional Medical Centers
PRIEST CHAPLAIN
Hastings, MN – Regina senior Living
FULL-TIME STAFF CHAPLAIN – 35-hr Flexible-Shift (Tue-Sat. 1p-9p)
Valhalla, NY – WMCHealth
PER DIEM CATHOLIC PRIEST (Thur.-Fri. 9a-5p; Thur.-Fri. On-call 5p-9a/Priest vacation coverage)
Valhalla, NY – WMCHealth
FULL-TIME CHAPLAIN OPPORTUNITY
Rockford, IL – SwedishAmerican Health System
