Issue #213 – December 21, 2015

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

Executive Director’s Reflection
Yesterday’s Gospel of Luke 1:39-45 describes the tender encounter of Mary and Elizabeth. The word Elizabeth used three times with Mary was “blessed.” “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:42-45)
I know I have often ended a message with “blessings.” Many of us use a “Blessed Christmas” to one another at this time of year. Or we might say, “Have a blessed day.” So I find myself reflecting on the word “blessed” and its richness.

Makários is the Greek word for “blessed” and its root “mak” means to “become large or long.” If we understand blessings as an act of God, God enlarges us with the benefits that God gifts, bestows, or confers on us. It takes our eyes of faith to recognize God’s presence to and favors towards us. So, perhaps, when I say, “blessings” to you, I really mean, “May your days be marked by a faith that helps you recognize God’s favor toward you, how God insistently and preciously bestows God’s love on us.”
So maybe it’s not so much, “I hope something good happens to you today,” but “I pray you have the eyes of faith to recognize Emmanuel, God in our midst, enfolding us with love, tenderness, and mercy – even in the most dire and desperate moments.” It made me recall a message given by one of my professors, Michael Buckley, SJ, who taught at the Gregorian University a course entitled, “Religious Experience through Autobiography.” After reading and analyzing several classic autobiographies from a theological and spiritual perspective, we had to write our own autobiography. When I met with Professor Buckley at the end of the course to review my autobiography, he said to me that I needed to repeat the words from the baptismal account of Jesus, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” I often remember that advice, especially when life seems packed, overwhelming, and my vision is shortsighted – and I can get down on myself. In those moments, I realize that I do not see my life as “blessed,” actually packed with God’s love, where my life is being enlarged by God’s love and tenderness in so many ways. I am the object and recipient of God’s love! My life is “blessed.”
In this Christmas season, may each of you experience the words of Elizabeth to Mary, “blessed are you.” You are God’s beloved in whom God is very pleased!

Blessings on you in the Christmas days!

David Lichter, D.Min.
Executive Director

Thank you for helping us reach our NACC 2015 Annual Member Campaign goal!
We want to express our deep appreciation to our members who have been able to contribute to our 2015 Annual Member Campaign. We are delighted to inform you that as of December 17, 2015, you have given $52,989. Our 2015 goal was $52,000. If you have not yet contributed and would still like to make another end-of-year gift, we welcome your generosity.

Have you seen our NEW website?
We are excited to announce the launch of our new website! If you haven’t already, please visit today at www.nacc.org!

We are still in the process of bringing pages and materials over from the old website so don’t be discouraged if you run into a missing page or item. We plan to have everything in place and working correctly by the end of the year, but until then, please use the search function, look for a likely place using the navigation menus, or ask for help (see below).

Our webmaster welcomes feedback about the site of any kind, as well as reports of missing items and broken links. You can send notes to Phil Paradowski at pparadowski@nacc.org. Please also contact him if you need help locating a resource or page from the old website.

A note on member login and credentials…
Please note that the former login system for Member Pages on the old website has been completely removed. NACC members will now use the new Web Portal to perform all member activities online: paying dues, registering for local events or the national conference, updating member information, and accessing any protected member-only content. To visit the NACC Members’ Web Portal, go to https://nationalcatholicwiassoc.wliinc32.com/Portal/PortalStartPage.aspx. Your username will be your membership number OR email address. Contact Phil for login assistance or follow the directions on the website.

2015 Renewal of Chaplain/CPE Supervisor Certification – IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Attention: all certified chaplains or supervisors still needing to submit their renewal materials by December 31, 2015. With the launch of our new website the renewal of certification materials have moved.

CPE Supervisor Renewal Materials
www.nacc.org/certification/renewal-of-certification/board-certified-cpe-supervisor/renewal-materials/
Chaplain Renewal Materials
www.nacc.org/certification/renewal-of-certification/board-certified-chaplain/renewal-materials/

If you can’t find something you need, please contact Jeanine at the NACC office (jannunziato@nacc.org).

Certification Renewal Extension Requests
For those of our members who will be unable to submit their renewal of certification materials by the December 31 deadline and need to submit an extension request, please know that the extension request must be submitted to the NACC national office by December 31, 2015.
Please use the following process to submit an extension request.

Please forward a brief letter requesting the Extension, a reason why the Extension is needed, along with the applicable extension fee ($100 for a first extension or $200 for a second extension) to:

Judith Shemkovitz
Chair, NACC Certification Commission
National Association of Catholic Chaplains
4915 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 501
Milwaukee, WI 53207

To avoid a lapse in certification, please submit your request for the Extension before December 31, 2015.

Early 2016 dates for networking calls will be set soon. Would you like to be included?
We will soon be setting early 2016 networking calls for the following groups. If you have not been part of these networking calls and would now like to participate in any of these calls, please contact Tim Charek (tcharek@nacc.org).

African Members
Bilingual Hispanic Latino
Correction Chaplains
CPE Supervisors
Deacons
Directors of Spiritual Care Departments
45 and Under
Long Term Care
Mission Leaders in Charge of Spiritual Care
Chaplains with Nursing Background
One Person Departments
Outpatient settings
Palliative Care and Hospice
Research Journal Calls
Retired/Emeritus

NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY

A Moment in NACC History: NACC 2012-2017 Strategic Plan
In fall of 2011 the NACC Board of Director convened for its fall meeting to devote itself to assess the 2007-2012 strategic plan, and to begin a process for a 2012-2017 strategic plan. The Board again utilized the Reid Group (thereidgroup.biz) members, John Reid and Maureen Gallagher, to facilitate this planning process. There was much to celebrate at NACC as the 2007-2012 Plan was coming to a close. The seven goals of that plan (www.nacc.org/about-nacc/strategic-plan) were all addressed in some way. Most importantly, the NACC was now:

Engaging its members in a variety of ways with educational local events and webinars, networking opportunities, task forces, and special interest task forces;
Collaborating with strategic partners, including professional chaplaincy associations, CHA, and Church leaders on a variety of initiatives; and
Gaining financial health in light of several years of healthy revenue surpluses.

As the NACC board leaders affirmed the value and relevancy of the NACC mission, vision, and values statements that were created in 2007 (www.nacc.org/about-nacc/missionvision-values), they realized that the health care environment where three out of four of our members served was changing dramatically, although slowly, due to the Affordable Health Care reforms, and that reform would require change in the plan. NACC leaders were collectively convinced that the next strategic plan’s objectives needed to be few and focused, so that the organization could continue to build on the strengths of the recent years’ participation, partnerships, and stewardship, to ensure that our members would be better equipped and supported in the coming years as shifts in health care would require corresponding shifts in the spiritual care profession.

So, the Board created, then tested and vetted with membership the four major goals with just three-to-four objectives for each. These goals and objectives were refined over six months (December 2011-May 2012), leading up to the May 2012 National Conference in Milwaukee. At that Conference the NACC membership reviewed and endorsed the plan with just a few edits. Those Goals were: (www.nacc.org/about-nacc/strategic-plan)

I. To educate and support association members for the future of professional chaplaincy.
II. To increase awareness of the value of chaplaincy among key constituents.
III. To enhance advocacy efforts with strategic partners.
IV. To advance NACC as a mission-driven, financially stable and resilient association.

Each of those goals had a certain density of meaning to them. Goal I was focused on a future that was still unfolding. The “emerging markets” noted in the first objective were just that then, and are still so today. However, NACC was committed to creating learning and networking opportunities wherein members could share their pilot projects and practices as the service settings, particularly outpatient, became more apparent. Goal II was intended to capture the need to develop and send messages on the value that chaplaincy brought to this changing environment, where the focus would not be on what we do but what we offer to this changing climate. Two of Goal II’s objectives articulated research-related goals knowing that evidence-based practice was what chaplaincy had to tout. Goal III reemphasized that NACC needed to build on and sustain the important partnerships within which together we could address the professional and ecclesial environment within which our members lived and served. Finally, Goal IV had a certain positive hope and vigor to it as the recent healthy years gave NACC leaders confidence that we could find a positive way to address a declining membership, rethink our services, and the way we administrate the NACC.

This Strategic Plan has guided NACC Board leaders and the Executive Director over these past few years. While we realize that 2017 is right around the corner, we also realize that planning is an ongoing process for the NACC and any vibrant, intentional, and valuable organization with a sense of mission and purpose. We look forward together to the next chapter of NACC.

Reflecting on the ministry: Medical team helps parents honor doomed pregnancy, by Beringia Zen

We were sitting outside the chapel, and he quietly asked me a question. “What does the church teach about this?”

My first response was silence as my mind sorted through the possible answers. What does the church teach about extrauterine pregnancies? I knew the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which did not apply to my non-Catholic hospital. I had read essays about the delicate moral balance between honoring the life of the mother and ending the life of a pregnancy. Yet, in his question, I heard the deeper wondering: What does a family do with such a terrible choice? As we stumbled through the ethical dilemma, the father often got stuck on what to call the life growing inside his wife.

“The doctors use the word fetus,” he told me. “That just doesn’t seem to fit.”

“What does fit?” I asked.

“Baby.”

And so began our journey together of how to honor the baby whose life was soon to end.
The parents wanted a ceremony to bless and name their child once the mother’s fallopian tube had been removed, and the baby had died. “Can we do this?” they asked.

I quickly answered in the affirmative, while at the same time having no idea how to make it possible. I began in our labor and delivery unit with the nurse who oversees grief support for families whose babies die before, during, or soon after delivery.

“The fetus will be about the size of a walnut,” she said, making a small cup with her hands. “Do they know this?”

I nodded.

“Also, you’ll need to make sure that surgery knows the wishes of the family.”

In the surgical wing of the hospital, I met with a nurse who would be present. We discussed in detail how to prepare the baby for the family. She brought out a number of different tubs and tubes. We scrutinized them for their size, color, and appropriateness. A group of nurses gathered around as we worked through the steps and timing of when to do the blessing.

“She’ll be out for a while,” one told me. “Plan to be here about an hour or so after her surgery.”
“We usually do not allow family in post-op,” another nurse informed me. “But in this case we can make an exception.”

I returned to the Spiritual Wellness office and began to personalize our preprinted service: “An Order for Naming and Blessing at the Death of an Infant.” The phone rang, and it was the father.
“We’ve decided on a name,” he told me. “We’ve chosen it because it could work for a boy or a girl.”
I added the baby’s name to the order of service.

I met the family and the surgeon in pre-op. After the surgeon had explained the surgery to the parents, I informed him about our plans to name and bless the baby.

He stared at me incredulously. “You want to do what?”

I explained again.

“I don’t see why . . .” he began to say.

A nurse interrupted, “This is for the soul of their child!”

Something drastically shifted in the surgeon’s demeanor. He held the hand of the mother and assured her that he would help in any way that he could.

During the surgery, I sat with the father in the waiting room. There was nothing to say; we simply waited. A nurse came out and brought us to the mother, who was still a bit groggy from the anesthesia. On the table, next to her bed, was the small, clear container we had chosen for the baby. The father held the tub in his hands, lifted it up to his face, and peered inside.

“She’s beautiful,” he said.

“Or he,” his wife responded.

He handed her the baby, and she placed the child on her chest. Together they cried. We started the liturgy. We named the child, and each signed the baby with the sign of the cross. I read from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus says, “Let the children come to me.” We prayed that angels would lead him or her to a place of light and peace. We ended with the Lord’s Prayer.

We remained in silence until the father spoke. “This has given beautiful closure to a bad situation.”

Beringia Zen, CSJA, PhD, is a chaplain and Catholic coordinator at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, MO.

This is the final reflection for 2015. In each NACC Now, during this 50th jubilee year, we featured a reflection by one of our NACC chaplains on his or her ministry and an experience of a gift of that ministry. Please allow Beringia Zen’s reflection to inspire you. We will soon be making all these reflections available in a 50th Jubilee edition. Your own reflection is still welcomed! If you want to share a reflection, please contact David Lewellen (dlewellen@nacc.org).

2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016

Mark your calendars 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 O’Hare near Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Registration Brochures for the NACC 2016 Conference have been sent out!
The 2016 Conference registration flyer has been mailed out. If you haven’t received it yet, please contact the NACC office (conference@nacc.org) and let us know so we can mail you one. Please note the new format for the registration brochure. Rather than the traditional full registration brochure, we have moved to a streamlined registration flyer. This flyer contains much of the key information regarding our 2016 conference, and all other detailed information (like workshop descriptions) will be found on the NACC website. The conference webpages are a “one-stop shop” for all conference-related information. Can’t find something you are looking for? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions section on the website OR email us at conference@nacc.org and we will be happy to help.

Conference Registration and Payment Options
There are three options for registering and paying for the Conference.

Register online using the registration portal and pay with Visa or MasterCard.
Register online using the registration portal and indicate you wish to be billed and will mail your payment.
Register by completing a paper registration form and mail the form with your payment (check/money order) to the NACC office.

Conference Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships will be available from the National Association of Catholic Chaplains for registration fees for the 2016 NACC National Conference. The applicant must apply no later than Thursday, December 31, 2015.
Visit the NACC website for more information.

Roommate Referral Service
The NACC is pleased to again facilitate a Roommate Referral Service. Follow the link below to find out how to submit your information and get onto the list. We will send you a list of potential roommates. It will be up to you to contact individuals on the list to discuss the suitability of rooming together. The last date that names will be accepted is Wednesday, March 30, 2016.
To sign up for Roommate Referral click here.

Preconference Day of Reflection will provide time for reflection and renewal.
On Thursday, April 21, 2016, the preconference Day of Reflection will take place at the Techny Towers Conference and Retreat Center in Techny, IL. The theme will be In the Making: A Spirituality of Creation, Call, and Engagement and will be led by Monica Meagher, MDiv. Please plan on joining your colleagues for this day. For more information go to: www.nacc.org/conference/day-of-reflection.

Please see more background on our 2016 Award Recipients!
You can go to www.nacc.org/conference/awards/ to read more about our 2016 Award Recipients:

Distinguished Service: Sr. Mary R. Skopal, SSJ, BCC
Emergent Leader: Ms. Kay I. Gorka BCC
Outstanding Colleague: Supportive Care Coalition

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

Some helpful resources for ministering to the non-religious.
There has been available as “open access” articles a three-part series on ministering to the non-religious person. The series is authored by Mary Martha Thiel, Sara Paasche-Orlow, and Mary Redner Robinson. The series titles are:

1. Part One: Spiritual Care for the Non Religious
2. Part Two: Teaching Spiritual Care of the Non Religious
3. Part Three: Spiritual Care of American “Jews of No Religion”

They can be accessed at plainviews.healthcarechaplaincy.org.

Resources for Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that opens tomorrow, December 8, 2015!
Tomorrow, December 8, 2015, the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy begins, ending on Sunday, November 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. Please go the Vatican website to the Jubilee Year’s wonderful website with many resources. www.im.va/content/gdm/en.html. Those resources include:
• Pope Francis Prayer for Mercy. www.im.va/content/gdm/en/giubileo/preghiera.html
• The vibrant logo, rich with meaning. www.im.va/content/gdm/en/giubileo/logo.html

Also, rich in content was Pope Francis’ Papal Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Misericordia Vultus, promulgated April 11, 2015.
w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html

A summary of Misericordia Vultus can be found at:
www.news.va/en/news/summary-of-the-misericordiae-vultus-bull-of-indict

NACC will also be hosting its first 2016 webinar on Thursday, January 21, 2016, 12:00-1:30 p.m., on Pope Francis’ Jubilee theme of Mercy and its implications for our spiritual care ministry. More information to follow in the next NACC Now!

NACC Webinars in January and February 2016
January
Given that we have entered the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we thought it would be helpful to devote a webinar to the main themes of this Jubilee Year and explore their implications for our spiritual care ministry. We are pleased that Felipe de J. Legarreta, PhD, Clinical Instructor, Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University Chicago, is able to be our presenter. Felipe has been offering presentations on this theme in the greater Chicagoland area, and is in the process also of preparing his materials for board certification with NACC. To learn more about Felipe Legarreta go to: blogs.luc.edu/ips/faculty-profile-felipe-legarreta-castillo/

Thursday, January 21, 2016, 12:00-1:30 p.m. central time, What does the Jubilee Year of Mercy and Pope Francis’ insights of mercy have to offer our chaplaincy ministry?
As you know, the Catholic Church entered on December 8, 2015, the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. In his Misericordiae Vultu, the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and other writings, Pope Francis provides us rich teachings on mercy. Felipe Legarreta will share some of these insights, and potential implications for our chaplaincy ministry.

February
Thursday, February 18, 2016, 12:00-1:30 p.m. central time.
How can I read intelligently and critically a research article?
One of our new NACC Standards for Certification that will be implemented beginning with the February 15, 2017, Application Deadline is: 305:7 Articulate how primary research and research literature inform the profession of chaplaincy and one’s spiritual care practice. This webinar will provide participants with an overview of core research concepts that will aid the participant to more intelligently and critically read qualitative and quantitative studies in order to better evaluate the study and understand the value of their findings.

We are really pleased that LaVera Crawley, MD, MPH, will be able to conduct this webinar. LaVera joined NACC in 2011 and is an ACPE Supervisory Candidate. She has served on the NACC Research Task Force and is now on the NACC Research Advisory Panel. For more than 30 years, LaVera has had successful careers in medicine and ethics, and academic research in health disparities in end-of-life care for which she received national and international recognition. LaVera received her MD from Meharry Medical College; completed her Family Medicine residency and chief residency at USCF; her MPH from UC Berkeley; an Ethics Fellowship at Stanford; and a Palliative Care Education Fellowship at Harvard. Along with her CPE supervisory work, she also serves on the Palliative Care Team at the Alta Bates Campus. As a Catholic lay woman, LaVera is active in the social justice programs in her parish.

Second Request: Do any of your places use admission screening questions for spiritual care?
We were recently asked whether other systems use in EPIC or its EMR’s a spiritual care screening question asked by nurses as part of the admission questionnaire, such as, “Any spiritual, religious, or cultural request you would like us meet?” or “Any spiritual, cultural or religious practices you would like supported?” with drop-down options to check. If so, would you be open to share it? We can link those systems utilizing such an admission screening process for their mutual learning and process improvement. Please contact David Lichter (dlichter@nacc.org). Thank you in advance!

Other Educational Opportunities
We recently received notice of the following educational offering. Please see the NACC Website for other educational offerings.

Spring 2016 special course offerings at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago —“Theologies of Suffering” with Dr. David Lichter (online) and “Mindfulness and Pastoral Ministry” with Dr. Timone Davis (Cuneo Mansion—Vernon Hills). For a full list of online course offerings click here.

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: Albert Rinaldi, 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 recently deceased 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, 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).

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.

PART-TIME CHAPLAIN
Canton, OH – Mercy Medical Center

CLINICAL CHAPLAIN
Portland, OR – Providence Portland Medical Center

SPIRITUAL CARE MINISTERS/HOSPITAL CHAPLAINS (Full-Time or 24 hours per week)
Green Bay, WI – Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS)

Chaplain II
Meadowbrook, PA – Holy Redeemer Health System

CHAPLAIN/PRIEST
Rochester, MN – Mayo Clinic

VICE PRESIDENT, MISSION INTEGRATION
Kalamazoo, MI – Borgess Health

CPE RESIDENCIES
Buffalo, NY – Sisters of Charity Hospital

PRIEST CHAPLAIN (Part-time)
Baltimore, MD – Mercy Medical Center

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE
Topeka, Kansas – Stormont-Vail HealthCare

PLC CHAPLAIN
Rockford, Illinois – Presence Life Connections

CHAPLAIN
Saint Louis, Missouri – SSM Saint Louis University Hospital

NACC Now #213

Issue #213 – December 21, 2015

NACC

NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY

2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY

2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

Job Listings

Free Publications

Donate Now

Issue #213 – December 21, 2015

NACC

NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY

2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

NACC – 50 YEARS OF CONTINUING THE HEALING MINISTRY

2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE APRIL 22-25, 2016

CHAPLAINCY NEWS, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTS

Job Listings

Free Publications

Donate Now

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