NACC welcomes Anita Houghton to national staff – by David Lewellen, Vision Editor
An unexpected departure from the NACC has led to a new position for new initiatives.
Anita Houghton joined the association at the beginning of the new year as director of pastoral care and certification. She will take over the certification responsibilities previously handled by Lisa Sarenac, who returned to her previous career of elementary education…(Read more)

Synod process raises hopes for positive change in the Church – Interview with NACC member Bridget Deegan-Krause, by David Lewellen, Vision Editor
NACC member Bridget Deegan-Krause has been named a delegate from the Archdiocese of Detroit to the next phase of the global Synod on Synodality. She spoke recently to Vision editor David Lewellen about the process so far and hopes for the future…(Read more)

Proactive outreach by chaplains can raise their institutional profile – by Jennifer Paquette
In her review of Professor Wendy Cadge’s most recent book, Spiritual Care: The Everyday Work of Chaplains, Anne Windholz noted, “While understanding the multivalent power of presence, Cadge doubts that it will promote institutional investment in chaplaincy. She instead urges spiritual caregivers to shake off their invisibility …”
Those are hard words to read, especially when chaplains believe in the centrality of spiritual care in the life of the institution. Yet, in all too many cases, it is true…(Read more)

How do Catholic women use their gifts in the Church? It’s complicated – by Tricia Bruce
Women comprise the majority of U.S. Catholics and the majority of lay ministers in the U.S. Catholic Church. While the ordained diaconate remains the exclusive realm of men, women engage in expansive service that overlaps core diaconal functions in word, liturgy, and charity. Many women feel specifically called to be deacons or express an openness to discerning such a call should the vocational path become available to them…(Read more)

Church needs to fully recognize the gifts of women in ministry – by Bridget Deegan-Krause
I am excited to have shared with the NACC a groundbreaking study about us – about women in ministry.
When I first read Tricia Bruce’s study through the Discerning Deacons project, when I read the careful accounts of other women in ministry, sounding so much like my own, the tears flowed. (In fact, I will warn those of you who have not had a chance to read the study, to have a box of Kleenex close by)…(Read more)

Book Reviews

The total breadth of chaplaincy: Wide-ranging, undefined, and uncredentialed – by Anne M. Windholz
(Book review of Spiritual Care: The Everyday Work of Chaplains by Wendy Cadge)
In Spiritual Care: The Everyday Work of Chaplains, sociology professor Wendy Cadge provides the first comprehensive study of how chaplains function across the varied sites where they serve…(Read more)

Anthology identifies universal competencies for good spiritual care – by Paula J. Teague
(Book review of Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction, edited by Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo)
Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo begin their anthology with an illustration of two chaplains. The two contexts are different, and the needs vary, but the mission is the same…(Read more)

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