NACC NOW
The National Association of Catholic Chaplains
Monday, September 10, 2007
Contents:
1. Welcome
2. Our newest way to stay in touch
3. Goodbye to Bishop Melczek
4. We need your best thinking!
5. Who deserves NACC honors?
6. Renew certification promptly
7. Calling NACC writers and poets
8. Educational opportunities
9. New in Vision
Welcome
Welcome to NACC Now. A clear, consistent message in our new strategic plan is communication, communication, communication. We are committed to make that happen, and this e-newsletter will be one very important way. From this modest beginning, we anticipate it will grow and evolve in order to better meet your needs as members. Brief headings will often lead you to content on the NACC website. Your feedback on the concept and content of this vehicle will be invaluable to us.
Since my arrival a month ago, several chaplains have sent me a letter or card sharing who they are and their involvement in NACC. I am struck and humbled by their service. They embody our mission of continuing the healing mission of Jesus in the name of the Church. I want to begin each e-newsletter with a brief mission reflection incorporating your experiences. Your stories of the mystery, meaning, and movement of God's work through chaplaincy are welcomed. Please send them to me at [email protected]
David A. Lichter, D.Min. Executive Director, NACC
Our newest way to stay in touch
You are reading the inaugural issue of NACC Now, our new biweekly electronic newsletter to membership. We hope that communicating with you by e-mail will keep you more abreast of timely chaplaincy news; encourage you to share your talents, ideas and concerns with the national office; and promote dialogue with other members and build a sense of connection. Consider this to be a new membership benefit made possible by the widespread availability of e-mail.
NACC Now is a supplement to Vision, not a replacement for it. Vision will continue to offer in-depth articles about chaplains and supervisors at work, theological reflections, pastoral-care research, and other significant topics. But NACC Now will let us communicate with you more quickly and more often.
Goodbye to Bishop Melczek
Bishop Dale Melczek of Gary, IN, who has served as our Episcopal Liaison to the USCCB for more than six years, informed us last week that his term with us is over. In his place, Bishop Randolph Calvo of Reno, NV, has been appointed our new liaison.
We will miss Bishop Melczek, who has been a sympathetic and forceful advocate for chaplaincy during his time on our board. He understood our ministry deeply, took his duties seriously, and entered fully into the NACC and its mission.
At the same time, we welcome Bishop Calvo into our midst and our mission. He is interested in and enthusiastic about the NACC, and hopes to meet us in person at upcoming meetings.
We will offer you more information about this change in an upcoming issue of Vision.
We need your best thinking!
Our strategic plan gives us great direction. Now we need your best thinking for moving ahead. David Lichter asks your immediate help on task forces that will generate plans to move forward. We would like to form five short-term task forces in leadership development, marketing, recruitment, resource development, and membership. We initially ask only three hours of your time over the next six weeks. We need your best ideas! To learn more, click or visit http://www.nacc.org/volunteers/task_forces.asp
Who deserves NACC honors?
The NACC will honor one of its own members and an outside person or entity at our conference next spring. We want a wide pool of possibilities to choose from. If you are interested in nominating someone, click http://www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/awards.asp
The deadline is Nov. 1.
Renew certification promptly
With a few months left in the year, this is a good time to remind those of you who need to renew your certification to do so as soon as possible. For those who must request an extension on their renewal of certification process, an extra fee will be charged.
The NACC's Board of Directors has set the late fee at 20% of the renewal of certification fee. The fee was imposed in order to support the extra work that requests for extensions generate at the national office. As the current renewal of certification fee is $125, the extension processing fee that must accompany requests for a one-year extension for renewal of certification this year is $25.
Calling NACC writers and poets
Every year, the NACC prints prayer cards for World Day of the Sick, for use in hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, parishes, and anyone else interested in the spiritual needs of sick persons and caregivers
We would like to invite our members to consider writing a prayer to be used on the prayer cards for 2008. We will publish two cards: Prayer for Sick Persons and Prayer for the Caregiver. You may submit prayers for either or both.
Prayers may be written in any style or format you like, but they should be no more than 32 lines long, with an average line length of not more than 10 syllables. To see examples of past prayers, visit http://www.nacc.org/resources/wds/pastPrayerCards.asp
All submissions must be received at the NACC office by Oct. 15. We will notify the person(s) whose prayers will be used by Nov. 9. We are not able to offer payment, but the authors will be credited. We will share a total of two prayers in print, although some runners-up may be featured on our website later in the year.
Educational opportunities
We regularly list upcoming seminars, workshops, and conferences on our website that can help you get the continuing education hours you need to maintain certification. To see the current list of events, click or visit http://www.nacc.org/resources/edops.asp#sept07
If you know of an upcoming event that would interest our membership, please click or visit http://www.nacc.org/resources/edops.asp#submit
New in Vision
Your copy of the September Vision has either reached you or is on its way, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. Be sure to open to the center to see the full-color presentation of our strategic plan for the next five years, illustrated with photos contributed by our members. You can also read about our new Executive Director, David Lichter; why our credential is now BCC; and the unique challenges of ministering to survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
To see the entire issue online, be prepared with your NACC user name and password and click http://www.nacc.org/vision/fm/backIssues.asp
For assistance with your user name and password, please contact [email protected]
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You are receiving this email newsletter because you are a member or friend of the NACC. To unsubscribe, or to subscribe with a different email address, visit our website at http://www.nacc.org/newsletter.asp.
If you have questions, concerns, or things to share with the NACC national office, you may reply to this e-mail or visit http://www.nacc.org/aboutnacc/staff.asp
This e-newsletter is a publication of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains and is ©2007.
National Association of Catholic Chaplains 5007 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 120 Milwaukee, WI 53207-6159 Phone:414.483.4898 Fax: 414.483.6712 Email: [email protected]