The Beacon Summer 2007 - HealthCare Chaplaincy

Beacon
The
Vol. 32 No. 2/Summer 2007
News from The HealthCare Chaplaincy – A Multifaith Center for Pastoral Care, Education & Research
2
INSIDE
Rabbi Daniel Coleman on
journeying with a patient
5
Introducing our new trustees
8
9
10
New Director of CSJPC,
Rabbi Charles Sheer
Fr. Jozef Krajnak on the universal
language of pastoral care
New Assistant VP for Advancement,
Nicholas L. Grimaldi
John Templeton Foundation Awards
The HealthCare Chaplaincy $1.1 Million
June
J
20 was a “red-letter day” for The
HealthCare Chaplaincy. That’s when the John
Templeton Foundation notified president and
CEO, the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J., that it had
approved—in full—The Chaplaincy’s request for
$1.1 million to help transform the curriculum and
educational paradigm by which clinical pastoral
educators are taught. It is the largest single grant
The Chaplaincy has received in its forty-six year
history and will be distributed over three years.
“For decades, the Chaplaincy has been growing in
its reputation as a leader and innovator in the pastoral
care, education, and research fields,” said Fr.
Smith. “Now, with the support of the John Templeton
Foundation, we have set some ambitious goals to
move the profession farther ahead.”
“By revamping the way CPE faculty are mentored,
taught, evaluated, and credentialed, not only will
we develop new curricular and assessment tools,
but we will also help the profession-at-large establish
new benchmarks for the educational formation
of a diverse
group of new
leaders for the
twenty-first century.
In short,
thanks to the
John Templeton
Foundation, we’re now in a unique tactical position
to be an effective channel for change within
the global, multifaith spiritual care community,”
said Fr. Smith.
Dr. Paul Wason, director of life sciences at the John
Templeton Foundation, said, “I was immediately
impressed with The HealthCare Chaplaincy’s
vision for developing this very important profession.
But equally important, from my perspective, is
that they have developed an excellent strategy to
reach it.”
In taking on this academic challenge, The
Chaplaincy is shifting its educational priority and
becoming a dedicated doctoral-level clinical education
C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 4
Chaplain Peggy Muncie Featured in
Photograph by Ruby Washington/The New York Times
Offering Comfort to the Sick and
Blessings to Their Healers
In the Trenches, The Hospital Chaplain
By Jan Hoffman
READ THE FULL STORY ON PAGES 6-7

Lifting the
Spirit
A Message from the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J., President & CEO
“Don’t we need baking powder, Guido?”
During the first week of July, I was invited by friends to join them for
five days at an Italian cooking school in an 11th century Benedictine
abbey, Badia a Coltibuono, in Tuscany. Famed cookbook author
Lorenza de’ Medici started the school some years ago in her family’s
estate. Now, her youngest son, Guido Stucchi Prinetti, has taken up his
mother’s whisk and mezzaluna, directing the program for eager students
from around the world.
One morning we were working our way through an ambitious program
of five preparations, including biscotti. Deftly, Guido blended
together butter, shortening, and sugar, vigorously beating in farm-fresh
eggs. While talking about the origin of biscotti, he quickly added lemon
extract, a pinch of salt, and liberal cups of flour before adding to the
mixture a handful of toasted almonds. Guido was now ready to
demonstrate how to form the dough into logs when someone said,
“Don’t we need baking powder, Guido?” Distracted by his own storytelling,
he had omitted the single teaspoon of leavening that would
make a world of difference to the success of these classic Italian cookies.
Without losing a beat, Guido reached for the powder, sprinkled it over
the mixture, and kneaded it quickly into the dough with a broad smile
and exuberant expression of gratitude to the attentive student.
Can a single teaspoon of a leavening agent make such a difference?
Indeed it does. Thanks to the release of carbon dioxide bubbles in the
dough, our biscotti that morning rose beautifully as they baked. Later,
we dipped them into glasses of Vin Santo del Chianti Classico. Deliziosi!
With its history-making grant, the John Templeton Foundation has
become an important leavening agent for The HealthCare
Chaplaincy. Over the past decade, The Chaplaincy has been strategically
transforming its clinical pastoral education program into one of
the most culturally and religiously diverse initiatives of its kind in the
world. It has also been attracting attention for the caliber of new
leaders it is preparing—the clinical educators of the future.
All of the essential ingredients are in The Chaplaincy’s mixing bowl.
By its $1.1M commitment, the John Templeton Foundation has supplied
“baking powder” to the recipe, helping to ensure the success of
The Chaplaincy’s pioneering initiative to create a doctoral-level curriculum
for the education of CPE supervisors. Additionally, the
Foundation is providing us with renewed funds to develop further
our successful postdoctoral fellows program, which its seminal grant
in 2003 helped us to establish. Over the next few years, in these pages
you will see many new things “rising.” With the help and encouragement
of our academic and philanthropic partners—like the John
Templeton Foundation—The HealthCare Chaplaincy has a fail-safe
recipe by which to pursue its commitment “to excellence and leadership
in pastoral care, education, and research.” ■
The Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J.
President & CEO
Healing Moments
“For Thou Wilt Light My Candle...”
Rabbi Coleman with his wife,
Anat, and son Akiva at the 2007
commissioning ceremony.
Recently I visited a
patient at North Shore
University Hospital
who had been admitted with
severe emphysema. Though she
had trouble breathing, she got
right to the point: A former
alcoholic and still a heavy
smoker, she said she felt guilty
about killing herself. “I’m dying
for a cigarette,” she admitted.
But she had more than medical
problems on her mind. She said
she had been estranged from her family for a long time and had
only one friend. That’s when I began a life review with her.
Only in her fifties, this patient told me she had been an elementary
school teacher for decades, so we reflected on the many
lives she touched over the years. That was the opening she
needed. She talked about her family, regretting that she couldn’t
be there for them when she was drinking. She felt it was too
late for reconciliation, but wished they could know that she had
tried her best to straighten out her life and was sorry she had let
them down.
Before I left that Wednesday, she asked me to bring her a set of
electric Sabbath candles to my next visit. Though our conversation
hadn’t touched on religion, I happily agreed.
2 The Beacon

Italian Biscotti
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1
/4 cup shortening
3
/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
3
/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1 /2 cups whole toasted almonds
Method
Toast almonds in a preheated 350ºF oven for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they
begin to brown.
In a large mixing bowl, blend together the butter, shortening, and sugar,
then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the
vanilla and lemon extracts along with the baking powder and salt. Gradually
add the flour until you have a well-blended dough. Blend in the toasted
whole almonds and distribute evenly through the dough.
Transfer the sticky dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into
three roughly equal pieces, shaping each segment into a 10-inch log.
Transfer each log to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches
between each log.
Bake the logs in a preheated 375ºF oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until
they're beginning to brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven,
and allow them to cool for 30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to
300ºF.
Using a spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting surface.
Using a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion,
cut the partially baked logs on the diagonal into
1/2-inch wide slices. Carefully transfer the slices to a
parchment-lined baking sheet. Return the biscotti to
the oven, and bake them for an additional 10 minutes
on each side. Remove the biscotti from
the oven, cool completely, and store in
an airtight container. This recipe should
yield about 60 biscotti.
And don’t forget the baking powder!
Unfortunately, the next time I saw this patient, she was in intensive
care. Comatose, she wasn’t aware that members of her family,
including her son, daughter-in-law, and two brothers, were at her
bedside. They were in shock, because they hadn’t known how seriously
ill she was. They also expressed anger that she had abandoned
them.
As we talked, the family voiced their appreciation for the time I had
spent with their relative. They were amazed that she had been so open
with me. “She was never able to tell us what she was going through.
Thank you for being there for her.”
They were even more surprised that she had asked for Sabbath candles
since she hadn’t been religious, but they gladly accepted them from me.
I learned later that the patient’s family had lit the candles for her
that Friday, and that she had taken her last breath shortly afterward.
I was comforted that she had light to accompany her on
her journey to a place of peace. Of course that’s the wonderful
promise at the end of Psalm 18, Verse 28: “For thou wilt light my
candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” ■
Rabbi Coleman, an Orthodox rabbi from Great Britain, is a 2006
graduate of The Chaplaincy’s CPE residency program and now is
a staff chaplain at North Shore University Hospital.
3 The Beacon

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1
John Templeton Foundation Awards The Chaplaincy $1.1 Million
center—a commitment that no other CPE program in the world has
undertaken or has the resources to do. The role of supervisor is being
re-engineered to that of graduate educator, our faculty resources are
being expanded and reorganized, a new graduate curriculum is being
developed, and new academic partnerships are being forged.
In its proposal to the John Templeton Foundation, entitled
“Partnerships for Change: Transforming the Profession of Pastoral
Care,” The Chaplaincy listed and elaborated on other project goals as
well. These include:
•Developing and testing new pastoral
research theory;
• Involving chaplains as co-investigators and
authors in original quantitative and qualitative
research, as well as teaching chaplains
the foundational research skills that will
allow them to conduct independent studies;
• Integrating clinical education and research
in the continuing education of congregational
clergy, aspiring chaplains, and supervisors alike;
• Teaching essential managerial skills needed to run a congregation
or to organize a chaplain’s rotation in a hospital—the first time
this content will be included in curriculum;
• Evaluating the new curriculum and disseminating it widely;
• Working with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education
(ACPE) to accelerate the review and certification of teaching faculty,
and to improve successful completion statistics;
• Expanding the successful and seminal postdoctoral pastoral
research fellowship program.
“We’re now in a unique
tactical position to be an
effective channel for
change within the global,
multifaith spiritual care
community.”
“Because of the confidence that our colleagues in the profession invest
in The HealthCare Chaplaincy’s visionary leadership and intellectual
capital,” Fr. Smith commented, “they are looking to us to help negotiate
the new frontiers of clinical pastoral education and research. With
the renewed and significantly expanded support of the John
Templeton Foundation, we will not disappoint them.”
This latest affirmation of The Chaplaincy’s progressive education
strategy complements the $360,000 lead grant awarded earlier this
spring by the Henry Luce Foundation for these
same strategic purposes.
The John Templeton Foundation was established
in 1987 by Sir John Templeton, and
with current assets of roughly $1.1 billion, this
independent, family philanthropy’s vision is
derived from a commitment to scientific
research and scholarship. The mission of the
John Templeton Foundation (www.templeton.org)
is “to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas
engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations
into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the
nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity. Its vision is
derived from John Templeton’s commitment to rigorous scientific
research and related scholarship. The Foundation’s motto, ‘How little
we know, how eager to learn,’ exemplifies its support for openminded
inquiry and its hope for advancing human progress through
breakthrough discoveries.” ■
The Chaplaincy’s New Templeton
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
To further its innovative research
program, The Chaplaincy selected
Matthew Porter, from among a
strong field of applicants, to begin a two-year fellowship in September.
“I was very pleased to be selected for this Templeton fellowship at The
Chaplaincy, and I’m very excited to begin collaborative and original
research with its well-published team,” stated Dr. Porter.
Dr. Porter was drawn here by his interest in human resiliency and
spirituality. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the New
School for Social Research, and is finishing up a postdoctoral fellowship
in cancer prevention and control at Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
studying the ways cancer patients think and feel about complementary
and alternative medicine. “Cancer patients are able to get emotional
relief from nonconventional therapies, even if they aren’t 100 percent
sure that the therapies are providing any objective benefit,” Porter says.
He has found that patients most often mention using nonconventional
therapy for emotional relief.
“My main interest, which has percolated through all my research, has
to do with understanding whatever it is that underlies human
resiliency. I believe that a program of research that professes to focus
on stress or resiliency without looking at spirituality is potentially
missing the most important part of the picture. For many people, a
sense of being connected to spirit, or to a larger pattern, is what allows
them to ‘keep up’ despite enormous adversity,” Porter says.
Dr. Porter wrote an article, “Predisplacement and Postdisplacement
Factors Associated with the Mental Health of Refugees and Internally
Displaced Persons (JAMA 2005),” after his 1996 experience as a United
Nations peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia. “I wasn’t thinking
about research. I just noticed, as I was working there, the tragedy of
the situation, the continued resonance of trauma and fear, and the
incredible resiliency of some of the people I met. When I came back to
the U. S. to begin graduate school, I wanted to learn more about war
trauma and resilience,” Porter explains. ■
4 The Beacon

Introducing Our New Trustees
Holly Michaels Fisher is a senior consultant with
Reden & Anders, with more than 25 years of strategic,
program, and operational experience in healthcare
service delivery, care management, and specialized
managed care. Most recently, Holly was the vice president
of long-term care at WellCare Health Plans. Previously, she worked
for the Visiting Nurse Service (VNS) of New York, where she was the
executive director of VNS CHOICE, and also the vice president
responsible for strategic program development.
Rita V. Foley is a corporate director, a retired Fortune
500 Global President, and a committed leader in
numerous organizations dedicated to improving the
health and lives of underprivileged women in developing
countries. In 2007, Rita has been honored as
the National Association of Corporate Directors’
Not-for-Profit Director of the Year. Last year, Rita was honored with the
2006 United Nations Populations Fund Award for lifelong work with
women and their health issues. Rita sits on the boards of publiclytraded
PetSmart and Dresser Rand, and chairs the board of Pro Mujer,
a not-for-profit microfinance and health organization. She is also on
the Advisory Board of C2Media and is a former board member of the
Council of the Americas.
Robin Guenther, FAIA, is the principal of
Guenther 5 Architects, a firm with extensive experience
in healthcare design. Her projects have received
national design awards and have been published in
prominent architectural and design magazines. In
2004, Robin was named one of 25 Environmental Champions by
Interiors & Sources and her firm received the first annual ASHE
Sustainable Design Award for a LEED certified medical building it
designed. Robin has served on many environmental design committees,
including for the AIA, which inducted Robin into its Fellowship
Program, and the Center for Health Design, which named her the
2005 recipient of the prestigious Change Maker Award, for her pioneering
efforts in sustainable healthcare architecture. She has recently
co-authored Sustainable Healthcare Design, which is expected to be
the preeminent authoritative guide to sustainable practices for
healthcare and LEED-HC.
Burton Lehman is Of Counsel to the law firm of
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, of which he is a founding
partner. From 2003 to 2006, he was senior advisor
and general counsel of Tishman Speyer, a worldrenowned
real estate owner and developer. From
1996 to 2006, Burt was chairman of the Board of Governors of the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is a member of
the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School, and has also been a
trustee of the Town School and of Central Synagogue.
C. Ronald MacKenzie, M.D., is an associate attending
physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and
associate professor of medicine and public health
(ethics) at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He serves
on numerous committees at HSS, but specifically its
Pastoral Care and Quality Assurance Committees. He is the deputy editor
of the HSS Medical Journal, is co-chairman of the HSS Ethics
Committee, and is the founder and director of the Ethics Fellowship at
HSS. In addition, he is a fellow of the American College of Physicians,
the American College of Rheumatology (where he sits on its Ethics
Committee), the Royal College of Physicians (Canada), and the New
York Academy of Medicine. Recently appointed to the Board of
Trustees of the Hospital for Special Surgery, he has for many years also
been a trustee of The Osborne, a continuing care senior living community
offering independent, and assisted living and skilled nursing care in
his home town of Rye, New York.
Timmian C. Massie is chief public affairs officer of
Marist College and a recognized leader in the use of
technology in media relations. Previously, Tim served
in other public relations capacities, including as
director of communications at Bryant College. Tim
has received several leadership and community service awards for his
volunteer activities, which include work with Mother Teresa's
Missionaries of Charity in Rome. He also serves on the pastoral council
of the Archdiocese of New York, and as its representative on the
Commission for Catholic-Jewish Dialogue. Tim also enjoys teaching
courses on organizational writing and religious studies at Marist.
Andrew Edmund Slaby, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.,
a psychiatrist specializing in depression and crisis
intervention, is clinical professor of psychiatry at New
York University School of Medicine, and an adjunct
professor in the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences, New York Medical College. Previously, he was
medical director, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, New Jersey. Dr. Slaby is
a member of the National Board of the American Association of
Suicide Prevention, and serves on the boards of the International
Academy of Law & Mental Health and Primary Psychiatry. He is also
past president of the American Association of Suicidology.
Deborah DeCotis Zoullas joined Morgan Stanley in
1978 and retired as managing director of the firm in
1996; she continues to serve as an advisory director.
From 1998–2000, Debbie was appointed EVP of
Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. She was elected to the board
of directors and served as one of the three members of the Office of
the Chief Executive. In 2001, Debbie founded LaLoop, a fashion
accessories company. Debbie has served or chaired on several boards,
including Armor Holdings, Tajan, the Helena Rubinstein Foundation,
Stanford Graduate School Advisory Council, Stanford University’s
Business School Trust, and The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
5 The Beacon

IN THE TRENCHES I The Hospital Chaplain
Offering Comfort to the Sick and Blessing
By JAN HOFFMAN
At 1 p.m. on a weekday, the emergency
department at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt
Hospital in Upper Manhattan is in full
cry, with bays crowded, patients on
stretchers lining the hallways, and paramedics
bringing in more sick people.
Time for the Rev. Margaret A. Muncie to
work the floor.
Not shy, this pastor with the clerical collar,
the Ann Taylor blazer and the cheerful
insistence of one whose own mother
called her a steamroller. Among the first
women ordained an Episcopal priest and
a self-described “Caucasian minority,”
she’s an odd bird among the ethnically
diverse staff and especially the
patients, most of them black or
Latino. But she keeps pecking
her head behind curtains, parting
gatherings of worried family
members, impervious to
startled looks of suspicion.
“Hi, I’m Peggy Muncie, a hospital
chaplain,” she says. “Would you like a
visit?”
She’s not there to thump. Deftly, she
asks people how they’re feeling, then lets
them vent their pain and fear, their anxiety
and frustration. She nods, a little
pushy with her probing. She flags a nurse.
“Can you direct a doctor toward that
patient?” she whispers.
And always, at the end of a visit:
“Would it be all right if I prayed with
you?” The health care chaplain will
touch a forehead, hold a hand and quietly
pray worries to the Divine, speaking
with inflections that, as needed, may be
Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Hindu,
Jewish, Muslim. For the Baptist woman in
Bed 7 whose anxieties are making her
chest pain worse, the chaplain prays for
calm to allow the medicine to work.
Gradually, the patient’s breathing slows.
“My job is to be present to patients
without judgment,” Chaplain Muncie
says as she pumps a hand sanitizer, “and
to help them find out what is meaningful
to guide them through the stress of illness.”
Most health care facilities around the
country work with clergy members. But
their involvement varies widely. Some
hospitals merely have a list of on-call pastors;
others retain professionally trained,
board-certified health care chaplains, like
Ms. Muncie, who is the only full-time
cleric at St. Luke’s. (The hospital also has
a rabbi and an imam part time, and a
supervisory program for theological students.)
These varying levels of commitment
have less to do with differing philosophies
about spirituality and healing than
with the bottom line. Insurance carriers
do not reimburse for a chaplain’s salary.
“We’re a non-revenue-producing service,
and in the economics of modern
health care, that’s not a good place to
be,” said the Rev. George F. Handzo, a
vice president at the HealthCare
Chaplaincy, a New York City organization
that trains and places many chaplains.
“But there is a lot of indirect contribution
to the mission of a hospital,” he
added, “as well as to its margin: customer
satisfaction, customer retention and
goodwill in the community. From a revenue
standpoint, that’s crucial.”
The chaplain is also expected to minister
to the hospital staff. As Chaplain
Muncie, 59, makes her way throughout
St. Luke’s with a painstaking limp, she
chats easily with doctors and nurses. She
has sat with an intern who sobbed
uncontrollably after pronouncing her
first death and prayed with a ward clerk
whose mother was in intensive care.
Every year, the chaplain performs a
“Blessing of the Hands.” She wheels a
cart adorned with a tablecloth, flowers, a
bowl and an MP3 player. Surgeons,
nurses, aides crowd around as she dips
their hands in water, blessing their healing
work.
Although intercessory praying for the
sick has existed since the time of ancient
shamans, the chaplain’s role now reflects
the impact of modern technology on
medicine. In her nearly five years at St.
“My job is to be present to patients without judgment,
and to help them find out what is meaningful to guide
them through the stress of illness.”
THE REV. MARGARET A. MUNCIE
Luke’s, Ms. Muncie has helped mediate
“do not resuscitate” decisions, organ
donations and bioethics disputes. After a
visit, she puts the details in a patient’s
chart.
Now she’s off to the intensive care unit,
where many patients are intubated or
comatose. Undeterred, Chaplain Muncie
goes room by room, soul-searching.
From one bed, eyes watch drowsily but
intently; from another, a gurgle: “Ahhh,”
then, faintly, “mennnn.”
“They say the last sense to leave is a person’s
hearing,” she says. “Well, I was a
cheerleader and I can belt it out as loud
as anyone.”
Spotting the chaplain, a woman jumps
up from a bedside and embraces her.
“Her husband is semicomatose,” Ms.
Muncie explains later. “She is going to be
a widow soon and she knows it. She
trusts me now, so I can begin to ask the
difficult questions: ‘Have you started to
plan for your future?’ ”
6 The Beacon

s to Their Healers
July 17, 2007
One of Chaplain Muncie’s signature
responsibilities is to stand with a patient’s
family in the bleak early hours of death.
The St. Luke’s chaplains are paged when
a child or a staff member dies; if a death
is traumatic; or in the event of a calamity
like a fire. But though raw, savage grief
has no vocabulary, Chaplain Muncie
must give it voice, in a multitude of languages.
Recently, a woman from Mexico who
spoke no English had to be told that her
eldest son, 16, had been stabbed, and
died just after surgery. As Chaplain
Muncie helped deliver the news, she
realized that the shocked woman was
Pentecostal. So the chaplain held her,
praying in the name of Jesus that Jesus
would take her son to Heaven, that Jesus
would give her strength to bear this.
A few weeks ago, the chaplain had to
prepare a Jewish family for a morgue
viewing of their father. “I know that in
Judaism, you don’t say that the deceased
Photograph by Ruby Washington/The New York Times
goes to heaven,” she says now. “You talk
about memory and legacy. This family
was having a hard time getting closure.
So I said: ‘What would your father be saying
to help you get through this? What
memory will you hold of him?’ And their
mood changed.”
Her core belief about healing, says
Chaplain Muncie, is animated by Psalm 121:
“My help cometh from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth” — spirit and body; faith
and medicine. In 1996, doctors found a
benign tumor in her brain the size of a tennis
ball. The day after it was removed, she
had a stroke. Her right side became paralyzed.
“I was frightened and mad,” she says,
over a hasty salad. “But mostly I worried
about my husband and daughters: What
about them?”
So many people prayed for her. She
was not allowed to abandon hope, not
through the years of pain and physical
therapy that reduced the paralysis to a
lurching limp, thanks to a device she was
recently fitted for — “an electronic
doohickey, my own little miracle.”
She hitches up a pants-leg to show off
the gadget, a neurostimulator. “I walk
faster now,” she says. “I’m the kick-butt
chaplain.” The experience deeply
informs her ministry. “In Scripture it
says, ‘Get up from your bed and walk,
your faith has made you well,’” she continues.
“‘Well’ doesn’t mean perfect. But
wholeness and healing can happen, even
when there is still brokenness on the outside,”
she adds, tears spilling. “I’m more
whole now than 12 years ago. But I still
walk a little funny.”
After lunch she visits the acute-care
floor, sitting at the bedside of an 87-yearold
glaucoma patient.
“The hospital can be a busy, lonely
place,” Chaplain Muncie says. “Who is
there to walk this journey with you?”
The patient doesn’t hold back. Brittlethin,
blind, she lives in public housing
with her grandson, 19. But he’s in serious
trouble with the law. If she doesn’t
kick him out in three days, she says,
she’ll be evicted. The grandmother is
heartsick about ejecting her grandson,
yet terrified by looming homelessness.
The chaplain promises to alert a social
worker. Immediately.
The patient pleads: “Would you call my
grandson and ask him to visit? He hasn’t
been by.”
The chaplain agrees. She gently mentions
the parable of the Prodigal Son, of
letting a profligate young man go so that
he may one day return, mature and penitent.
Hands clasped, the women pray.
Chaplain Muncie stands to leave. “Oh,
you lifted my spirit!” the patient calls out.
“Will you visit me again?”
From The New York Times, July 17 © 2007. The New York Times, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States.
7 The Beacon

2007 Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner
to Recognize Thirteen Patient Care Honorees and
Outstanding Community Leaders
On November 8 The HealthCare
Chaplaincy will hold the annual
Wholeness of Life awards dinner to
recognize and celebrate the dedication and
accomplishments of those who represent
the core mission, to care for the whole person—spirit,
mind, and body. This annual
gathering of friends honors two groups of
worthy recipients—healthcare professionals and
community business leaders. There are three award categories: lifetime
achievement, community honoree, and patient care honoree,
and there will be a total of sixteen recipients.
The lifetime achievement award is given to individuals who have
made significant contributions to healthcare and to the mission of
The Chaplaincy. The community honoree is chosen from among
leaders in the corporate, business, and philanthropic communities,
and is recognized for commitment and dedication to promoting
wholeness of life.
Each patient care honoree is a member of the staff of one of The
Chaplaincy’s clinical partner institutions, and has been selected for
this award upon the recommendation of their peers and administrators.
This year’s thirteen patient care honorees comprise five nurses,
one doctor, and seven hospital administrators.
Drs. Moore and Lisio, both recipients of the lifetime achievment
award, will be saluted for the important roles they have played in the
healing profession over the decades, as well as for their singular contributions
as trustees of The Chaplaincy.
Timothy C. Collins, community honoree, lends his management
expertise and support to a number of not-for-profit and public sector
organizations, including the U.S.-Japan Business Council; the
U.S.-Japan Private Sector/Government Commission; the United
Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia; and the Yale Divinity
School Advisory Board. ■
For more information: www.healthcarechaplaincy.org
Rabbi Charles Sheer, New Director of
The Center for Studies in Jewish Pastoral Care
Rabbi Charles Sheer has been appointed the director of the
Center for Studies in Jewish Pastoral Care (CSJPC). Prior to
joining The Chaplaincy, Rabbi Sheer was the chaplain at
Columbia University for thirty-four years. With his guidance, the
Columbia University/Barnard College Hillel became one of the leading
student groups in the country. Due to the expanded needs of the
Columbia University community, Rabbi Sheer shepherded the development
of the Robert K. Kraft Family Center for Jewish Student Life,
made possible by a $13-million-dollar campaign.
“Rabbi Sheer comes to The Chaplaincy at a pivotal point,” says Dr.
Jackson Kytle, The Chaplaincy’s vice president of academic affairs.
“The Center for Studies in Jewish Pastoral Care deserves vigorous
leadership, and now we have it. Chuck’s first weeks on the job here tell
me that we’ll benefit from his remarkable energy and experience.”
Rabbi Sheer brings a wealth of experience as a spiritual advisor, educator,
manager, program developer, and fundraiser to his position as
director of CSJPC. “I think this particular mix of experiences will be
useful to me in my new role, because I expect my work at CSJPC to
draw on each of these areas. During my years at Columbia, I made
many, many solid connections in the
Jewish community—just outstanding
people—and I’m sure having these
relationships will make it easier for me
to advance the Center,” Sheer says.
One of Sheer’s objectives will be to further the ideals of and increase
awareness about The Chaplaincy. “There is a Jewish value called
hakarat hatov, which means that one should acknowledge the good
that has been done. The Chaplaincy has taken special care to assure
that its clinical pastoral education courses are consistent with Jewish
values and Jewish tradition. I plan to communicate the wonderful
accomplishments of The Chaplaincy—its responsiveness to Jewish
needs and its contribution to Jewish life,” Sheer says.
Rabbi Sheer’s background will be indispensable for the growth of the
Center. “It’s a great privilege for me to be the new director of the
Center for Studies in Jewish Pastoral Care. To me, the mission of The
HealthCare Chaplaincy mirrors the image of God in the opening passage
of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. ‘God is the creator—the lifegiver—and
cares for all humanity,’” he says. ■
8 The Beacon

Health & Healing
Father Jozef Krajnak Shares Clinical Pastoral
Care Principles with His Native Slovakia
“The Universal Language of Pastoral Care”
Ilove languages. I am fluent in Slovak, English, Italian,
Spanish, Czech, and Polish. I used my language skills in
working with poor and immigrant communities in Italy and
Venezuela, before moving to New York City in 1999. I felt that I
could continue to use my language skills, as well as minister, in
the multicultural and multiethnic city of New York. Little did I
realize that my linguistic skills were not as useful as I perceived.
I needed to add another language to my skill
set. Let me explain.
A few years ago, the Archdiocese of New
York hired me as a chaplain at Beth Israel
Medical Center. My responsibility was to
minister to Catholic patients. It was there
that I met Rabbi Stephen Roberts, who
worked for The HealthCare Chaplaincy as
the director of pastoral care at Beth
Israel. One evening, because he was
short of pastoral care staff, Rabbi
Roberts asked me if I could go on
rounds—not as a Catholic priest, but as
a multifaith chaplain. Why not, I
thought? But easier said than done!
As a multifaith chaplain, I could not necessarily perform Catholic
prayers or rituals with patients of other faiths, nor could I rely
solely on Catholic theology as part of pastoral counseling. At
times I felt as if I lacked a common spiritual vocabulary with
patients of other faiths. Sensing my frustration, Rabbi Roberts
encouraged me to take courses in multifaith pastoral care at The
HealthCare Chaplaincy, an organization where he himself had
trained to become a professionally certified chaplain.
The Chaplaincy’s emphasis on diversity is unique. For instance,
the four units (400 hours each) of clinical pastoral education were
led by supervisors of different faiths—Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim,
and Protestant, and my classmates were also of differing faiths
and nationalities. This worked beautifully for me, because I knew
I needed to broaden my knowledge and understanding of other
faiths. What better way to do that than by being in an environment
that supported a multifaith approach to patient care?
In those two years of study at The Chaplaincy I learned a new
language—the universal language of pastoral care. The
Chaplaincy taught me the art of listening openly—and without
judgment—to patients. This skill is the foundation of pastoral
care giving. It’s what helps me to develop a deep
rapport with individuals, often very quickly.
This has greatly enriched my life.
The concept of multifaith pastoral care for the
sick and dying is still not well understood in
my native Slovakia, nor throughout Eastern
Europe, for that matter. I hope the book I’ve
written will help change that. It’s called
Pastoral Ministry in the Hospital Environment
in Light of Ecumenical Needs, and it is based
on my experience at The Chaplaincy and at
Beth Israel Medical Center. I conducted
patient research and wrote this book to help
advance multifaith pastoral care training
programs in Slovakia.
I’m happy to report that my book, which
provides the first detailed explanation of multifaith pastoral care
principles in my language, was adopted for use by the Catholic
University in Slovakia to teach today’s Slovakian seminarians. I
am very happy to be able to share the knowledge that I gained at
The Chaplaincy, and I look back with gratitude on the day when
Rabbi Roberts asked me to serve as a multifaith chaplain. ■
Father Jozef Krajnak completed his CPE training at The
HealthCare Chaplaincy in 2005 and was certified by the National
Association of Catholic Chaplains in Boston in October 2005. He
earned his Doctor of Theology from Catholic University in
Ruzomberok, Slovakia, in 2007. His book, Pastoral Ministry in the
Hospital Environment in Light of Ecumenical Needs, was published
in Slovakia in August 2007.
9 The Beacon

The Chaplaincy Welcomes Nicholas L. Grimaldi,
Assistant Vice President for Advancement
“
From an organizational development standpoint, individual
donors—and major donors in particular—are the lifeblood of
any not-for profit enterprise,” says Nicholas L. Grimaldi, who
joined The HealthCare Chaplaincy on June 1as assistant vice president
for advancement. “They are our partners, collaborators, insiders,
even family, and this is reflected in the relationships that we nurture
and sustain with them. Without our donors, we could not exist
or fulfill our mission. It’s as simple as that.”
Nick brings to The Chaplaincy nearly 20 years of experience as the
director of development for organizations that are part of the very
fabric of New York City: The Legal Aid Society, Fountain House,
Hartley House, and the Nikolais-Louis Foundation for Dance.
In addition to his direct responsibility for major gifts, Nick also has
day-to-day management oversight of the advancement department
staff, which implements all of The Chaplaincy’s fundraising initiatives,
including the annual Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner, its major
fundraising event.
“I can’t wait for September to get here,” Nick says, “so I can start calling
and getting to know our donors—meeting with them and sharing
the successes of our last year
and the exciting plans we have
for the future, including the
Wholeness of Life Center, which
we hope will be fairly advanced
in its building and operations by
The Chaplaincy’s 50 th jubilee year
in 2011.”
Nick Grimaldi is thrilled to be part of the senior management team at
The Chaplaincy. “About a year ago,” he says, “ I decided that I wanted
to effect as seamless a union as possible between my personal and
professional lives, wanting to spend the best of my waking hours
doing something that is not only of interest to me but is life-giving.
For me, The HealthCare Chaplaincy is a perfect fit. The Chaplaincy
brings together my life of faith, my interests in human services and
journeying with others, and fundraising, which I genuinely enjoy.”
A Connecticut native, Nick graduated summa cum laude from
Fordham University with a degree in philosophy, and has been an
active member of the Manhattan Roman Catholic parish of Saint
Francis Xavier for many years. ■
2007 Annual Commissioning Ceremony
The Chaplaincy trustees, staff, family, and friends gathered at
Central Synagogue on May 15 to commission five new clinical staff
chaplains in a multifaith ceremony. Held each year at a different
house of worship in Manhattan, the evening also honored four chaplains
with ten or more years of service. Those commissioned were Rabbi Daniel
Coleman, the Rev. Simmons Gardner, Rabbi Naomi Kalish, the Rev. Alfred
Kambaki, and Rabbi Dr. Harry Rothstein. Service awards were given to the
Rev. Dr. John P. Bauman, the Rev. Dr. Martha Jacobs, Rabbi Ralph Kreger,
and Sister Margaret Oettinger, O.P. Rabbi Peter Rubenstein, senior rabbi at
Central Synagogue, presented the invocation. ■
Members of the Board of Trustees, left to right: Diana Goldin,
Timmian Massie, Judith Lewittes, and Board Chairman Larry Toal
Chaplain Jane Mather (MSKCC), Ann Rothstein, Rabbi Harry Rothstein
(MSKCC), and Judge Jerome Hornblass
CEO Louis A. Shapiro (Hospital for Special Surgery), with Chaplaincy
director, Sister Margaret Oettinger, O.P.
10 The Beacon

Chaplaincy Briefs
The HealthCare Chaplaincy is delighted to congratulate ACPE
Supervisor Rabbi Bonita Taylor, along with the clinical site mentors:
The Rev. Jill M. Bowden (Winthrop University Hospital), the Rev.
Peggy Muncie (St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center), Sr. Margaret
Oettinger (Hospital for Special Surgery), the Rev. Jon Overvold
(North Shore University Hospital), and the Rev. Daniel Shenk (St.
Mary’s Center) on their successful participation in its pastoral residency.
The graduating students are the Rev. Fr. Anselm
Amandikwa, the Rev. Jongmi Bae, Rabbi Binyamin Mayefsky, the
Rev. Min Jung Park, and the Rev. Mei Wang.
The Rev. George Handzo (vice president, pastoral care leadership
& practice), the Rev. Martha Jacobs (managing editor, PlainViews),
Chaplain Jane Mather (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center),
the Rev. Jon Overvold (North Shore University Hospital), and Rabbi
Bonita Taylor (Center for CPE) presented workshops at the annual
conference of the Association of Professional Chaplains in San
Francisco, April 28 – May 2, 2007.
The Rev. Dr. Martha R. Jacobs (managing editor, PlainViews), associate
director of pastoral education and community-based programs,
wrote an article entitled, “Opening up to Atonement,” which was
published in The Living Pulpit, April-June 2007.
Jackson Kytle, Ph.D., vice president of academic affairs, was
awarded an honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Sterling
College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, in May. This award was
given to Dr. Kytle for a decade of service as a trustee.
The Rev. Dr. Carlos de la Peña (Brookdale Hospital) was awarded a
Doctor of Ministry degree by New York Theological Seminary in May.
The Rev. Eun Joo Kim (New York Hospital-Queens) was ordained as
a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) at Korean Central
Presbyterian Church of Queens on April 1, 2007.
The Chaplaincy is pleased to welcome the new supervisors-in-training:
Chaplain Thomas Chirdo, the Rev. Katherine Higgins,
Chaplain Osvaldo Tañón, and Chaplain Will Mebane. They will be
joining the Rev. Young-ki Eun, the Rev. David Fleenor, and the
Rev. Patti McElroy.
The Rev. Jill M. Bowden joined the pastoral care staff at Winthrop
University Hospital on June 1, 2007.
Forty-one Students Celebrate
Completion of Summer CPE Program
Sister Bernadette Honny, from Ghana,
at the CPE luncheon.
Every summer The
Chaplaincy concludes
its intensive
eleven-week program of
clinical pastoral education
(CPE) with a graduation
luncheon for the students
and staff. This year’s ceremony
was held August 9 at
the Abigail Adams Smith
Auditorium in Manhattan. A
total of 41 students, many of
whom were seminarians,
studied at The Chaplaincy’s
partner medical institutions.
There were five faith denominations
represented, and students came from countries across
the globe, including Ghana, Israel, Ecuador, and England.
One of the graduates, Sister Bernadette Honny, former provincial
superior for the Sisters of the Infant Jesus in Ghana, came to The
Chaplaincy during her two-year sabbatical, upon the recommendation
of another sister in her order. “I hope to share what I
have learned at The Chaplaincy with my sisters and other collaborators
who care for sick patients throughout Ghana’s hospitals
and clinics,” stated Sister Bernadette. “This summer CPE unit has
been a wonderful experience for me, working closely with other
students, patients, and my clinical supervisor to learn about and
practice spiritual care.” Sister Bernadette will continue her studies
at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where
she will pursue a graduate degree in pastoral counseling.
The Rev. Meigs Ross, director of CPE at The Chaplaincy, commented
that “the transformation that takes place among these
students in just eleven weeks is quite remarkable,” adding,
“although their religious faiths and cultures differ, they find commonalities
in their shared learning and interpersonal experiences,
which bond them as a group in significant ways.” ■
11 The Beacon

Beacon
The
Vol. 32 No. 2/Summer 2007
The HealthCare Chaplaincy is
the nation’s largest non-denominational
multifaith center for
pastoral care services, chaplain
education, spirituality and
health research, and consulting
services for healthcare organizations.
Our chaplains make more
than 220,000 patient visits
yearly within our partner institutions.
The Chaplaincy is one of
the most efficient charities in
the country, with an average of
80% of its funds supporting
programs that advance its mission.
This newsletter is published
for friends, supporters, and
graduates.
Writer/Managing Editor
Elizabeth Szaluta
Design/Photography
Brian H. Kim
Contributing Writer
Patricia A. Garasic
315 E. 62nd Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10065-7767
Phone: (212) 644-1111 Fax: (212) 758-9959
www.healthcarechaplaincy.org
Visit us online at www.healthcarechaplaincy.org
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New York, NY
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© The HealthCare Chaplaincy, 2007
2007 Wholeness of Life Awards
November 8, 2007 ❖ Cipriani 42nd Street ❖ New York City
Photograph by Allison Leach
Timothy C. Collins
Founder, Senior Managing Director, and CEO
Ripplewood Holdings LLC
FULL STORY ON PAGE 8
Anne Moore, M.D.
Professor of Clinical Medicine,
Weill Medical College, Cornell
University
Medical Director of Breast
Oncology
New York Presbyterian Hospital,
Weill-Cornell Campus
Arnold Lisio, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Clinical
Medicine Columbia University,
College of Physicians & Surgeons
Internist, New York Presbyterian
Hospital, Columbia University
Campus