New Lenox radiation oncologist heals body and spirit

For 40 years, medicine has been career and vocation for Dr. Anne R. McCall, a radiation oncologist at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

“I was going to practice medicine and teach until I died or they threw me out,” said McCall, 67, a mother of four and grandmother of two.

McCall also is just one class away from earning her Master of Divinity degree, which she will complete by the end of the year, she said. She also is the synodically authorized minister at First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago.

This new “bivocational” role really wasn’t a choice, McCall said.

“I didn’t find it. It found me,” McCall said. “I didn’t ask to do this. I just felt this call.”

McCall, who specializes in breast cancer, gynecologic cancer and lymphoma, went through what she called a midlife crisis about seven years ago, she said.

“I felt my identity was not defined anymore,” McCall said. “You lose it with raising children and with being so many things to so many people.”

Although she was raised Lutheran, McCall said she felt more spiritual than religion. So she started mediating, which she said centered her and opened her up to more possibilities. McCall said she began to attend a Lutheran church with friends and gradually became more involved.

“The first time I distributed communion, I started to cry,” McCall said.

Then, McCall attended a symposium in Duke Chapel in Duke University in North Carolina and heard Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, an author and ordained Lutheran minister speak on the topic, “Why Christian?” McCall said.

In the middle of the talks, McCall said she felt a sense she was to “shepherd these people.” The feeling persisted even after McCall returned home and talked to her pastor, she said.

“She has a real heart for the poor and a heart for God. And it’s just evident in her comportment – how she carries herself – what she’s all about.”

—  Dr. Fred Alexander of Southwest Infectious Disease

So in the fall of 2018, McCall took one night class at the Lutheran School Of Theology At Chicago just to explore her interest.

“It was just amazing,” McCall said. “I loved it. So I took more and more classes and just kept going.”

Becoming a bivocational minister

As McCall moved deeper into the program, she found few classes that didn’t conflict with work.

But then McCall was steered toward Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, which had a robust Zoom-based program, she said. The timing was perfect for her.

“I started one week before COVID,” McCall said.

McCall’s journey continued similarly, she said. Every roadblock turned into an opportunity. McCall’s path of taking classes part-time and working at Silver Cross part-time led her to a pastoral internship at First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago.

“I visited it and just fell in love with this church,” McCall said.

The church is near Rush University Medical Center, where McCall earned her medical degree.

McCall then became the synodically authorized minister at First Immanuel Lutheran Church on May 14 when the pastor accepted another call, McCall said.

“I will be there until the end of December,” McCall said. “And then it’s up to the church and the synod as to whether I am called to that position or not. But it’s been a really amazing journey.”

Benefits of bivocational ministry

Dr. Fred Alexander of Southwest Infectious Disease, who practices medicine at Silver Cross, said McCall is a kind, faith-filled and “unprecedented individual.”

“She has a real heart for the poor and a heart for God,” Alexander said. “And it’s just evident in her comportment – how she carries herself – what she’s all about.”

Alexander and McCall co-coordinate Silver Cross Hospital’s physician wellness committee. They also have worked together on getting medical supplies to underserved people.

“She’s hard-working and I hope she continues to do medicine so we can take advantage of her kindness and compassion,” Alexander said.

[ Breast cancer patient at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox participated in 2 clinical trials ]

McCall hopes to do just that, calling her new role “bi-vocational.” She said the cancer center has “an amazing team” and that stepping back from it “has been really hard.”

But the two roles ultimately make her a better doctor as she delivers cancer care to her patients, she said.

“Being a doctor makes me a better pastor,” McCall said.

Brendan Kelliher, director of UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital, praised McCall’s “well-rounded” approach to her patients.

“She’s very welcoming to patients and very passionate about the spiritual aspect and kind of non-clinical aspect of care,” Kelliher said. “She’s definitely exploring the passion of her ministry, and she’s been excellent at bringing a lot of those principles in the workplace here at Silver Cross. We are certainly happy for her as she pursues this new journey while still treating our radiation oncology patients at the cancer center.”