M.D. to M. Div.:  Prominent Silver Cross Radiation Oncologist Preparing for a Second Calling

For some 40 years, Dr. Anne McCall has devoted her life to medicine, now serving as Medical Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. 

And she is one of the best in her field – specializing in the treatment of breast cancer, gynecologic cancer and lymphoma. In fact, she’s regularly named one of the "Best Doctors in America" by Best Doctors, Inc. 

But six or seven years ago, Dr. McCall was at a crossroads. “I was thinking, ‘Who am I as a person? What’s my identity?’” 

Her search for answers led her to a symposium at Duke University on the topic, “Why Christianity?” 

More spiritual than religious, the grandmother of two didn’t expect to find the answer there. 

Until she did. 

“As I was listening, a voice or feeling or whatever came over me saying, ‘You need to preach to these people.’ For a while, I ignored it, but then, I decided to take just one theology class. I enjoyed it so much, I began taking more.” 

Now, Dr. McCall is one class away from earning a Master’s of Divinity degree, which she should accomplish by the end of the year. 

Despite all the work she’s put in – splitting her time among duties at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross, online classes at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque and a pastoral internship at a church in Chicago – Dr. McCall still is surprised at where she is. And she’s one of only a few M.D.s in the United States to also earn an M.Div. 

“This is something I never planned on,” she said. “I’m 68. I’m old! I heard a calling I never expected. 

“There are a lot of parallels with medicine and the ministry. There have been times I’ve been with a patient, and after talking with them, I would tell the nurse, ‘I think that was more pastoral than medical.’ When I’m talking to a breast cancer patient about a really bad prognosis, there is nothing I can say or do to change it, to make it better. All I can do is listen and be present. And in that silence, there is holiness. 

“Other doctors probably experience that, too, but they don’t call it holiness. Empathy, I guess, that’s what it was before I started theological studies.” 

There were hurdles, Dr. McCall said, but every time, another door opened. 

“I was taking courses in Chicago, but they didn’t have online opportunities that wouldn’t interfere with my practice. So, I transferred to Wartburg where they have a lot of online options. The very next week, COVID shut everything down. But I still could take the online classes.” 

COVID provided another commonality between ministry and medicine, she said. “I could see the burnout among my medical colleagues. And there certainly was for ministers. COVID changed so much for most churches, and they are still dealing with the fallout.” 

Dr. McCall felt fortunate to be assigned for her pastoral residency to First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago, not far from Rush University Medical Center, where she earned her medical degree. 

“I don’t know why I wanted to be assigned there so badly. I really felt at home in the congregation and the community.” 

For the past several months, Dr. McCall not only was taking classes and working at Silver Cross part-time, but after the pastor at First Immanuel accepted another call, she took on the role of Synodically Authorized Minister, a lay person authorized by the bishop to preach and preside at Holy Communion under special circumstances and in a specific location. 

“I couldn’t be a pastor until I graduate and am called. But I can perform any of the rites a pastor does. 

“I don’t know where I would be called, but I want to stay ‘bi-vocational,’ continuing to practice medicine while serving a congregation. I believe being a minister makes me a better doctor, and being a doctor makes me a better minister.” 

“Dr. McCall is a very distinguished member of the medical staff,” said Silver Cross Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christopher Udovich. “Her contributions to physician wellness, the ethics committee and quality improvement are significant. Anne’s leadership and practice for the Silver Cross Community has made it a better place to live, work and receive care.”

“She has such passion for the spiritual well-being of her patients,” adds Brendan Kelliher, Director of the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross. “So it makes perfect sense that she would be moving in this direction.” 

“I wasn’t looking for a call when I started. But with all the obstacles I’ve overcome, I really believe this always was meant to be.” 

For more information about Dr. McCall, visit www.silvercross.org