bg真人

Published: October 22, 2024

By Annette Brill Bergstresser

ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) 鈥� In September, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (bg真人) in Elkhart, Indiana, and the co-hosted the (IASC). The event, with the theme, 鈥淧ractical Theologies/Wisdom Traditions in Spiritual Care,鈥� was held Sept. 24鈥�26, 2024.

According to Daniel S. Schipani, DrPsy, PhD, who organized the event, the field of spiritual care continues to grow in terms of both theory and clinical practice across traditions and spiritual care disciplines. The goals of the free symposium were to consider how diverse wisdom traditions connect with resources from the social and behavioral sciences and to foster reflection and dialogue among representatives of those traditions for further collaboration. 

Schipani, who serves as IASC President and is also bg真人 Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Counseling, was pleased with the turnout for the event. A total of 212 people registered for the symposium, representing 22 countries across five continents. Thirteen presenters contributed material from seven wisdom traditions 鈥� Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Indigenous Wisdom tradition, Islam and Judaism.

鈥淭he results of the symposium exceeded our (the IASC board鈥檚) expectations,鈥� Schipani said. 鈥淲e heard from participants that they deeply appreciated gaining access to abundant new material applicable to all forms of spiritual care. They also welcomed the opportunity to remain connected to a growing network of colleagues across traditions and disciplines.鈥�

He noted that he plans to edit an anthology of the presentations to serve as a text for spiritual care practitioners, educators and researchers.

Schipani reported that symposium participants included chaplains (25 percent); students/supervisees (20 percent); educators/supervisors (15 percent); pastoral ministers/rabbis/imams (15 percent); spiritual care directors/administrators (10 percent); and counselors/psychotherapists (10 percent). Five percent represented other vocations.

Spiritual and religious traditions represented among registrants included:

• Buddhism (7 percent: Buddhist-Catholic, Buddhist-Judaism, Spiritual Buddhist, Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Zen Buddhism)
• Christianity (47 percent: Anabaptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical, Celtic Spirituality, Lutheran, Methodist, Nondenominational, Presbyterian, Protestant, Quaker, Reformed, Seventh Day Adventist, Syrian Orthodox)
• Hinduism (3 percent: Hindu Christian, Vaaishnava Hindu)
• Humanism (3 percent)
• Islam (7 percent)
• Judaism (6 percent)
• Other (12 percent: African Indigenous, Asian Wisdom, Interfaith, Omnitheism, Religious, Sanatan Dharma Rastafarian, Spiritual, Spiritually fluid, Unitarian Universalist)
• No response (15 percent)

Presenters included Dr. Mahmoud Abdallah; Esther Acolatse, PhD; Vineet Chander, JD, EdD; Rabbi Mona Decker, MAHL, BCC; Greg M. Epstein, MA, MTS; Marlene Ferreras, PhD; Nazila Isgandarova, MSW, DMin, PhD; Anthony Cruz Pantojas, MA; Rabbi Rochelle Robins, MA; and Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford.

. There is one video for each of the three days of the symposium; each video contains chapters so that viewers can watch specific speakers. These chapters can be viewed in the description under the video or by hovering over the red bar on the video itself (when watching via YouTube).

Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs 鈥� all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God鈥檚 reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu

• Category: News