This 12-week course will introduce you to the basic elements of pastoral care. You will explore and discern the use of both clinical and practical skills of a pastoral caregiver. Topics such as deep listening, grief and loss, empathic distress, and much more will be explored. At the end of this course, you will have an enhanced understanding of the field of pastoral care and some ideas about where, how, and with whom you can offer pastoral care.
COMING SOON: PCS 605 Introduction to Pastoral Care (Part 2)
with Pacific Institute of Essential Conversations
This 12-week course builds upon the basics learned in Intro to Pastoral Care Part 1. In this course, we will go deeper in our exploration of the foundations of pastoral caregiving. This course will also provide a framework by which you can begin to further develop your individual pastoral caregiving ministry. There will be a greater emphasis on applied pastoral care skills and possibilities for a supervised practicum.
PCS Forum on Pastoral Care, Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and more!
https://youtu.be/O0qzklQUAhE
Pacific Institute of Essential Conversationsinvites you to engage in a panel discussion about Pastoral Care, Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and more. In addition, they will introduce their upcoming course offering in People’s Catholic Seminary:Introduction to Pastoral Care.This course is scheduled to begin February 2022.
Presenters:
John Jeffery, Th.D., M.Div., BCCC, Clinical Supervisor
Director,Pacific Institute for Essential Conversations
For over 35 years, John Jeffery has been an Interfaith spiritual caregiver. He has worked in hospitals, trauma centers, hospices and palliative clinics and has accompanied hundreds of individuals and families through their dying journey and has served at the bedside of countless individuals in the midst of their trauma, uncertainty and despair. John began his journey as a Methodist minister and has served as a professional clinical chaplain, pastoral counselor, spiritual director and end of life care practitioner. He is a graduate of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain & Pastoral Counselor. John is a former Director of Spiritual Care Services for Kaiser Permanente where he established the first accredited Clinical Pastoral Education programs in Kaiser Permanent. He holds a doctoral degree in Ecological Theology.
For the past ten years John has been a clinical supervisor of chaplains, spiritual directors and pastor counselors and often provides training in end of life care for physicians, nurses, therapists and hospice staff. He is a graduate of the Metta Institute for End of Life Care, A Fellow with the Association for Death Education and Counseling and a Fellow in Palliative and Hospice Care. John has been a student of Zen for the past 25 years. John offers pastoral counseling and spiritual direction to individuals both locally and nationwide.
John is a fully credentialed CPE Supervisor with the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation (CSCPF).
Susan Shannon, M. Div., BCC
Susan Shannon is a seeker, teacher, earth and animal steward, devotee of the heart. She has worked in the fields of Emotional Literacy and Restorative Justice for over 20 years, incorporating over 45 years of Buddhist practice and study from the Tibetan tradition. She’s worked with diverse populations all her life including inmates, Tibetan refugees, the homeless, the differently-abled, at-risk youth, and most recently, Buddhist Chaplain to the men in San Quentin State Prison and Death Row. She currently teaches about spiritual care and chaplaincy through the Pacific Institute, as well as classes on Tibetan Buddhism through Sukhasiddhi Foundation, The Chaplaincy Institute of Interfaith Studies and various other Dharma Centers. Susan is the founder of the Buddhist Prison Ministry, providing correspondence classes to prison populations across the US. She resides in the San Juan Islands where she writes, provides spiritual coaching and cares for the sacred ground she shares with many sentient beings!
Reverend Jacquie Robb, BCCC is an Interfaith minister, Chaplain, grief counselor and hospice volunteer.
Rev. Jacquie began her study in religious traditions and practices over 40 years ago; she began a regular meditation practice shortly thereafter. In the early 1980s, she worked at one of the first NGOs that served people with HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area. Later, she owned and ran an independent bookstore before living and working on staff at an international meditation retreat site or ashram in upstate NY.
Rev. Jacquie was ordained in 2012 by the Chaplaincy Institute and received her national Board Certification in 2016. She served as the chaplain for a northern California retirement community of 450 residents and 275 staff, leading weekly services and developing classes and workshops on a variety of spiritual practices within multiple faith traditions.
Rev. Jacquie returned to midcoast Maine in 2020 to pursue a life in a rural, co-housing community. She currently serves at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, leads a monthly conversation on matters of death/dying, volunteers at the local hospice, and sits on several committees in the co-housing community. She began training as a chaplain supervisor in February 2022.
Rev. Lily Godsoe, MTh, SEF, BCCC
Rev. Lily Godsoe is an Interfaith Minister, Board-Certified Chaplain, and Spiritual Director.She is also a Supervisory Education Fellow in the field of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).Rev. Lily is the President of CSCPF - The Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation, an International Community of spiritual care practitioners that educates chaplains and teaches CPE.She received the call to ministry through her encounters at the bedside as a Zen Hospice volunteer and other spiritually-based outreach work.Rev. Lily has worked as a chaplain in a variety of clinical settings, including hospices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and skilled nursing facilities.Born and raised in NYC, she is a first-generation Croatian-American with deep roots in the Catholic faith.Nowadays, she self-identifies as a ‘spiritual eclectic’ - someone who holds a highly individualized spiritual belief system composed of selected elements drawn from various traditions and doctrines. Rev. Lily lives in Half Moon Bay, CA with her husband, James, and their dog, Tito.
NEW PCS COURSE - REGISTER NOW: PCS 604 Introduction to Pastoral Care (Part 1) Cohort Class begins March 22, 2022
This 12-week course will introduce you to the basic elements of pastoral care. You will explore and discern the use of both clinical and practical skills of a pastoral caregiver. Topics such as deep listening, grief and loss, empathic distress, and much more will be explored. At the end of this course, you will have an enhanced understanding of the field of pastoral care and some ideas about where, how, and with whom you can offer pastoral care.
COMING SOON: PCS 605 Introduction to Pastoral Care (Part 2)
with Pacific Institute of Essential Conversations
This 12-week course builds upon the basics learned in Intro to Pastoral Care Part 1. In this course, we will go deeper in our exploration of the foundations of pastoral caregiving. This course will also provide a framework by which you can begin to further develop your individual pastoral caregiving ministry. There will be a greater emphasis on applied pastoral care skills and possibilities for a supervised practicum.
A warm welcome to this Celebration of St. Brigit of Kildare!
I'm Bridget Mary Meehan from Sarasota, Florida. I was born in Ireland and emigrated with my family when I was 8 to the U.S. We have returned many times to visit family , and hope to return there as soon as COVID is under control. I am a priest serving the Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Fl. and on Zoom.
With me is Mary Theresa Streck , from Albany, New York. She is co-founder of People's Catholic Seminary, and a priest serving the Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community in New York. Mary Theresa and I have celebrated liturgies in Dublin with members of We are Church Ireland from 2015-2019. She will be taking care of the IT for us today.
(For our Zoom participants)
There are 3 parts to each section which consists of a brief introduction, short video, and 5 minute reflection time for prayer, journaling, and/or sharing on chat.
I have shared my pilgrim, notes, videos and more resources featuring some wonderful Brigit stories and legends which we will not have time to cover in 1 hour today. If you'd like to share this program and resource material with family, friends, or groups, you can do so at no cost. If you wish, you can make a donation to grow our mission at https://pcseminary.org/
Opening Prayer:
Aware of the Divine Presence within us and all around us, let us begin our time together with this Celtic Hymn to St. Brigid.
VIDEO: Gabhaim Molta Bride - Celtic Hymn for St. Brigid
I pay homage to Saint Brigid Beloved in Ireland, Beloved in all countries, Let us all praise her.
The bright torch of Leinster Shining throughout the country. The pride of Irish youth The pride of our gentle women.
The house of winter is very dark Cutting with its sharpness. But on Saint Brigid's Day Spring is near to Ireland.
INTRODUCTION- A Sacred Journey
Irish officials announced this past week that February 1 ,the feast day of St. Brigit will be celebrated as a national holiday starting in 2023.Mary Condren, an Irish theologian, who teaches at the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies at Trinity College Dublin, believes that this decision reflects the growing interest in Brigit and the role of women play in religion and society.
in an article entitled "Why the time is right to choose Brigid, saint or goddess, to be an icon for women" she writes, "Religious people honour St Brigid, while the disaffected turn to goddess Brigid...In a post-Covid world, we will be able to reflect further on her role, asking how the integration of nature, culture and technology can serve to heal our wounds and the vulnerable earth." https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/why-the-time-is-right-to-choose-brigid-saint-or-goddess-to-be-an-icon-for-women-1.4789132
In 1999, Sister Regina Madonna Oliver and I made a pilgrimage to Ireland on our journey in quest of the Celtic soul. We visited ancient monastic sites and holy wells associated with St. Brigit of Kildare. We interviewed three prominent experts on Brigit, Sister Mary Minehan, a Brigidine Sister in Kildare, Dolores Whelan in Faughart and artist Gail Donovan from Australia for a television program entitled GodTalk that aired in the DC metro area. In this celebration of Brigit, you will see clips of these interviews from my youtube video: "In Quest of the Celtic Soul."We also wrote a book about our on-site encounters in Ireland and Wales entitled: Praying with Celtic Holy Women .(available on Amazon and other online retailers.)
PART 1: BRIGIT: SAINT AND GODDESS- A THRESHOLD WOMAN
The myths, legends and stores about Brigit portray her as a goddess and a saint. Wrapped in the mystery of an older pagan goddess, St. Brigit lived in a time of transition between pagan and Christian beliefs. Although six lives of Brigit were written before the eighth century (and eighty during medieval times), it is difficult to separate fact from legend. Commentators believe that Brigit was born in 494 to a Christian mother and a Druidic father.
Her symbol was perpetual fire representing wisdom, healing, poetry, metal-working, and the hearth. There are many delightful stories about her that are steeped in the druidic folklore of the early Celtic goddesses.
Some theorize that she may have been a priestess in service to the Goddess Brid (patroness of fire and knowledge in the Druidic pantheon) before her conversion to Christianity .
St. Brigit is a role model for spiritual seekers of all faiths interested in the healing of the planet, equality, justice and the transformation of the human heart.
In this video clip Dolores Whelan reflects on Brigit as a reflection of the feminine divine.
VIDEO:
QUESTION FOR GOING DEEPER:
Pause now for several minutes of reflection. Reflect on what surprised, encouraged or inspired you about this presentation?
What challenges do the legends and imagery of Brigit as goddess and saint raise for patriarchal religion? And/Or describe the impact of the Feminine Divine on your spiritual journey.
Feel free to share any thoughts or insights on chat if you wish.
A womanist church has great power to transform church and society, primarily because womanist theology centers the experiences of Black women while working for the survival and wholeness of all people and all creation. Experiences of the triple oppression of racism, sexism, and classism give Black women an epistemological insight into recognizing injustice and creating solutions that benefit all.
The Gathering is unique, the only church founded and identified as “womanist,” applying womanist theology to the full life and worship of a church. The Gathering, a womanist faith community in Dallas, Texas, welcomes all people to partner in pursuing racial equity, LGBTQ equality, and dismantling PMS (patriarchy, misogyny, and sexism), following Jesus in liberating the oppressed and lifting up the marginalized.
You are invited to experience the Gathering, a Womanist Church, on Facebook live every Saturday at 4pm Pacific Time, 5pm Mountain Time, 6pm Central Time, 7pm Eastern. Click here to join the experience:
The Gathering, A Womanist Church tells the story of the birth and ongoing development of a womanist faith community. This book includes personal narratives of people transformed in this community, womanist co-pastors’ sermons informed by their experiences and those of other Black women, and litanies for womanist worship. The book is available on Amazon.com
Presenters:
Rev. Dr. Irie Lynne Session is co-pastor of the Gathering, A Womanist Church, a Spiritual Entrepreneur, and Chief Illuminator of DreamBIG Courses, Coaching, Content Creation, & Connections. She holds a master of divinity with a certificate in Black Church Studies and doctor of ministry in prophetic preaching and transformative leadership. Dr. Session is the author of Badass Women of the Bible: Inspiration from Biblical Women Who Challenged and Subverted Patriarchy and Murdered Souls, Resurrected Lives: Postmodern Womanist Thought in Ministry with Women Prostituted and Marginalized by Commercial Sexual Exploitation. For more information: https://dririe.com/dreambig-academy
Rev. Kamilah Hall Sharp is a St. Louis, Missouri native currently residing in Texas with her spouse, Nakia, and daughter, Anaya. She is a co-pastor of The Gathering, A Womanist Church in Dallas and a PhD candidate in Biblical Interpretation-Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School. Kamilah holds a bachelor of science in business economics, a master of divinity, and a juris doctor degree.
Rev. Dr. Jann Aldredge-Clanton, an ordained minister and author, is co-chair of Equity for Women in the Church, ministry partner of The Gathering, adjunct professor at Richland College, and co-leader of New Wineskins Community. Her books include Praying with Christ-Sophia, Changing Church, and Inclusive Songs for Resistance & Social Action.
Presentation: Womanist Theological Approaches to Religion and Society by Dr. Phillis I. Sheppard, Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion.
Dr. Sheppard is the author of the Self, Culture and Others in Womanist Practical Theology and her second book Tilling Sacred Ground: Interiority, Black Women, and Public Religion will be published spring 2021.
Womanist topic continued with a presentation by the authors of the book: The Gathering: A Womanist Church, Origins, Stories and Sermons. We encourage you to purchase the book and read it before we gather again.
SAVE THE DATE – Next PCS Forum – December 10, 2020
PCS FORUM: December 10, 2020
1:00pm and 7:00pm EST
Topic: Womanist Theological Approaches to Religion and Society
Presenter: Dr. Phillis Isabella Sheppard
Dr. Sheppard is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion.
She is a practical theologian and her areas of teaching and research foci include womanist approaches to psychology and culture, religious experience, ethnography, sexuality, and spirituality.
Her most recent ethnographies include “This is my Calling: An Ethnography of Black Women’s Vocational Formation,” (funded through a Louisville Institute Faculty Research Grant), her current ethnography underway “An Ethnography of Black Women’s Experience of Multi-religious Belonging,” funded through a Randal Mason Research Award.
Dr. Sheppard is the author of the Self, Culture and Others in Womanist Practical Theology
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), and her second book Tilling Sacred Ground: Interiority, Black Women, and Public Religion will be published spring 2021.
She earned her Ph.D. in Theology, Ethics and the Human Sciences (Chicago Theological Seminary, 1997) and the M.A. in Theology (Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Theology, 1988). Phillis also earned certificates in adult psychoanalysis (2005) and pastoral psychotherapy (1993) and has maintained a private practice for over twenty-five years.
Articles and YouTube videos on Womanist Theology will be sent closer to the date.
Second Presentation: Sibyl Dana Reynolds, ARCWP, presents a personal response to the question: What is the Role of the Ordained in Inclusive, Egalitarian Eucharistic Communities?
Phillis Isabella Sheppard is Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at the Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion of Vanderbilt University.
Closing Blessing: May the Longtime Sun Shine Upon You by Sara Thomsen
