An exploration of the role and challenges of all ministers of pastoral care, emphasising our call to witness Christ.

The Church is called to be a community marked by mutual love for one another. Indeed, Jesus declared that it is by our love for one another that the world would know we are his disciples. Nevertheless, there are times when it can be profoundly difficult to know how to express this love. Sometimes the pastoral space can become flooded by feelings from past experiences. As these historic dynamics emerge into the present, both clergy and congregants can feel overwhelmed, disoriented, and isolated.

This training day will seek to raise awareness and understanding of how past experiences can create challenges in pastoral care, while also helping all ministers of pastoral care (Clergy, Lay Leaders, Pastoral Care Team Leaders, etc) to develop confidence in responding to these challenges. We will explore psychological work on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), attachment patterns, and projections, as well as how we might understanding these phenomena theologically. In doing so we will consider, Christ's presence amidst suffering, our adoption as Children of God, and what it means to remember our past with God. At the heart of the day will be an exploration of the role of all ministers of pastoral care, emphasising how we are called to witness to God, as opposed to being charged to make all things right.

This Learning Event is led by: Prof. Josh Horden (Professor of Ethics at Oxford University), Dr Daniel Maugham (Consultant Pyschiatrist, Oxon), Gwen Adshead (Consultant Forensic Pyschiatrist & Pyschotherapist) and Rev. Dr Ed Stroud (Research Fellow at Faculty Of Theology & Religion, Oxford University).

This learning event will draw on real-life narratives of pastoral encounters, making sure that the discussion is rooted in the lived reality of ministry.

Please bring your own lunch.

Description supplied by the event organiser.