Since 1987, the last week of October annually marks Pastoral Care Week, a celebration that is truly international in its scope. As it is celebrated October 22-28, 2017 around the world, locally in Syracuse, InterFaith Works of CNY will hold its Annual Spiritual Care Day on Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Crouse Hospital’s Marley Education Center. Falk College’s director of the School of Social Work, Keith A. Alford, associate professor, will present the keynote address, “There is Room at the Table,” which ties into the 2017 international program theme, “Hospitality: Cultivating Inclusion.”
“Locally and beyond, we have many areas of growth to be addressed. Is there room at the table to have these dialogues? Absolutely, and we must be sure everyone has a seat at the table and a voice in the discussions,” notes Alford. All those who provide pastoral care to others, regardless of faith tradition, whether clergy or not, those who give pastoral care, from those working in hospitals, prisons, businesses, industries, long-term care facilities, pastoral counseling centers, hospices, military settings, nursing homes, among many others, are welcome to attend.
InterFaith Works’ Spiritual Care Day event will include the keynote address by Dr. Alford as well as two workshops:
- Cultivating Inclusion: Stories from the Edges, in which members of marginalized communities help us identify ways to make health care more inclusive of and responsive to their needs, and;
- Radical Hospitality: The Sanctuary Church, in which leaders of All Saints Church explain the process they have used that has led to designating All Saints a Sanctuary Church.