20th International Seminar
on Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling took successfully placeIdentity in Times of Changes
Challenges for pastoral care, churches and religionsAugust 31st - September 6th, 2008
in Bratislava / Slovac Republicat
the Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Bratislava, Slovakiaprogram-broschure for participants pdf
working structure of the seminar (lectures/workshops/forums etc) click
Group picture click / pictures otherwise clickPre-Seminar click
SIPCC, the Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling conducted its 20th International Seminar for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling at the Protestant faculty of Theology at Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia.
91 participants attended the seminar, 30 of them coming from Slovakia, and 20 of those being students of theology at the faculty.
Prior to the Seminar (Aug 28-30, 2008) a smaller group of experts met for a Pre-Seminar discussing the theme "Interfaith Pastoral Care and Counselling". Lecturers from US, Canada, Australia and Switzerland where presenting methods of pastoral and spiritual care to people of different faiths and religions - an issue which needs more attention in a world, where faith, spirituality and religions diversify more and more.
The Seminar itself then started with a formal reception of the Dean of Faculty, Dr. Ondrej Prostredník, and the Vice-Dean, Dr. Julius Filo, having guests of honour from Churches and the City being present, and many of the lecturers of the faculty.
They warmheartedly welcomed the participants, care givers and academics, of 21 countries, from Australia to Brazil and from the Republic of South Africa to Norway.
An address of the President of the Slovak Republic, President Ivan Gašparovic, was read, stating his appreciation that this seminar could take place in the Slovak Republic. The chairperson of the SIPCC, Rev. Helmut Weiss, thanked the local hosts for the excellent cooperation in preparing this seminar.
The planning committee of the SIPCC and a workgroup of the faculty, headed by Prof. Dr. J. Filo, had arranged the subject of the seminar and the working methods.
So there were lectures, 25 workshops, intercultural forums, and reflexion groups which dealt with the subject of identity from various cultural perspectives. Contributions from the fields of sociology, psychology, theology and pastoral care-giving enhanced this interdisciplinary exchange.
The lecturers as well as the workshop presenters - stemming from various countries and continents- highlighted their specific contexts, the life-worlds of the people they work with, and also the context and approach of their pastoral care-giving.
Time and again they stated the importance to develop own identity in times of increasing insecurity and in times of a lack of orientation. Often they underlined how families, communities and cultures can help to build up identities, that this, that an understanding of identity needs to include the communal and relational aspects of identity. At the same time, however, it was underlined that the individual person needs space and chances and freedom to develop his or her particular form of identity and ways to reshape it. The dignity of every human being and his or her possibilities to decide on his or her own, are basic features of any identity. Many of the participants emphasized the great importance of faith, too, in developing one's identity, since the essence of human beings and of being human would also include the God relationship and the respective trust.
Pastoral care-giving is a main task of all churches and is meant to help people to foster their self-actualization. In pastoral care and counselling men and women can tell their life stories. Time and spaces are provided for this purpose. People can express their desires and needs. Hopefully they can grow in gaining trust in more meaningful relations to his or her own self, to his or her own respective and relational partners in their life-worlds - and also to God. The seminar showed a great variety of pastoral care-giving and its onsets. All of this work is deeply marked by the respective political contexts, by social, cultural and religious contexts and by the particular type of personality a care-giver has.
The SIPCC aims at including people in its activities who work in the fields of pastoral care giving and counseling, of therapy and in the fields of other helping professions. And therefore the organizers of this seminar are glad and grateful that within the group of many men and women participating from their respective background of Christian denominations and confessions, there were also four Jewish participants sharing their experiences and points of view.
The society being an association according to German legislation had its annual general assembly during the time of the seminar. A new Executive Committee has been elected. The next term of office -lasting for four years- will be meant to set new perspectives for the time to come. 13 men and women from 11 different countries will lead this Association of 220 members from 35 countries of the world.
Main tasks for the near future are the organization of the next international seminars to come, in 2009 in Haifa, Israel, and in 2010 in Strasbourg, France.
Pre-Seminar click
working structure of the seminar (lectures/workshops/forums etc) click
pictures otherwise click