Chaplains from around Australia attended the second annual Chaplaincy Symposium held recently at Sydney Adventist Hospital.
About 80 chaplains working in aged care, hospitals, prisons and the corporate environment soaked up the inspiring presentations on the theme of resilience.
Keynote speakers included Dr Michael Paterson from Great Britain, Pastor Chris Oberg from the United States, and Australians Dr Carolyn Rickett, Dr Cheryl Holmes and pastors Eddie Hypolite and Wellington Caqui-Bazan. Along with the presentations, there were panel discussions and a Sabbath afternoon consecration service filled with musical performances from Annali Bird, the Fairfield Adventist church youth group and others.
Adventist HealthCare manager of Spiritual Care Services, Pastor Steve Stephenson, said the three-day symposium was a huge success. “In fact more successful than last year because of the impact, the amazing speakers and the outstanding feedback,” he said. “A special thank you to all those who participated, planned and served during this event.”
Organisers are anticipating an even bigger event next year. “Chaplaincy Symposium 2020 will be the biggest chaplaincy symposium in the history of Australia because of the partnership Spiritual Care Services at Adventist HealthCare Limited has made with many organisations around Australia,” Pastor Stephenson said. “We are expecting close to 400 delegates.”
Sydney Adventist Hospital became an accredited Clinical Pastoral Education Centre in March.
