NAINConnect 2008 Workshops

Theme: Making a Difference
CHAPLAINCY IN PUBLIC PLACES – THE FRONTLINE OF INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Interfaith dialogue about matters of life and death are an everyday activity for chaplains in the public arena. This workshop brings together chaplains from various constituencies including the college campus, veterans returning from war, hospital patients, and the incarcerated. Our presenters come from Baha'i', Buddhist, Christian, and Neo-Pagan traditions, moderated by a Jewish rabbi, himself a chaplain. Each have been pioneers in bringing pastoral care to people of all faiths and practices. These chaplains will share their interfaith perspectives and what it means to their ministries.

PRESENTERS
Joseph Bobrow, Peter Yuichi Clark, Jay Heyman, Patrick McCollum, and Jan Saeed

Roshi Joseph Bobrow is a Buddhist priest leading Deep Springs Zen Institute and a psychiatrist with his own practice. He formerly served on the Interfaith Center at the Presidio Board of Directors and is the founder and director of Coming Home, a ministry to returning veterans and their families.

Rev. Dr. Peter Yuichi Clark teaches pastoral care at American Baptist Seminary of the West and is Chaplain Administrator for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley. As a hospital chaplain he provides interfaith training to Summit chaplains. His research and teaching interests turn to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and Buddhist-Christian pastoral care dialogue.

Rabbi Jay Heyman, ordained in Reform Judaism, has been a member of American Association of Pastoral Counselors since 1984. Along with a number of congregational postings, his chaplaincy responsibilities range from the Texas Department of Corrections and Ohio Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to eight years as a U.S. Navy Chaplain in the Pacific. Today he is a hospital chaplain at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration.

Reverend Patrick McCollum, a Wiccan since 1965, is Director of the National Correctional Chaplaincy Directors Association and serves as the Chaplaincy Liaison for the American Academy of Religion. The Statewide Wiccan Chaplain in the California Department of Corrections for more than a decade, he advises correctional systems across the country on religious accommodation and chaplaincy for all faiths. He directs chaplaincy studies for Cherry Hill Seminary and is the author ofCourting the Lady: A Wiccan Journey.

Jan Saeed is the Director of Spiritual Life at Westminster College in Salt Lake, focused on creating environments where students can explore their spirituality. She has served as a Utah Humanities Council Road Scholar and on the Salt Lake Olympic’s Interfaith Roundtable, for which she won an award last year. She is a member of NAIN’s Board of Directors.