On Wednesday morning we turned up at the ‘Mercy Centre’ in Victoria St, Mile End (a centre for the Mercy Sisters), for a “Chaplaincy Day” organised by the Heads of Christian Churches Chaplaincy Committee and the hospital chaplains’ professional association. Carl had rung in ill, but the rest of us were keen to hear what the various faith representatives would say in the morning about pastoral care to the 50 or so mainly hospital chaplains. We were programmed to talk about “how it works for us – or not!” in the afternoon. Alan Larkin was with us to give a university perspective, and perhaps some independent comments.
But invited guests were late, so we hit the front straight off and continued through the day, punctuated by Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist presentations, morning tea and lunch.
There were some good questions, like “what are your perspectives about pastoral care for a criminal?”
The mood was positive, which I think helped us to relax and respond more easily. Hopefully the interchange was helpful and seeds of interfaith respect and understanding were either planted or nurtured.