REPORT:
SEARCH CONFERENCE ON PASTORAL CARE
IN THE ACT & REGION

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In February 2005 a Search Conference on Pastoral Care was held at The Australian Center for Christianity and Culture in Barton, Canberra.

Some 55 people drawn from the ACT and nearby region of NSW met to review and plan for the provision and support of pastoral care services in Canberra and Region. Participants were drawn from Government, Church, Religious Organizations, Pastoral Care Departments and Organizations, Welfare groups and Consumer groups. The Search Conference was facilitated by Garry Watson.

Preface
Our concern for setting up the Search Conference in the first place was to find ways to promote and support pastoral care in Canberra (and the region). 
Discussions in the conference identified that there was a desire that pastoral care, properly coordinated, structured, and authorized, could become the emerging caring modality within the general community that brings together different spiritual and religious traditions in the work of emotional and spiritual care for the benefit of the whole community. 
Pastoral care conceived in this way is something more than the outworking of any one particular group; it is the whole community authorizing trained practitioners from various traditions to offer the unique care that is pastoral care, care for the emotional and spiritual side of life regardless of the person, care that comes ‘with no strings attached’.
The outcome of the conference suggested that to do this effectively requires new structures, structures that bring together government, community and religious organizations in a new spirit of cooperation. 

THE SEARCH CONFERENCE

Participants workshopped over two days issues about pastoral care, including considering current trends or changes within the community that may affect the future of pastoral care and the impact on the service that we are delivering now.
Goto > Appendix to Report (Issues identified in Questions 1 - 4 on Friday session).

Then, after exploring ideal possibilities and realistic constraints, the conference resolved possible directions that may be developed.

Nine issues were identified.

The conference was asked to undergo a voting process to determine the priorities of these issues. 

Priority         Issue
1                   Leadership
2                   Education/Skills & Training
3                   Funding & Resourcing
4                   Vision/Common Voice
5                   Marketing & Lobbying
6                   Community of Carers/Support
7                   Accreditation – Standardisation of Practice
8                   Research
9                   Enhancing Image of Volunteer

Issue 1 – Leadership

• Need for representative organisation
• Agreed mission – values – spirituality
• Focus group---directions  (we are on the bus)
• A new broadly based peak leadership body to establish framework in which pastoral care is provided
• Policy development and strategic planning
• Central body
• Inclusive
• Shared purpose/vision
• Integration into organisational systems

Issue 2 – Education/Skills & Training

• Ongoing professional training and development
• Standards – care & training
• Courses – education
• Evaluation
• Education/training for pastoral care practitioners to achieve good quality services
• Need to develop and enhance professional (agreed quality or competence) status (funding)
• Education
• Internal (development)
• External (professions & public)
• Definition of concept and practice of pastoral care

Issue 3 – Funding & Resourcing

• Pro-active
• Visionary
• Secure, constant core funding managed by a regional pastoral care office (providing a regional pastoral care service)
• Adequate
• Consistent

Issue 4 – Vision/Common Voice

• Having a common vision shared by the pastoral care practitioners and constituents of the significance and role of pastoral care
• Passion – a sense of responsibility for others
• Strategic vision/plan
• Leadership – peak body
• Partnership – stakeholders
• Lobbying
• Marketing
• Advocacy
• Responsiveness to the changing needs of society and role of and demand for pastoral care
• Passionately pro-active

Issue 5 – Marketing & Lobbying

• Marketing (research evidence)
• Education/promotion for the community, health professionals and government of the contribution of pastoral care to holistic health and wellbeing of the community and the role of pastoral care in preventing ill health
• Need for awareness, research and promotion of pastoral care (by Australian Pastoral Care Association)
• Research, marketing and advocacy from established bodies

Issue 6 – Community of Carers/Support

• Build a community of carers
• Support
• Community
• Professional
• Interfaith
• Affirm the ethos of personal community

Issue 7 – Accreditation – Standardisation of Practice

• Accreditation – standardisation – regulation
• Accreditation body and engagement in quality programs
• Credibility as a service
• Wages and conditions
• Award

Issue 8 – Research

• Evidence based
• Research based consultancy to generate funding

Issue 9 – Enhancing Image of Volunteer

• Creating a volunteer career path

FINAL RECOMENDATIONS

Participants were then asked to develop proposals for the top six issues
The proposals were presented in plenary session.

Priority 1  (Leadership)

AIM – to build a professional pastoral care association in the Greater Southern Region/ACT

• Establish steering committee from participants of the Search Conference with flexibility to co-opt as appropriate
• Clarify the vision
• Define terms of membership (grassroots)
• Propose and consult on corporate governance structure
• Implement chosen structure for then association
• Celebrate then launching of the new structure for the P.P.C.A.

Priority 2  (Education/Skills & Training)

Conduct, evaluate and develop programs to provide suitably qualified people to engage effectively in pastoral care within Canberra and the wider region

Delivery

• Screening and identifying skills
• Developing appropriate, accessible courses
• Developing new programs with due recognition  of existing programs
• Developing education programs for specialist areas: mental health, aged care, correctional services
• Developing programs for in-service, continuing professional development
• Continuing improvement of programs using research and innovation

By ‘development’ WE MEAN IMPROVEMENT, GROWTH, INTEGRATION

Priority 3  (Funding)

AIM

Financial support to grow on current pastoral care services to establish and maintain an ACT and region (multi-faith/inclusive) pastoral care service

HOW

Formally write to

• ACT Government - Chief Executive, ACT Health
• NSW Government GSAHS for the purpose of setting up a joint meeting to develop a proposal for a Development Grant.

Priority 4  (Vision/Common Voice)

AIM - to accompany a person during a time of transition on their life journey
- to provide spiritual care as a dimension of healing

• Commitment from pastoral carers to this vision
• Recruit adequate numbers of suitable people
• Support and appropriate training
• Enlisting commitment and partnerships with service providers
• Share the vision with the community

Priority 5  (Marketing & Lobbying)

AIM

Brand and promote pastoral care so that its role, function and values are understood and sought out/requested

Steps

• Evidence based research
• Four groups
• anecdotal
• High profile public relations campaign, e.g. functions highlighting pastoral care inviting people in strategic positions
• Multi-media approach
• Debunk myths
• education
• seek patronage
• profile
• money?
• Collectively defining pastoral care
• Choice
• boundaries
• infiltrate committees and decision making bodies as pastoral care representatives

Priority 6  (Community of Carers/Support)

The task is to create and sustain a committed pastoral care community characterised by openness, inclusiveness and spiritual intimacy.  It is from this community pastoral care is offered.

Steps

• Assess, document and evaluate what is already happening
• Set up pilot pastoral care community group with people from a variety of faith traditions
• Evaluate and assess and make recommendations to:
• ACT Health
• Greater Southern Area Health Service
• ACT Churches Council
• Islamic Council
• Buddhist Convention
• Medical faculty, etc.

ONGOING AFTER THE CONFERENCE:

The Conference established a Continuing Committee with the brief to facilitate the setting up of bodies to oversee the development of pastoral care in the community in Canberra and Region, and to oversee the running of a Multifaith training group in pastoral care proposed by the Canberra and Region Center for Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education.

Developments towards the establishment of the Pastoral Care Council of the ACT
From these meetings of the Continuing Committee there has been the development of a Pastoral Care Council of the ACT with its launch in Feburary 2007.

 (extracts from) Report of Continuing Committee of the Search Conference on Pastoral Care, on November 3rd 2005.

“At our last meeting we agreed to:

1. Limit our region of immediate concern to the ACT while retaining the charge and brief of the Search Conference overall, and encourage work in developing pastoral care for NSW in GSAH as a separate area.

• Move to set up an Advisory Committee on Pastoral Care for the ACT.

In the Search Conference we were addressing pastoral care within the health and community sectors; hence covering hospitals, nursing homes, community centres, schools and educational centres, etc., in given recognized areas of the ACT and Southern NSW.  The ongoing work of this committee is dealing only with the ACT.

What is being proposed is an establishing a new authority within pastoral care, at least as it is practiced in the community.  Here is the basis for a community wide authorization of pastoral care practitioners, and in effect the emergence of a new generalized service with its own standards and structures, accountable to both religious communities and government. The establishment of an Advisory Body enabled coordination and influence of policy that are adopted by Government institutions such as ACT Health etc., and the churches and religious organizations, and the approach to pastoral care throughout the community.”

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Note 1 : APPENDIX : List of the results of the asking about current trends or changes within the community that may affect the future of pastoral care and the impact on the service that we are delivering now, is contained in separate addendum:  Goto > Appendix to Report

Download APPENDIX >“Search Conference Friday Sorted Results.doc” (MS Word document 52 KB)

Note 2 : A key protagonist in the development of this process was David Oliphant as Director of the Canberra and Region Centre for Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education, which initiated the Search Conference.

Download > COPY OF THIS REPORT in “Search Conference Report.doc” (MS Word document 52 KB)