VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 9/26/14)—Oct. 19-25 is national Pastoral/Spiritual Care Week, and American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) encourages American Baptists to pray for the more than 575 American Baptist-endorsed chaplains and pastoral/spiritual caregivers and to celebrate their gifts, service and contributions.
ABHMS is pleased to honor chaplains, pastoral care counselors, educators and spiritual care providers who promote the well-being of the whole person and serve the spiritual needs of our communities as they minister in such specialized settings as hospitals, prisons, businesses, industries, long-term care facilities, pastoral counseling centers, hospices, military settings, nursing homes, corporations, congregations, schools and universities throughout the world.
This year’s theme—“Spiritual Well-Being”—highlights the value of supporting and inspiring the spiritual well-being of self and others in times of wellness, illness, ease and challenge. Because journeys differ by one’s life season, each individual’s situation is unique; however, spiritual well-being is essential to providing life’s meaning and purpose. Spiritual well-being maintains the sacredness of existence and can offer strength, hope, compassion and love.
ABHMS offers the following resources:
- video greeting from Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, ABHMS executive director and American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) ecclesiastical endorser, in the slideshow at http://www.abhms.org/;
- bulletin insert featuring a litany written by Chaplain Diana Meehan, Navy Chaplain Corps;
- discounted pastoral care resources from Judson Press at http://www.judsonpress.com/ > Clergy Specials; and
- “Faces and Places of Hope” podcasts—one to be made available each of the five weeks of October—featuring chaplains in various specialized ministry settings, at http://www.abhms.org/ > Faces and Places of Hope.
For more information on American Baptist endorsement, contact Laura Miraz, Ph.D., director of Chaplaincy & Pastoral Counseling Ministries, at endorsement@abhms.org, or visit http://www.abhms.org/ > Chaplains & Pastoral Counselors.
ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.
ABCUSA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.