2009             the coming-up conference in Belgium: the topic is clear now!

"Prophetic Pastoral Care and Counseling"

The European Council for Pastoral Care and Counseling (ECPCC) and the Academic Centre for Practical Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven will host a conference in August 2009 on Prophetic Pastoral Care and Counseling. The venue is the Faculty of Theology in Leuven, Belgium. The conference will take place from August 20 till 25, 2009. Many religions have a history of prophecy that continually changed the relationship among people and between people and God for the better. How can we be prophetic or act prophetic in our society and work environment today? Prophetic pastoral care and counseling is directed towards a better future. It has to do with integrating Gods will for love and justice in every day's life. Prophetic pastoral care and counseling is aimed at individuals, groups, institutions, organizations, society and churches. It has to do with the way we are present in the institutions we work, with our attitude towards creation, our care for those who live on the margins of society, our voices in our own churches, our presence in politics, our choices, the way we see society, …Being or acting prophetic has to do with seeing, judging, feeling called to act and invoking resistance. Reflecting on prophetic pastoral care means thinking about the tension between the dream of the Kingdom of God and the reality in which people live, hearing the voices of all people and especially victims and thinking about for new ways of pastoral care and counseling in the future.

The conference aims to explore prophetic pastoral care and counseling through lectures based on exegesis, psychology of religion, philosophy of language, pastoral and practical theology, liberation and contextual theology, and reflections on spirituality, art, ,discussions, field trips, workshops… see also: http://www.ecpcc.info and http://www.theopraxis.eu

PROGRAM

see the version of the PRELIMINARY PROGRAM as of July 8th, 2009

PLENARY SPEAKERS

PROF. DR. Roger BURGGRAEVE Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Professor Emeritus Theological Ethics PROF. DR. Jaques HAERS Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Assistant professor of Systematic Theology Coordinator of the Research Unit Systematic Theology Coordinator of the Centre for Liberation Theology PROF. DR. Hetty ZOCK University of Groningen, The Netherlands Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies: Professor of Spiritual Care (special chair of the KSGV: Study Centre for Religion and Mental Health) Associate professor of Psychology of Religion Coordinator Master Spiritual Care Pastoral Supervisor PROF. DR. Herman MEININGER Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Willem van den Bergh Chair (social integration of people with intellectual limitations) PROF. DR. Elaine GRAHAM University of Manchester, UK Samuel Ferguson Professor of Social and Pastoral Theology PROF. DR. A. KESELOPOULOS Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Director of the Dept. of Ethics and Sociology

GOALS AND WORKING METHODS

AIMS OF THE CONFERENCE The aims of the conference are in accordance with the aims of the Council as described in the ECPCC constitution: The purpose of the Council is to further teaching, learning and dialogue in the field of pastoral care and counselling in Europe. The Council's mission is: (a) To promote the reflective practice of pastoral care and counselling. (b) To inform, educate and inspire practitioners of pastoral care and counselling in various contexts. (c) To enable practitioners of pastoral care and counselling to be resources for one another and to learn from each other's cultures, traditions and practices. (d) To support and advocate for the unique and essential dimension of spirituality in the teaching and practice of pastoral care and counselling. (e) To develop relevant theories in the field of pastoral care and counselling and to this end to engage in interdisciplinary discourse. The conference 'Prophetic Pastoral Care and Counselling' contributes to these aims by offering - plenary lectures with the possibility to ask questions and enter in a dialogue - small group meetings - common lunches and dinners - social and cultural gatherings - meeting with local initiatives - a meeting between participants of each country - presentations of papers (with time for discussion) - workshops - Ecpcc council meetings - Ecpcc assembly meeting - prayers and liturgical services

PAPERS

CALL FOR PAPERS ECPCC 2009 DEADLINE JANUARY 15, 2009 The conference calls for papers that are linked to the theme: 'Prophetic Pastoral Care and Counselling'. Every presenter gets 20 minutes to present his or her topic. The public has 10 minutes to ask questions or discuss issues. A proposal for a paper should include: • A title • Your name, occupation, address and email address.    Add the church or organization you represent. • An abstract of maximum 300 words (including aims, method and conclusions, bibliography not included) • The choice of language for your presentation (Deutsch, English or Français) • Please indicate what your needs will be for your presentation. Do you need a projector and screen? If so, do you have your own laptop? Do you need a slide projector? Do you need anything other (please specify)? Proposals for papers can be mailed to anne.vandenhoeck@theo.kuleuven.be Deadline for sending in proposals: January 15, 2009. You will receive confirmation that your abstract has been received. Approval date: February 15, 2009. The committee will let you know by email if your proposal is accepted. If your proposal is accepted, we expect your full text (approximately 2000 words) by August 1, 2009. The committee will judge if your text, after possible revisions due to the conference input (deadline September 30, 2009), can be included in the book of the conference, which will be published in 2010. Presenters of papers pay for their own fares, lodging and participation fees.

WORKSHOPS

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS ECPCC 2009 DEADLINE April 15, 2009 The conference calls for workshops that are interactive and linked to the theme of the conference: 'Prophetic Pastoral Care and Counselling'. The time limit of every workshop is 75 minutes. Workshops are meant to introduce work methods that can be applied in the practice of pastoral care and counselling. The presenter can introduce the work method for about 20 to 30 minutes. The remaining time needs to be interactive allowing participants to exchange ideas or try out the working method. A proposal for a workshop should include: • A title • Your name, occupation, address and email address. Add the church or organization you represent. • An abstract of maximum 150 words • The choice of language for your presentation (Deutsch, English or Français) • Please indicate what your needs will be for your workshop. Do you need a projector and screen? If so, do you have your own laptop? Do you need a slide projector? Do you need anything other (please specify)? Proposals for workshops can be mailed to anne.vandenhoeck@theo.kuleuven.be Deadline for sending in proposals: April 15, 2009. You will receive confirmation that your proposal has been received. Approval date: - to be announced . The committee will let you know by email if your proposal is accepted. Presenters of workshops pay for their own fares, lodging and participation fees.

FEE

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANT FEE Taking part in the conference costs 300€ (all in except one meal of choice in town). This does NOT include lodging and breakfast. Every participant chooses a place to stay according to his or her budget and takes breakfast there. The cheapest lodging (180€) plus the conference fee will make it possible for you to participate for just 480€. There are several options for lodging. Please go to 'Lodging' on this site. You are officially registered once you filled in the registration form (see the form at this site) and paid the participant fee on this account: Pay to: K.U.Leuven conference PPC IBAN BE60 7340 0666 0370 (= international account number) BIC KREDBEBB (= international swift code) VERY IMPORTANT: please add reference 400/0002/31425 in your payment If you would like to apply for financial support in taking part in the conference, please mail to anne.vandenhoeck@theo.kuleuven.be. The local committee will try to sponsor part of the conference fee for around ten participants. If you are a PhD student of our own faculty and you would like to participate in the conference, please contact anne.vandenhoeck@theo.kuleuven.be.