Hello Everyone,
I am Elaine Nagy, Acting President of the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care. As we approach the end of the calendar year, I find myself like many of you amazed at how quickly the time has gone and busy with things that need to be wrapped up before the winter holidays. On behalf of the Board of CASC I would like to take this opportunity to extend warm wishes to all of our members and your families for a happy and restful holiday season.
I would like to also mention a few things which have been happening in CASC in recent weeks.
I am hoping that you are aware that Registration is open for the CASC 2018 conference in Deerhurst, near Huntsville Ontario. I am really looking forward to the conference and the opportunity to learn from people who are amazing artists in many fields about the interplay of the arts and spirituality. I am also planning on inviting several of my artistically inclined friends to this conference. One thing I have become aware of however, is that we are not the only group using the Deerhurst resort during the last week of April, so I would urge you to book your rooms at Deerhurst as soon as you can and register for the conference.
I am looking forward to connecting with chairs of each of the regions next week to hear how the annual meetings have gone across the country. I know that there are some regions which have had difficulty finding people to serve on the Regional Executive. I am finding myself feeling very appreciative towards those who have been willing to serve their peers and our organization by committing time and energy to this important work. Thank you for being involved in our professional association.
I would especially like to thank the people in the Atlantic region of CASC who voted recently to host the 2019 CASC conference in Fredericton New Brunswick. I know that we will be warmly welcomed when we head “down east” and I am grateful for the chance we will be given to gain some knowledge and skills in offering spiritual care and psycho-spiritual therapy to people in a variety of contexts.
I would also like to mention that one of the changes you will soon see on our website is that the “Employment” Opportunities will be moved from the home page to the “Members Only” section. The Board has been looking at some of the advantages of being a member of our professional organization and we decided that we would like to give our members the advantage of exclusive access to job opportunities as they arise.
Another advantage of being a member is that through CASC we are connected to other organizations which have similar interests and goals both nationally and internationally. An example of this is that one of our members has been serving as our representative on the Quality End of Life Council of Canada. This is a group of 39 organizations which advocates for and assists in planning an integrated approach to palliative care across the country. One of the things they were able to accomplish was to lobby for and see the government declare an annual National Bereavement Day on November 21st. This was a day to think about those who have died and to help advocate for supports at the provincial and national levels for grieving Canadians.
So those are a few of the things I have been hearing about which are happening with our organization. I hope that the coming weeks bring each of you some opportunity for self-care or personal renewal and some time with people whom you really cherish. Best wishes for the holidays and Happy New Year.
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