ACPE Annual Conference

The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.

2008 Annual Conference - October 22-25 - Richmond, VA

Plenary Sessions

Plenary # 1 Maurice Apprey, Thursday, October 23, 9:15am - 10:45am

The linked duality of identity and difference constitute a tension that is at the heart of clinical pastoral ministry. How do we resolve this tension? Should it be resolved? Should we keep this tension unresolved, and if so, what would our pastoral ministry look like? In short, how can we make complementarities out of these antinomies when we deal with such issues as ethnicity, race, class, gender, etc?

Dr. Maurice Apprey was born in Ghana. He received his B.S. in psychology, philosophy and religion in 1974 from the College of Emporia in Kansas. He received training in London by Anna Freud at the Hampstead Clinic where he graduated in 1979. He went on to receive his adult training in psychoanalysis at the New York Freudian Society where he is now training and supervising analyst. Always interested in the tension between description and interpretation, he studied phenomenological psychological research and hermeneutics at the Saybrook Institute in San Francisco where he received a Ph.D. in human science research. This past May he received his second doctorate in executive management at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. This gave him the opportunity to study leadership, conflict management and non-profit management research. Dr. Apprey serves as the dean of the Office of African-American Affairs, while continuing to teach in the Division of Outpatient Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Family Psychiatry at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Plenary # 2 Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, Friday, October 24, 9am - 10:30am

Dr. Garcia-Rivera will be speaking about a theological understanding of innocence, which he refers to as a “wounded innocence.” Innocence is usually thought of as something one loses. In theology, innocence is something one is given. He will lay out the context for this by using studies of trauma and evil that speak of the damage to the personality that violence and abuse does to a person. He plans to speak about spiritual resources, especially art, that can restore innocence to those who have lost it. He will present various artistic images to illustrate this concept.

A native of Havana, Cuba, Alejandro (Alex) García-Rivera, a former physicist but now a Roman Catholic lay theologian, he did his doctoral work on the semiotic aesthetics of culture under the direction of Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union and Philip Hefner of Zygon center for Religion and Science. He received his doctorate in theology (Ph.D.) from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Alex also holds degrees in physics from Ohio State University and Miami University. The author of numerous articles and winner of several Catholic Press Association awards, he is professor of systematic theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and core doctoral faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in the systematic theology and philosophy.

Plenary # 3 Shareda Hosein, Saturday, October 25, 9am - 10:30am

Chaplain Shareda Hosein will provide a brief overview of the Muslim population around the globe and zoom in on the U.S. Muslim population with as much demographical information to give the audience a sense of composition of the world's Muslim population and culture. She will present some basic information on the tenants, beliefs, misconceptions about Islam, i.e. the difference between Sunni/Shia, jihad, and shariah. The presentation will conclude with talk about the spiritual aspect of the power of prayer for healing, hope and coexisting with people of other faith traditions.

Chaplain Shareda Hosein has consistently held three jobs: Real Estate Sales, Army Reservist & Volunteer for the past 20 years. Her life's journey has taken her into the direction to become a Muslim chaplain late in her career because she greatly saw the need for dialogue to better understand the issues that are confronting the existence of people from diverse religions and cultures. She participates in a weekly multi-faith radio show "Talking Religion" on WRKO Boston, where they talk about how religion intersects all segments of our lives with the intent to help others navigate their lives with some understanding. Since 2007 Chaplain Hosein served as the Muslim chaplain at Tufts University, MA. She received her Master's degree from Hartford Seminary, CT in the field of Islamic Studies - Christian Muslim Relations with a Certification in Islamic Chaplaincy and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from University of Massachusetts/Boston 2007. She vowed to be a student for life and currently holds the position of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves where she has served for more than 28 years.