Conversation Circles and Professional Development 2022
The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (CIL), in collaboration with the Fetzer Institute, is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of new Conversation Circles for BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) chaplains in 2022 and an inaugural Professional Development Series for BIPOC chaplains to support and build networks for spiritual care providers.
As communities across the U.S. endure the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the ongoing impact of racial violence, our programs continue to honor and support the work of BIPOC chaplains in providing spiritual care and challenging racial inequality.
What does this look like? From April to June and from July to September 2022, four new Conversation Circles will provide powerful venues for connection, conversation, and emotional and spiritual processing for BIPOC chaplains working across the United States. Chaplains from healthcare, military, corrections, higher education, community, social movements, and more will be led by paired facilitators for six, 90 minute sessions on Zoom over the span of three months. Group process, opening and closing rituals, naming, and guiding questions will address the isolation and burnout of working against racial structures, often as the only BIPOC staff at their institutions. As one 2021 Conversation Circle participant described,
I am reminded of the African proverb, “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” These conversation circles are necessary and vital for Chaplains of Color to have longevity in the work.
We are pleased to sustain access to this vital support in 2022. This year’s facilitators include Rev. Kirstin Boswell, Tahara Akmal, Dr. Su Yon Pak, Rev. Alicia Forde, Rev. Dr. LeSette Wright, Rev. Christina Shu, and Rev. Lex Cade-White. To register for a Circle, click here.
The Lab, with crucial support from the Fetzer Institute, is also pleased to launch the inaugural 2022 series, “BIPOC Chaplains: Strategy and Professional Development in a Spiritual Care Career.” Conversation Circle participants in their first five years of a professional position are invited to any of five sessions with leaders in spiritual care who are also chaplains of color to discuss identity, authority, and workplace dynamics, career decision points, and legacy. As one 2021 participant framed the demand for such discussion:
I’m now more aware that Black care providers need to connect…also for strategic planning, dialogue on race related issues in the workplace, professional development, professional connection, lessons learned…there are so many complex issues, the space has potential to be so much more.
This approach will foster a professional cohort of chaplains of color newer to the field who can support one another moving forward.
Conversation Circles and Professional Development are part of CIL and the Fetzer Institute’s multilevel approach to naming, honoring, and supporting BIPOC chaplains. Understanding the impact of racial inequalities on spiritual care provision is crucial in the training of all chaplains, especially those in positions of authority and supervision. CIL’s 2021 working paper completed initial groundwork on the stories and experiences of Black chaplains and their legacy on the fabric of spiritual care in America. Our next blogs will feature stories from this preliminary study. For the working paper and additional resources to support BIPOC chaplains, please visit our website.
Jiaying Ding, M.Div., is a project coordinator at the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab. She is an incoming MPH student in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. She loves celebrating life with her dog, Seamus.