Marion VA Medical Center chaplains host seminar for clergy | Community Spirit

MARION, IL (KFVS) - The Marion VA Medical Center's Chaplain Service will be hosting "Spiritual Care for Combat Veterans and their Families" Friday, September 14.

The free educational seminar and luncheon for local clergy will be at the Crab Orchard Golf Club in Carterville.  According to Marion VAMC Chaplain Service Chief Michael Doan, the goal of the conference is to help area clergy understand and effectively counsel Veterans and their families; especially those who have been impacted by the war.

“What I want to accomplish with this seminar is to give local ministers some tools to reach out and provide spiritual care to the Veterans and families around them who may have been quietly hurting for years or even decades, and maybe thinking no one could understand or even hear them,” Doan said.

Guest speakers at the conference include experts on reintegration, clerical counseling of military members and their families, and PTSD.  “Spiritual Care for Combat Veteran and their Families” begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m., followed by a team building Golf Scramble at 2:30.  All events take place at the Crab Orchard Golf Club in Carterville, Ill.

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