2024 APC/NACC Joint Conference - Virtual Plenary Session Package: Presenters

2024 APC/NACC Joint Conference

June 20, 2024 – June 23, 2024

Virtual Plenary Session Package

Registration ends June 18, 2024 @ 12:00pm Central Time

APC and NACC are excited to host our in-person conference in St. Louis, but we know not everyone who wanted to attend is able to. After listening to feedback from the members and others that regularly attend our conferences, we are now offering a Virtual Plenary Package for those not able to join us in St, Louis. This package includes live streaming of the Plenary Sessions (speaker information is listed below) and recordings for the 4 sessions, but will not include any of the conference workshops or Professional Development Intensives. A workshop recordings package will be available in the APC and NACC stores later this summer.

Please Note: Registration is for one person/one computer and is not intended for group settings.

George Bonanno PhD

Trauma, Flexibility, and the Resilience Paradox

Thursday 6/20/2024 7:00 PM CT

Decades of research has shown that response to potentially traumatic events produce various prototypical trajectories of outcome, the most common being a stable trajectory of healthy functioning, or resilience. Paradoxically, correlates of these patterns show uniformly small effects, i.e., they say little about who will actually be resilient and who not. Possible explanations for this paradox include the fact that the challenges presented by highly aversive situations are highly variable and that virtually all traits and behaviors have both costs and benefits. Thus, what works in one situation may not work as well, or may even be harmful in another. How can people solve this paradox and find their way to resilience? The proposed answer is through the process of flexible self-regulation. Dr. Bonnano will elaborate on this process and review recent studies and new directions on regulatory flexibility and applications for chaplaincy.

George Bonanno PhD is an internationally renowned expert on trauma and resilience. He received his PhD from Yale University and is currently a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has conducted ground-breaking research on trauma, loss and other kinds of adversity for over three decades and has been repeatedly listed by the Web of Science as among the top one percent most cited scientists in the world. In recent years, he’s been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), and the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). His books include the Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells us About Life After Loss and, most recently, The End of Trauma: How the New Science of Resilience is Changing How We Think About PTSD.”

Rev. Leah Gunning Francis PhD

Ten Years Later: Faith and Health Equity at the Intersection of Racial Justice

Friday 6/21/2024 9:30 AM CT

In 2014, a movement for racial justice was reignited after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Young people throughout the St. Louis region took to the streets to demand justice for Brown, and joined by clergy and others, inspired international protests that shined a bright light on racial injustice. As we gather in St. Louis ten years later, we will reflect on lessons learned and their import for the work of chaplaincy. How can chaplains work as agents of racial justice in the midst of health disparities? What faith resources can we access to support these efforts? Join us as we engage these questions and others as we consider our work in relation to building a future filled with hope.

Rev. Leah Gunning Francis PhD joined Indiana University Health as senior vice president and chief mission and values officer in January 2023. As the chief mission and values officer, she oversees the departments of chaplaincy, spiritual care and congregational partnerships, clinical and organizational ethics and system archives, along with the IU Health Foundation, the Dan F. Evans Center for Spiritual and Religious Values in Healthcare and the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics.

Rev. Dr. Gunning Francis joined IU Health from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, where she was vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty since 2016. She was also a faculty member at Eden Seminary in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and has authored two books Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community and Faith After Ferguson: Resilient Leadership in Pursuit of Racial Justice (Chalice Press, 2015 and 2021). Dr. Gunning Francis resides in Indianapolis with her husband, Rev. Rodney Francis, and two teenage sons.

Arturo Chávez PhD

Intercultural Competence for Leadership

Saturday 6/22/2024 12:45 PM CT

This session aims to deepen a respectful awareness of diversity in values, attitudes, communication styles, and perceptions of power. Sharing from his years working in pastoral care, advocacy and National leadership, Dr. Chavez will provide both theory and practical peer guidance for chaplains in healthcare and other ministry settings. The overall goal is to integrate knowledge of cultural patterns with personal experiences of accompanying people from diverse backgrounds and advocating for their needs. The session will conclude with identifying intercultural competencies and “best practices” for effective pastoral leadership in today’s diverse and often polarized settings.

Arturo Chávez PhD currently serves as the Associate Vice President for Mission at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio, TX, overseeings the University’s DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs and initiatives. Previously, he served as the President of MACC, the Mexican American Catholic College. Over the years, Dr. Chávez has also served as a teacher, youth minister, a chaplain to the incarcerated, and a community organizer. He founded a nonprofit youth organization called JOVEN and was instrumental in establishing other faith-based partnerships to address the urgent needs of immigrants, formerly incarcerated people, and families who are poor, unsheltered, and disenfranchised. Nationally recognized for these efforts to combat racism and poverty, President Obama appointed him – along with 24 other national leaders – to serve on the inaugural White House Council for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009.

Dr. Chávez holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Incarnate Word, a Masters degree from Oblate School of Theology of the Southwest, and a PhD in Religious and Theological Studies, from the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology, with a focus on the relationship between religion and social change.

Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera PSYD

In the Light of Understanding: Interfaith Dialogue in the Context of Violence, War and Genocide

Sunday 6/23/2024 11:15 AM CT

Malcolm X wrote in his powerful autobiography: One day, may we all meet together in the light of understanding. In the current socio-political context of violence, war, genocide and local – global suffering, our religious traditions and practices are needed now more than ever. This session will focus on how we might develop relationships rooted in honesty, sincerity, and humility in order to build a strong collective foundation in that dialogue. Unfortunately, the conversations necessary to meet together in the “light of understanding” often elude us or feel increasingly fraught. As we explore the call to unity in diversity, the central questions we must contemplate include: Who are we, what do we believe, and who are we becoming? How might we join with one another as compassionate witnesses to each other’s stories and perspectives? How might we model (here in this space) that which we are longing for in the world?

Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Oseguera is an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Muslim Studies, at Chicago Theological Seminary and the founding Executive Director of the Muslim Wellness

Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healing and emotional well-being in the American Muslim community through dialogue, education and training.

Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera’s clinical and research areas of interest include: religion, race and identity development, spirituality in psychotherapy, first generation college students and emerging adults of color; healing justice and faith based activism, racial trauma and healing, psychological impact of anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Blackness, Black Muslim psychology and Black Muslim intersectional invisibility.

Dr. Mu’Min Oseguera graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology and MEd in Psychological Services. She obtained further graduate education, earning a second Masters in Restorative Practices & Youth Counseling (MRP) from the International Institute for Restorative Practices. She completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.