Interfaith discussion will focus on women

Registration is being accepted through Monday for the American Association of Pastoral Counselors Pacific Region’s fall conference, Oct. 28-30 at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center at 3351 Kalihi St.

Co-sponsors are the Counseling & Spiritual Care Center of Hawaii and the Rev. Yoshiaku Fujitani-Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Interfaith Program at Chaminade University.

A free interfaith panel discussion by seven women on women’s mental health and spirituality will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 29. The focus of the discussion will look at how society has been affected by multiculturalism, and the maturing influence of women’s perspectives on spirituality and mental health.

The panel includes Azeema Faizunnisa, Jolene Gerell, Mollie Sperry, Alice Tucker, Noelani Wilcox, Debbie Hippolite Wright and Jan Youth. They represent Muslim, Christian, Bahai, Jewish, Hawaiian, Mormon and Buddhist perspectives, respectively.

The conference is dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Phyllis Roe, who died 10 years ago. A memorial service will be held from 9 to 9:45 p.m. Oct. 30. Roe was the longest-serving executive director of the Samaritan Counseling Center of Hawaii (now the Counseling & Spiritual Care Center of Hawaii), from 1991 to 2001. She is credited with pioneering pastoral counseling and how one understands personal spirituality, according to the CSCCH.

The Rev. Alice Graham will give the keynote address at 9 a.m. Oct. 29. Graham is a Baptist minister in Mississippi, vice president of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and executive director of the Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Taskforce.

Puanani Burgess will lead a workshop at 10 a.m. Oct. 30 on “Conflict Transformation — Hawaiian Style.”

Register for the conference and a free panel discussion at 735-4822 or psponsel@chaminade.edu.