Workshop Description
Now, more than ever Pastoral Care is a vital need of any ministry with young people. Adolescent years have always been physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually challenging period in a young person’s live. The socio-economic pressures of today has increased the complexity of the needs of a young person. In this workshop, Sinéad explores how pastoral care practiced in youth and young adult ministry provides positive strategies for the care and well-being of youth. The workshop will further explore how a leader could implement good pastoral care practice in their ministry, and Sinéad will draw on experience of common challenges we may encounter in pastoral care, and how a leader could respond to them.
Speaker Bio
Sinéad hails from Ireland and now calls New Zealand home. She has a degree in theology and holds a Master’s specializing in Pastoral Care. She is married to Raymond and they have two beautiful children. Sinéad has a wealth of experience in pastoral care, chaplaincy, parish support, and youth and young adult ministry. She currently works for the Catholic Tertiary Chaplaincy Team in the Diocese of Christchurch. Her first obvious encounter with God was at the age of twenty-one when she asked for His strength to proclaim boldly His truth and mercy in a Dublin City Hospital when working as student chaplain. This encounter and journey with the sick changed her life and manifested the reality of God’s Grace! She works hard to always uphold the innate value of Human Dignity in all people she encounters, and advocates that Pastoral Care is a fundamental science for caring for the whole person – heart, mind, body, and soul.