Duplin ministers complete chaplain training program
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on June 3, 2005 2:28 PM
KENANSVILLE -- Six Duplin ministers recently graduated from a eight-month chaplain training program they participated in at Duplin General Hospital.
One of the ministers who took the course was Rev. Gail McNeil, who didn't want to see it end.
"It was wonderful," she said. "They came to us. We didn't have to go to them."
The course was funded through a grant from Caring Communities, a Duke Endowment-sponsored program of Duke Divinity School. The program focused on health ministries, and the ministers graduated during a ceremony on May 26, for its Pastoral Care in Community training program.
Pastoral Care in Community, or PCC, equips rural ministers to better care for the needs of the community through training in pastoral care techniques. The program involves 64-hours of classroom time, spread out over eight months.
The ceremony was held in Duke Chapel, recognizinig 21 individuals who completed the course this spring in three sites -- Elkin, Siler City, and Duplin County.
Nearly 60 people attended the worship service, including participants in the program, their instructors, family, friends, and Caring Communities staff members. Participants received certificates and all present shared in a service of Holy Communion.