Medicine and Ministry of the Whole Person
Medicine and Ministry of the Whole Person:
Celebrating 50 Years
The fiftieth and final Medicine and Ministry Conference took place March 17-20, 2022, at Kanuga Conference Center. Our speakers, Dr. Christina Puchalski and the Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn (who were with us via Zoom), guided us through a moving and meaningful time of gratitude and renewed commitment, during which they showed us the many ways in which what we started in November, 1972, has blossomed and spread far beyond our annual gathering.
Here are the links to the Zoom recordings of their presentations and interactions with us:
Saturday morning, March 19
The speakers gave us many opportunities to share our reflections on Medicine and Ministry. On Friday and Saturday evenings, those who were in attendance at Kanuga gathered to tell stories about M&M and about how their lives and careers have been affected by the group, by speakers over the years, and by the consistent emphasis on personal wholeness and whole person care. Saturday evening ended with this “liturgy” of remembrance, rejoicing, and rededication:
Medicine and Ministry: Making a Good Ending
On the occasion of our 50th Conference and our final gathering, we take this time to remember and be grateful, to celebrate and grieve, to say goodbye, and to rededicate ourselves to the insights that formed this group and that have formed each of us in profound ways.
Remember
As we close this chapter in our on-going journey toward wholeness, we remember with joy and gratitude the one who started it all – whose loving heart, creative mind, tireless activism, and cherished presence inspired and sustained us:
Paul Tournier
With enduring love and deep gratitude, we remember our founders whose vision, energy, and steadfast commitment made possible this gift of fifty splendid years of healing transformation and beloved fellowship:
Richard and Elizabeth Sosnowski
Norman and Carolyn Boyer
George and Pat Kinnamon
We remember and give thanks for European colleagues who contributed so much to our flourishing by their presence with us in those early years, especially
Ben Harnik
Are there others? Say their names
We remember friends from past days, no longer part of this gathering but still in our hearts. We are grateful for those who called us to this place and stood beside us as together we opened ourselves to becoming whole persons:
Say their names
We remember speakers who graced us with their insights, their presence, their example, and their affection. We are grateful for what they taught us, how they helped us grow – and for the many ways in which they each revealed the expansive meanings of wholeness in all facets of our lives, personal and professional:
Name the speakers who have meant most to you
We remember and celebrate small group experiences that helped form us, experiences of honesty and humility, of deep listening, open sharing, and mutual learning.
Name the small group experiences that have meant most to you
Rejoice
Even while we mourn the ending of this grand venture, let us rejoice and give thanks for all the richness that has been and still is ours because of Medicine and Ministry:
[after each petition, offer up – aloud or silently – what comes to mind]
For the abiding friendships formed and nurtured here, the bonds of love forged among us as we have worked together towards our mutual goal of seeing ourselves and others as whole persons.
For the ways that we – our careers, our relationships, our lives – have been changed because we have been part of M&M
For the music that has brought such joy and inspiration to our times together, and for the musicians, the dear friends who have shared their talents and enthusiasm with us.
For the beauty, serenity, and holiness of Kanuga – the place where all but a few of our fifty gatherings have been held – and the dear familiarity of this room, by the fireplace, so closely linked in our memories to all that we have learned and experienced at M&M.
For what else about M&M do we offer our joy and gratitude?
We rejoice and give thanks that this yearly gathering of Medicine and Ministry has made us better people and better practitioners.
Medicine and Ministry has been and will continue to be a blessing to each of us
and to the world.
Rededicate
Although this chapter is ending, the lifelong story of growth into wholeness continues. Let us now rededicate ourselves to all that drew us here and kept us coming back, to the vision that Paul Tournier and our founders gave us and that we still keep firmly before us, even as we bring Medicine and Ministry to a close.
I recognize and honor my wholeness, the unity of my body, my mind, and my spirit.
We recognize and honor the wholeness, the unity of body, mind, and spirit, of all other persons – our patients, clients, and parishioners, our friends and family members, and all others we encounter.
Over these fifty years of love and learning and growth, M&M’s transforming influence has spread out, like ripples on a pond, touching the lives of all those around us – at home and at work, the ones we have loved and served and taught – and the institutions and organizations in which we have worked and practiced.
We firmly intend and resolve that Medicine and Ministry will continue to transform us and our worlds. What we have learned here, how we have been changed here, does not end here.
Today – fifty years after that first gathering, here at Kanuga in November 1972 – today we rededicate ourselves to the grand purpose that started this adventure and that guided all that followed.
We rededicate ourselves to the lifelong project of knowing ourselves and all others as whole persons in whom body, mind, and spirit are inseparable. May all our relationships, personal and professional, continue to flourish in the light of this integrity and love.
* * * * *
M&M Founders
Dr. Norman and Carolyn Boyer, The Rev. George W. and Pat Kinnamon,
Dr. Richard and Elizabeth Sosnowski
M & M STEERING COMMITTEE
Dr. Carol Graf-Beard and Alex Beard, Mount Pleasant, SC
Dr. Dan Johnston and Rev. Becky Johnston, Hampstead, NC
Dr. Charles and Susan Lefler, Brevard, NC
Dr. Margaret Mohrmann and Dr. Deborah E. Healey, Charlottesville, VA
Dr. Ellyn Mullis, Statesville, NC
Rev. John Renfro, Murrel’s Inlet, SC
Dr. John G. and Lynn Roach, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dr. Charles and Jeanne Sasser, Greenville, SC
Rev. Nancy Walton, Asheville, NC
