The Wayne E. Oates Institute is a Connected Learning Community exploring spirituality and health as a way to advance integrative care for the whole person. The Oates Institute is a non-profit educational organization made up of caregivers from the medical, spiritual and counseling communities providing a forum for joining together as an interdisciplinary dialogue toward understanding the relationship between spirituality and the healing process.

On Thursday, October 8, friends of the Oates Institute gathered at Louisville's Broadway Baptist Church for the Annual Forum and Oates Award Dinner. The evening provided an opportunity for persons from diverse backgrounds including professional and lay caregivers in pastoral care, counseling, medicine, nursing, social work, and various faith communities to connect and converse.

While the evening included various recognitions, the highlight of the evening was Dr. Allan Josephson's presentation on "Clinical Truth and Spiritual Truth, Are They the Same?" Dr. Josephson, the 2009 recipient of the Oates Award, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bingham Child Guidance Center, Professor and Associate Chair for Child and Adolescent Programs, and Division Director of Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry at University of Louisville School of Medicine. You may listen to Dr. Josephson's address by clicking on the link below and we expect to have the video posted within the next week.

Listen to the audio presentation (42 minutes)

In addition to enjoying a delicious meal together and benefiting from Dr. Josephson's presentation, those attending the Annual Forum were invited to participate in a silent art auction. Generous contributors to the auction included: J. Keith Auerbach, M.D., Mera and Kevin Corlett, John Sanders, M.D., Carol Phipps, Elaine Akin, Jim Mahanes, and Christopher Hammon. The Oates Institute is grateful to these persons and to those who took part in the auction. Proceeds from the auction will go to the Oates Institute's Scholarship Fund that offers financial support to caregivers who provide important ministries, but do not have the professional or personal funds to participate in the continuing education offerings of the Oates Institute.