Spirit at Work presents 20th Anniversary Event        Thursday, March 19th, 2009           12:00-1:30pm     20 Years of Spirit at Work:   How have things changed?    with Harlene Walker, Founder,                            Jim Evans, Long-Term Chair and                           Gloria McArter, Ph.D., Board Member                                   (with moderator Brian Fraser) How do you nurture your soul while at work? Massive corporate layoffs. Widespread firing of employees. Executives blamed for organizational upheaval. In response to these events 20 years ago, visionary Harlene Walker offered a spiritual salve to Vancouver’s downtown business community: the Workplace Ministry Society. An ordained United Church Minister, Harlene founded this multi-faith forum at St. Andrew’s Wesley Church in 1986 as a three-year pilot project. By 1989, the Society had incorporated and moved to Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver, hosting a successful array of spirit-based events from talks and silent retreats to "Ethics for Breakfasts" and the Ethics in Action Awards. Two decades later, the Workplace Centre for Spiritual and Ethical Development (as it's now called) serves a broad-based, non-denominational business and spiritual community. "By being authentic at the core of your being and nurturing that centre, you have the energy to move out and help," says Harlene, who characterizes the Centre’s evolution as an organic blend of inner and outer growth. We have invited Harlene and Jim Evans, the Workplace Centre’s Chair since 1996, to reflect on how public attitudes towards spirit in the workplace have changed over the last 20 years and how the Centre has contributed to that process. Gloria McArter will share how Board members are more fully expressing and experiencing "spirit at the table" -- and thereby growing this energy with attendees, prospective members and the larger community. Brian Fraser will chair this lively panel discussion.              click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604.685-6560 DATE:           Thursday, March 19, 2009  –  12:00 - 1:30 pm LOCATION:   Main Floor, Conference Rooms, Terasen Building,                      1111 W. Georgia St. (at Thurlow), Vancouver Cost:             Without lunch: $10                      With lunch:  non-members - $20;  members - $15 Lunch:          Catered sandwiches, salad, tea and coffee                               __________________________ About our Speakers: Harlene Walker is an ordained Minister of the United Church of Canada who practiced seeing "old truths in new ways." She is Founder of the Workplace Ministry Society, now the Workplace Centre for Spiritual and Ethical Development. Retired and living in Whistler, she has fostered an ecumenically shared ministry and a multi-faith partnership in this B.C. tourist resort. Harlene was a 1990 nominee for the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award. She is a graduate of Toronto Teachers’ College, the Vancouver School of Theology, and the programme of the Pacific Northwest Programme in Spiritual Direction. Her volunteer activities included Chaplain of the Vancouver Police Department, Chair of Vancouver-Burrard Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, President of B.C. Conference of the United Church of Canada, and President of the Society of the Whistler Skiers Chapel. Jim Evans is a Life Insurance Agent and Financial Planner who graduated from UBC with a bachelor of commerce degree. He was elected Treasurer of the Workplace Centre in 1995, becoming Chair in 1996. While Chair of the United Church’s Vancouver South Presbytery, he took part in Harlene Walker’s ordination. Jim has served as Vice-Chair of Vancouver’s City Council Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. A Director in the Rotary Club of Vancouver, he also received a Paul Harris Fellowship for extraordinary service to the Club. He has been Treasurer of the Life Underwriters Association of Vancouver (Advocis), the Chartered Life Underwriters Association of B.C. Mainland and a Director of both professional organizations. He has earned the Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant and Certified Financial Planner designations. Gloria McArter, Ph.D. is a Registered Clinical Counsellor who works with individuals, couples, families, and workplaces issues in private practice in New Westminster, BC. She has almost 30 years’ experience as a trainer in human relations and communications. As a workshop leader and public speaker, Gloria focuses on the positive relationships between spirituality and mental, physical, and workplace wellness. She is a Board member of the Workplace Centre. Gloria has worked as a counsellor in employment and personnel placement and in crisis intervention. For her Doctorate in Psychology, she completed her dissertation on The Relationship of Religious and Spiritual Practices and Personality Style. She is a Registered Member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (Canadian Registry), and a Certified Canadian Counsellor (Canadian Counselling Association). Moderator Brian Fraser is the Lead Provocateur of Jazzthink.  He does professional speaking, consulting, and executive coaching aimed at helping people and organizations achieve exceptional performance. Prior to launching Jazzthink, Brian served 16 years as Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and Professor of History at Vancouver School of Theology.                                       click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604.685-6560 back to top