Our Annual Conference for 2017 is hoisting the Margaret Allan Lecture , given this year by The Reverend Tom Gordon, as ‘Loss: from misconceptions to making a difference’.

Tom Gordon is a Church of Scotland minister who worked in parish ministry in two Edinburgh parishes for 20 years before serving as chaplain at the Edinburgh Marie Curie Hospice for 15 years. He co-facilitated the hospice’s bereavement support service, participated in education programmes on aspects of bereavement and spiritual-care, and contributed regularly to professional journals on bereavement and chaplaincy issues. He wrote two books during this time – A Need for Living, about his chaplaincy work, and New Journeys Now Begin, on loss, grief and bereavement. He retired from full-time work in 2009. 

As another main commitment, Tom also continues to offer bereavement and spiritual-care training and support. He continues to be asked regularly to assist local churches in the development of their bereavement support work and the training of those who are or might be involved. He has scoped, developed and is currently facilitating the Acorns Bereavement Programmes in Edinburgh and Stepping Stones Bereavement Programmes in his home village in East Lothian. He is currently working on a second book on issues of bereavement, grief and loss. (All Tom’s books have been published by Wild Goose Publications and are available at Iona Books)

www.ionabooks.com/

Some pictures for the 2017 conferance.



Our chair, Kenny MacKay opening.



Some of our attendies.



Some of our attendies and our speaker Rev. Tom Gordon.



The Q & A session.