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The Western Territory will host The Salvation Army’s National Social Services Conference March 15 through 19, 1997 at the Horton Plaza Doubletree Hotel in San Diego, California.
This will be the fourth annual independent social services conference of The Salvation Army in the United States and comes at a crucial time in the changing social welfare scene across the country.
The coordinator for the conference is Lt. Colonel Paul Bollwahn, national social services consultant. The planning committee for the ’97 conference has been under the chairmanship of the Western Territorial Social Services Secretary, Mr. Gordon Bingham.
“The Army’s national conference,” comments Bingham, “has matured into a first rate learning and growth experience. Every Army officer and every employee in Social Services would find something of benefit and inspiration in the program planned for San Diego.”
The 1997 conference theme will be “New Frontiers of Caring: Community Amid Diversity.” This year’s plenary speakers include Dr. Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action; Mr. Philip Yancey of Christianity Today; and Ms. Eloise Anderson, Director of the California State Department of Social Services.
The conference program will include over 50 workshops addressing all areas of Salvation Army social service. Also featured will be four optional pre-conference workshops, among them a mini-study-tour to Tijuana, Mexico, where delegates will look at social and economic links between Mexico and the United States, and a tour of the new Perris Adult Rehabilitation Center.
“An effort has been made this year,” notes Bingham, “to include additional workshop content that is of interest to persons working in addictions, as well as the field of aging. We hope to make the conference an attractive alternative to outside conferences that specialize in these areas.”
The purpose of the National Social Services Conference is to “celebrate, promote, shape, and advance The Salvation Army’s expression of practical Christian response to human need.” Officers and staff interested in participating in the conference should contact their commanding officer and/or divisional headquarters.
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