Raca to Host Alcoholism Conference
Episcopal News Service. January 27, 1978 [78019]
Baltimore, Md. -- Alcoholism, particularly as it affects clergy, will be the topic of an April 3-5 conference at Old St. Paul's Church here. The workshop will be sponsored by the Recovered Alcoholic Clergy Association and is open to interested clergy and laity.
Three major speakers will introduce topics for group and panel discussions. Max Weisman, M. D., Director of the Alcoholism Control Administration for the State of Maryland will speak on "Attitudes Towards the Disease of Alcoholism" at the April 3 dinner that will open the conference. A Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Joseph Martin, will speak about "Idiology of Alcohol -- Use and Abuse. " The Rev. H. Gordon Macdonald, D. D., Chairman of the Committee on Alcohol Problems of the Diocese of New York will speak about "The Healing Ministry of the Church."
Before the workshop ends at noon on April 5, suggestions will be offered about how diocesan and local alcohol abuse committees can be organized.
The Recovered Alcoholic Clergy Association was organized by half a dozen priests in 1968. Today the organization numbers 150 priests, seminarians and members of religious orders. The organization says that 5% is a "conservative estimate" of how many clergy of the Episcopal Church are suffering from alcoholism.
Registration information can be obtained from Father Macdonald, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 439 East 238th Street, New York, N.Y. 10470. Registration fee is $35.