The Symposium seeks to foster the professional study of, and academic research into, the impact of contemporary spirituality on the practice of spiritual direction. The Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction (AECSD) invites academics, researchers, the staff of spiritual direction formation programs, spiritual directors, and other interested parties to participate in the two-day Symposium.

During the two days, academic papers and practitioner presentations explore contemporary spirituality and its impact on the practice of spiritual direction in Australia. Some papers also highlight the findings of current and recent research presented within the field. Practitioner presentations are delivered through workshops. The Symposium ends each day with a facilitated panel discussion with the Symposium's participants and the day's speakers. Click here to view Provisional Program.

If you are interested in this topic, or you are a spiritual director, a staff member of a spiritual direction formation program, or an academic and you wish to participate to the Symposium without presenting a paper, you can proceed to the registration page of the Symposium. Register now for the Symposium by clicking here and complete our online form. The registration fee for the two-day Symposium is $180.00 (Inc. GST). The registration fee for one-day attendance is $100.00 (Inc. GST)

If you are an academic, a formator of spiritual directors, or a spiritual director, AECSD welcomes your submission to present a paper at the Inaugural National Symposium on topics associated with the theme: "Exploring contemporary spirituality and its impact on the practice of spiritual direction."

These include mainly accomplished substantial research results of an empirical or theoretical nature and have a maximum of 5,000 words. Presentations will include a 30 to 40-minute presentation and a 35 to 45-minute facilitated discussion.

These contain information or work-in-progress and have a maximum of 2,500 words. Presentations will include a 30 to 40-minute presentation and a 35 to 45-minute facilitated discussion.

These include presentations regarding insights into spiritual direction practice and have a maximum of 500 words. Presentations will be up to 60-minute in duration and will include theoretical input, experiential learning, and opportunity for discussion.

A 250-word abstract is required for each Full Academic Paper and Short Academic Paper, and a 50-word abstract for each Practitioner Presentation. The abstracts for Full and Short Academic Papers must provide an idea on the aims(s) of the study, its theoretical framework, the hypotheses, the adopted methodology, and the main obtained results(s). Abstracts for Practitioner Presentations should summarise the general intention of the presentation. At the beginning of the abstract, state the proposed title of the paper and at the end of the abstract, provide a brief autobiographical note for each author, (full name, affiliation, email address, postal address, and telephone numbers). Click here to submit proposal.

The Symposium Conveners will review all submissions. The Conveners may decide to accept the paper, ask for revisions, or reject it.

Click here for Guidelines for papers submitted for publication to the AECSD Inaugural Symposium.

The Symposium Convenors will send out notification regarding the papers accepted for presentation at the Symposium.

Final submissions together with registration and payment are due by 13 September. Papers are to be submitted based on the abstract submitted and formatted according to the Guidelines for papers submitted for publication to the AECSD Inaugural Symposium. All presenting authors must register for the full two days of the symposium in order to submit a final paper. Your final abstract and paper is to be emailed to symposium@spiritualdirection.org.au In preparing the file, please use Word format; name the file as "SPyournamesecondnameanddate.doc". You are strongly advised to proof read your paper for consistency, grammar, and spelling.

All accepted papers and abstracts will be published in the Proceedings of the Inaugural National Symposium of the Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction: Exploring Contemporary Spirituality and its Impact on the Practice of Spiritual Direction, which will be distributed to conference delegates on the first day of the Symposium and hosted on the AECSD website www.spiritualdirection.org.au Inclusion of accepted abstracts and papers in the Proceedings is subject to authors' permissions. Unless authors express a written objection to publishing their papers by 13 September 2010, AECSD will consider submission of papers as consent for publication in both printed and electronic forms.

For further information, contact the Symposium's Convenors:

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