Mark your calendars: Parish Health Ministry’s annual Refresh Your Soul Conference will return to the Cintas Center at Xavier University on Monday, March 18, 2019.

Registration for Refresh Your Soul is now open and the popular conference tickets are selling quickly. Here’s what you can look forward to during this day devoted to “Living Well with Purpose.”

Featured Speakers

The keynote speaker is Kathryn Spink, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Mother Teresa: An Authorized Biography.

Spink was involved with Mother Teresa’s work for over 17 years, and she has spoken internationally about the “Saint of Calcutta,” including an address at the United Nations Conference.

At the conference, Spink will explore Mother Teresa’s exceptional care of the poor, the sick and the dying; her compassion and respect for individual differences; her3 identification of the need to meet emotional and spiritual problems; and her emphasis not so much on prolonging life at all costs, as on enabling people to die with dignity and surrounded by love. Doing “small things with great love” was a transforming principle that gave meaning and purpose to Mother Teresa’s life and one she stressed was accessible to all.

Other featured speakers include:

• Rabbi Abie Ingber, the founder and former executive director of the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement at Xavier University. At Refresh Your Soul, Rabbi Ingber will relate valuable lessons from his parents, who survived the Holocaust and inspired him on his pathway to peace, in a talk titled “The Purpose of Life is a Life of Purpose.”
  “Every farmer knows that it is not about the number of barns you build, but about the seeds you plant; every parent knows it is not about the number of times you push the swing, but about how your child soars when they leave your playground,” Rabbi Ingber says. “So it is with our lives. When the purpose of life is a life of purpose, the integration of spirit, heart, hands and mind finds it greatest completion.”
• Leah Sarris RD, LDN, the director of operations and executive chef for the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine in New Orleans. At the center, Sarris has developed a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary program that combines culinary arts, science, nutrition and medicine.
  In her talk, “Food as Medicine,” Sarris will discuss the growing field of culinary medicine and its power to improve patient health outcomes; the Mediterranean Diet, an important building block of culinary medicine; and groundbreaking research in this field.
• Kay Frances, motivational humorist, author and family caregiver. For over 30 years, Frances has shared her message to “lighten up, stress less and take care of ourselves” all over North America. In her talk, “Aging with Zest and Vigor,” Frances will share effective ways to cope with stress, maintain an optimistic spirit and take care of your own health.

Optional VIP Speaker Luncheons

A limited number of seats are available for VIP luncheons featuring the above speakers for an additional $30 cost once registrations open in mid-November. The speaker luncheon topics are:

• Kathryn Spink: “Perseverance and the Dark Night of the Soul”
• Rabbi Ingber: “Rewarding Yourself — Healing the World”
• Leah Sarris: “Using Food in the Battle Against Cognitive Decline”

How Refresh Your Soul Helps Parish Health Ministry

The Refresh Your Soul conference is the primary fundraiser for ERS’s Parish Health Ministry program, and 100 percent of the conference proceeds benefit PHM. Supported solely by donations, Parish Health Ministry helps 75 congregations of all denominations throughout central and southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky improve the lives of their members through health advocacy, education and wellness activities

Sponsors

Refresh Your Soul is made possible with the generous support of our title sponsor, TriHealth; our presenting sponsor, the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; and the partnership of Xavier University.

Check back here in mid-November to register for Refresh Your Soul. We look forward to spending this purpose-filled day with you!