Adult Electives – Healing the Soul Wounds of War

This presentation will focus on what is necessary to tend and heal the soul wounds of war borne by returning veterans, and the vital role that faith communities can play in this endeavor.  “Moral injuries” and “soul wounds” are the often-invisible wounds related to the horrors of war, the dehumanization of others, violation of one’s deepest principles, killing, wounding, betrayal, or failing adequately to protect.

The program will be led by Roger Kessler and Rev. Scott Hutchinson, who have been working together for nearly two decades.  Roger is a U.S. Army veteran deployed during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and a local leader in the veteran community.  Scott is a UCC pastor who has tended veterans and whose roles in mission and peacemaking took him into two war zones.  Roger and Scott were instrumental in establishing the Veterans Ministry Team at their church in Perkasie, believing that a local congregation needed to not only welcome veterans but be willing to receive the fullness of their stories.   They were also co-founders of the COMPASS Healing Circle, which brought veterans, their family members, and members of the wider community together.