The Pastoral Institute’s Sue Marie and Bill Turner Servant Leadership Gala was established in 2012 to honor couples that work towards exhibiting servant leadership in our community. This year, however, the Pastoral Institute is choosing to expand this recognition to the leaders and essential workers of St. Francis-Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Columbus Regional, and Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital. Servant Leadership is woven into the fabric of the City of Columbus and these heroes reminded us why.  The COVID-19 pandemic put an unprecedented strain on our healthcare system. While many companies moved to a virtual environment, our healthcare professionals on the front line were unable to do so. They resiliently braved the unknown and cared for our loved ones and community. Despite fear, misinformation, shutdowns, and this tremendous strain, nurses, doctors, other medical professionals, technicians, housekeepers, cooks, and administrators kept our hospitals open, operational, and our community safe.        

“The Pastoral Institute, along with other community partners, formed a team which supported these heroes during the worst days of COVID,” shares Rev. Thomas Waynick, retired Army chaplain and Chief Executive Officer of the Pastoral Institute. “Besides the anxiety of possibly contracting COVID, the pandemic has amplified a number of mental health issues. According to the World Health Organization, ‘A great number of people have reported psychological distress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress.’ Mental health has been widely affected by COVID-19. The Pastoral Institute remains committed not only to helping our clients, but also providing care to the caregivers and addressing their needs.” 

The evening’s emcee, Dr. Jimmy Elder, Pastor of First Baptist Church and a Pastoral Institute board member explains, “The Pastoral Institute has been a mainstay for healing, affirming, and encouraging individuals in our community for many years.  It is only fitting that as we emerge from the pandemic we offer a blessing to the ones who brought healing, protection, grace, and care to all of us at great personal sacrifice and in the finest professional way.  Our medical community has walked with us step-by-step, and this Gala is an opportunity to affirm their efforts and thank them for their incredible service to us all.  This Gala is a way to move forward as a community.  As we put the struggles of COVID behind us, we bring some of the true heroes to the forefront in order to thank them.”  

This event is an opportunity to honor not only the hospital, its leadership, and the essential workers that put their lives in harm’s way to care for our community, but an opportunity to engage with them and offer a personal “Thank you”.  Each of the three honoree-hospitals will receive 50 complimentary tickets for frontline workers to attend the event, courtesy of the Pastoral Institute and its generous event sponsors including Heritage Sponsors, W.C. Bradley Co., and Lockwood Partners.

“The Pastoral Institute is stepping in at the right time, in the right way, and with the right message this year at their Servant Leadership Gala. By honoring healthcare workers and publicly displaying the community’s support for those frontline caregivers, the Gala is shining a spotlight on those who deserve it the most...the bedside healthcare providers in our hospitals and medical facilities. Many of those caregivers do their special work day in and day out, without ever expecting any public recognition for it. But the Gala gives us another chance to recognize them and to say ‘thank you’ to them in a very public way. We appreciate the Pastoral Institute’s initiative here and are proud to be sponsors of the Gala,” adds Scott Hill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Piedmont Columbus Regional.

The Sue Marie & Bill Turner Servant Leadership Gala will be held on October 6, 2022 beginning with cocktail hour at 6:00 PM and dinner at 7:00 PM, at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center. Mayor Skip Henderson will be the keynote speaker.  Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at www.pastoralinstitute.org/gala. All proceeds of the event support the counseling and mental wellness initiatives of the Pastoral Institute.