Reviewing some resources from previous events, I came across this link again. The Weight of the Nation has a great overview of why obesity is a health crisis in the United States and what we can do about it. The video below is part of the several links that are found at the TED blog page linked above
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Anointing with Oils
Have you ever anointed someone?
Within the church, there is a tradition of anointing the sick.
Anointing is placing a drop of oil on a thumb or finger and placing the sign of the cross on the forward. Or it might be placing a drop on the crown of the head. Anyone can do this for another.
Monday, August 10, 2020
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Overview of the Project
Below you will find the slides from my Public Presentation. These give an overview of the project and my paper. This is the "cliff notes" version. I hope that you will read along though as I post more in the coming weeks.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Called to Love: Theological Foundations
Wherever
Jesus went in his earthly ministry, people reached out to touch him, believing
that just grasping the hem of his garment would bring them healing. This sense
that Jesus cared about physical bodies as well as souls permeated his earthly
ministry. Perhaps persons of that time had a stronger sense of the holistic nature
and the cohesiveness of life.
Do
we no longer believe that God cares for our whole selves—body, mind and
spirit?
Does
God care for all dimensions of our health?
Jesus is God incarnate. God became enfleshed
in humanity’s form. The God who becomes incarnate surely has a concern for the
physical human body in all its dimensions.
The
ministry of Jesus included the restoration of physical health as well as the
forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ own bodily resurrection points to a God who is concerned
for the physical well-being of humans. Yet, we often approach the scriptures
with the sense that they are for our salvation beyond this world and not with a
concern for how we develop and treat our bodies, minds and souls in this world.
Scripture would tell us otherwise;
·
Mark
shows us Jesus’ concern for restoring wholeness to persons.
·
John
reminds us that Jesus came to bring us abundant life.
·
Paul
writes about believers offering their bodies as a living sacrifice as well as
the human body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.
·
Jesus
said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul,
mind, and strength.
All
of these point us toward the concern which God has for our whole selves: body, mind and spirit. The injunction
from Paul to “glorify God with our bodies” leads us to take seriously caring
for ourselves as beloved creatures of God.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Why should I care?
In the closing chapter of Health,
Healing & Wholeness: Engaging Congregations in Ministries of Health, Mary
Chase-Ziolek notes that for a congregational health ministry to succeed, the
leaders in the congregation must be engaged. “For health ministries to reach
their full potential, those in leadership need to be personally transformed,
knowing in our hearts as well as our heads that body/mind/spirit are
inseparable and that faith and health are joined as one chord in the song of
life. Our lives need to model what we preach and teach.”[1]
For pastors to be healthy leaders of healthy congregations, they must have an
“integration of theology, spiritual formation, disciple and commitment”
according to Bruce G. Epperly.[2]
As Roy Oswald suggested, “the minister is not the savior, but the one who
offers guidance and leadership through his/her own health and wholeness, and in
turn is invited to greater wholeness through the health and wholeness of
persons in the congregation.”[3]
Several years ago now, my husband and I planned a trip to the Grand
Canyon. Included in the dory boat trip was an eight mile hike to the Colorado
River at the bottom of the Canyon. I had been walking on the track at the gym
when I finally read the fine print in the brochure which said that walking was
not enough exercise to be in shape for this hike. As a result, I began to use
the elliptical machine with the mantra, “I don’t want to die at the bottom of
the Grand Canyon!” Through that experience, I began my own personal journey to
look for a motivation to be a healthier person and pastor.
In reality, living a healthy life is challenging for many clergypersons. According
to the 2015 Report of the Clergy Health Survey produced by the United Methodist
Center for Health, “Forty-two percent (42%)[of clergy] are currently obese[4]—much
higher than a demographically-matched sample of U.S. adults, and an additional
37% are currently overweight[5].”[6]
Many clergypersons struggle to maintain a wholistic[7]
lifestyle which incorporates all five dimensions of health (physical,
spiritual, emotional, social, and financial) promoted by the United Methodist
Church. For clergypersons, the multiple stresses
of work, family, and self-care create a struggle to strike a balance that
maintains one’s own health as well as meets the demands of parish life. Disciplined
self-care is necessary for wholeness and health.
Many
activities could be proposed to increase the health of clergy including
retreats, monthly gatherings, self-directed projects, exercise classes, and
financial workshops. The primary goal here is to educate and engage church leaders
to make personal connections between faith and health while encouraging their
congregations in ministries of health and wellness. The overall goal is to not
only engage in self-care, but also to begin to educate congregations about the
theological foundations of health ministry while beginning or strengthen
ministries of health and wellness within congregations. The starting point must
be to provide a scriptural foundation for the theological conclusion that God
cares for all dimensions of health. This
scriptural foundation provides context to leaders and congregations engaged in
health and wellness ministries.
Jesus said, “you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:30). [8] As pastors who
love God, finding their own wholeness can be challenging when they are living
wholly for God. Engaging our
congregations in loving and serving God when we are modeling unhealthy
behaviors is difficult if not hypocritical. Recovering the Biblical foundation
to care for the totality of ourselves –body, mind and spirit—is essential in
promoting self-care among clergy as well as health and wellness ministries within
congregations.
[1] Mary Chase-Ziolek, Health, Healing & Wholeness: Engaging Congregations in Ministries
of Health, (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2005), 123.
[2] Bruce G. Epperly, Healing
Worship: Purpose & Practice, (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2006), 99.
[3] Roy M. Oswald, Clergy
Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry (New York: Rowman &
Littlefield, 1991), 15.
[4]Obese is defined as a Body Mass Index of 30.0 or
higher. “Overweight and Obesity,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
last updated June 16, 2016, accessed 1/9/2017, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html
[5] Overweight is defined as a Body Mass Index of 25.0 to
30.0. . “Overweight and Obesity,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
last updated June 16, 2016, accessed 1/9/2017, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html
[6]Clergy Health
Survey. Report 2015, Chicago: General
Board Pensions and Health Benefits, 2015, accessed 1/10/2017, http://www.wespath.org/assets/1/7/4785.pdf, 2
[7] The word “wholistic” is intentionally used throughout
this paper. “In health ministry, the
linguistic terms ‘wholistic’ and ‘holistic’ are not interchangeable—they each
have distinct meanings. When speaking of health ministry and parish/faith
community nursing, the ‘W’ should be used. The Rev. Dr. Granger Westberg first
advocated the use of the term ‘wholistic’ rather than ‘holistic,’ to more
closely relate the term to wholeness and to avoid confusion with the term
‘holistic’ that connotes non-religious alternative health care practices.” Health Ministry in The United Methodist
Church. UMC Health Ministry Network.
Center for Health, accessed 1/9/2017, https://www.wespath.org/assets/1/7/4382.pdf, 1 footnote.
[8]Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes are from
New Revised Standard Version. The New
Interpreter’s Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Called to Be wHoly*: Loving God with our Whole Selves
![]() |
May 13, 2019 |
These were the questions that prompted by Doctor of Ministry project and subsequent paper. Below is the abstract from the paper. My hope is to pull out pieces of this paper to post here at this blog. Eventually, a book may emerge but for the moment, you will find here posts to help you reflect on the Biblical mandate to love God with our whole selves.
Please leave your comments and questions!
Abstract
Clergy person are not healthy in wholistic** ways. This
paper examined whether pastors who engage in examining their own health through
a wholistic framework while also establishing or strengthening a health
ministry within in their congregations would increase their self-care. The
pastors participated in a Day Apart and/or a covenant group. Their health measures were compared to those
who did not participate in anything. The
analysis suggests that pastors who participated in covenant groups and the day
apart did increase their health measures while the connection to congregational
health ministries was not clearly established.
*“wholy” is intentionally spelled in this manner to
combine the words “holy” and “whole.”
**The word “wholistic” is
intentionally used throughout this paper.
“In health ministry, the linguistic terms ‘wholistic’ and ‘holistic’ are
not interchangeable—they each have distinct meanings. When speaking of health
ministry and parish/faith community nursing, the ‘W’ should be used. The Rev.
Dr. Granger Westberg first advocated the use of the term ‘wholistic’ rather
than ‘holistic,’ to more closely relate the term to wholeness and to avoid
confusion with the term ‘holistic’ that connotes non-religious alternative
health care practices.” Health Ministry
in The United Methodist Church. UMC
Health Ministry Network. Center for Health, accessed 1/9/2017, https://www.wespath.org/assets/1/7/4382.pdf, 1 footnote.
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