What to watch for: Professionals in health care, pastoral, psychological services, fitness, career and other areas coming together with the common bond of Christian faith to more effectively meet individual needs within a broad community.
How it is happening already: Associations representing specific professions have developed extensive networks and support services. Groups like the Christian Medical and Dental Association, the Christian Association of Psychological Studies and youth pastor associations each have been instrumental in nurturing their members to practice their profession with a growing commitment to Christian service. In some communities partnerships exist like YMCA’s with churches or hospitals and Christian counseling services.
What needs to happen: These partnerships could be expanded to include a wider range of individuals and services. Professionals within a community need to come together and create an informal or formal team so that they can cooperate in meeting needs holistically. They need to commit to regular inter-communication, take time for fellowship and prayer, invest in and build community perception and awareness, gain strong support and involvement from local church and community leaders and develop strategies to meet individual needs through collaboration.
How it will grow the faith and fitness culture: Without this approach important services remain disconnected. More importantly, treatments, rehabilitation, counseling, and other strategies are prescribed and implemented without interweaving the role of faith. As community wellness teams grow patients and clients will gain a greater awareness of the importance Christ can have in every aspect of daily life. Greater support networks will develop out of these teams.
What you can do: Talk with your doctor, pastor, personal trainer and those who provide care and support to you. Encourage them to connect with others and build a community wellness team. Ask a pastor to host a meeting to bring together professionals. Organize interested community members to educate professionals on this trend, build interest and even develop a non-profit to guide the initiative.
What is Wellness anyway? Is it physical or spiritual, or both? People go to a doctor for health needs, a trainer for fitness needs, a counselor for personal needs, and a pastor or minister for spiritual needs. We have a number of people constantly dispensing advice on our behalf, looking out for our personal Wellness. What is it that can be done to assure that all professionals are rowing with us in the direction to bring us safely to the shores of our personal ‘Wellness’?
To be well – What could be a better wish for the members of a faith community? But what does Wellness really include? Traditionally, our physical wellness is separate than our spiritual wellness. Why is that? Eastern religions have always had a solid connection between mind and body, yet our Christian roots keep the two detached. In fact some Christian denominations find the fitness culture vain. It is time to explore the real benefits of Wellness as it pertains to the greater Christian commission. Disciplined healthy habits can only add to a faith shaped lifestyle. It is only natural to include spiritual guidance of the Pastor, Minister or Christian counselor in addition to the medical community, personal trainers, and nutritionists that are traditionally included in the Wellness Team.
When we exercise, we proceed in good faith that the time spent exercising will pay off with better health. When we choose an apple over a doughnut, we are making a conscious choice about our future and the choices we make today. Also, we visit doctors in hope of improving our current medical condition; and of course, when we attend church, or pray, or visit our pastors; in good faith, we are also in search of healing.
So it goes. When we make our choices to eat right and exercise, when we visit health professionals, pastors or counselors, we reach outside ourselves and trust to find healing. Our choices to receive the positive benefits of healthy habits are similar in our choices to trust in the counsel set out by our health advocates and church leaders.
This is how we go about building the solid foundation of the community of wellness. We must first trust in God’s sure plan for us through the positive effects of eating healthy foods and recognizing exercise benefits. Secondly, we must trust in the healthcare providers and spiritual leaders God has planted among us. When we realize how elements work together in concert for our overall ‘Wellness’, we are on the road to healing. We are ready to gather together the Wellness team in our faith community.
When a church (defined as an ‘Assembly of Christians’ or ‘The Body of Christ’, and not a physical place or building) is able to tap into its deeper spiritual significance, the assembly or group soon realizes that it has a collective value of potential ‘wellness’ among its members that exponentially outshines the results of one individual’s chances to obtain ‘wellness’ alone. In other words, like the original faith communities we read about in the book of ‘Acts’, There was not one needy person among them (Acts 4:34). When the individuals of a faith community are able to support each other spiritually, physically and emotionally, there will be no one needy person among them. This is how we build an ongoing wellness program in the church.
When doctors, trainers, nurses, physical therapists, pastors, teachers, counselors and other professionals join together for the sake of the whole community and not just as an individual, the lasting ‘success’ is far greater and deeper than just simply joining another gym alone. Like the original Christian community in Acts, our focus on personal wellness takes a back seat to the wellness of the whole community. In doing this, we are empowered spiritually to love our neighbor.
Although we all have good intentions come January when we join the neighborhood gym following another New Year’s resolution, statistics show that within six months 50% of us will stop going regularly. When we resolve that we will not visit fast food restaurants anymore, within six months the old habit will return and we will be eating the convenient foods once again. Why is that? There could be several reasons for this. Most of the time good intentions are dashed because convenience, boredom, or lack of accountability overrides our original goal of achieving a lifestyle of health and wellness.
When we have a faith community that is made of health professionals as well as pastors and other spiritual advisors, we get a deeper commitment through daily affirmation of why we are doing what we are doing. No longer do we see our efforts as just ‘weight-loss’ but we find deeper meaning in our efforts. For example, the more conditioned we are, the greater our ability to serve others. The clergy remind us the sacrifices we make by our time and food choices can make a significant difference in the way the world is fed. We realize that the more in tune we are to those around us that have no food to eat, the less likely we overeat simply because of the deep compassion we feel for our neighbors who go to bed hungry. The community of Christians is what constantly reminds us of this fact of our food imbalance in the world.
The ongoing gentle reminder of Jesus message for us can be heard through scripture readings throughout the Gospels; that message is simply, “Feed my sheep”. When we take seriously Christ’s command, we start to switch our thinking from our own personal need to lose weight or stay in shape to a need to feed the poor. This switch is fulfillment of Christ’s new command for us, to love our neighbor. And for that reason only, many will see the practicality of this new direction of building a wellness team that includes the spiritual leaders. Wellness works beautifully when coupled with Christ’s message of loving neighbor.
An integrated wellness team that combines all the practices that help to make us healthy; spiritually, emotionally and physically, will force us to shift our thinking away from the self and more towards a more community or global understanding of being well. When we care for ourselves we can then better care for others. When we do this, the entire community will benefit.
A wellness team, complete with the medical and spiritual guidance professionals, is equipped to handle any aspect of an individuals needs that might inhibit progress. When an issue presents itself that could be problematic to the wellness of an individual, open communication between pastors and doctors or other health and spiritual leaders, chances are better for the overall ‘success’ of the program for the individual with the issue. He or she is never alone to contemplate their struggle; spiritually, emotionally or physically.
This new concept of an integrated wellness team starts with a spark of enthusiasm; a vision needs to be proclaimed by one or two individuals who is capable of ‘painting the picture’ for this wellness concept to the Christian people. Therefore, it takes one with a vision. This individual does not need be a health professional or a pastor. The visionary just needs to be able to motivate other believers. When a few or more are gathered, health and spiritual professionals will show up. It has been my experience that almost everyone has interest in health. Many times I have worked with churches and communities who have set up wellness teams that have accrued very little expense. Groups would purchase inexpensive equipment for exercise classes, get involved with local running events, or meet at existing church building for exercise classed three times weekly.
In one real example, Lutheran Churches in Florida took a survey of needs of the senior citizens of each congregation. One of the shocking discoveries is the huge need for more healthy habits for the seniors at large. It was realized that if the church was to get involved with helping implement such an important ministry for senior citizens of the congregation, physical needs would be dramatically altered for the better for the bulk of the older adults who suffered from declining health. Now ‘Parish Nurses’, who are nurses who volunteer or who are hired directly by the churches, have been implementing exercise classes, blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol screenings, as well as health workshops by wellness team members.
A group of 55,000 members join together to supply each other with information, medical and spiritual advise, prayer, and even health care coverage if a tragedy were to happen to an individual within the community of believers. Much like the original Christian community we read in Acts, the Medi-Share ministry has been established with similar Biblical principles of caring for others. Through a network of Doctors, Physical Therapists, personal trainers, dieticians, health care consultants, pastors, psychologists, and nurses, Medi-Share ( www.Medi-Share.org ) cares for the community of believers through the integrated wellness team approach to Wellness.
Since the definition St. Paul gives the church is ‘The Body of Christ’, we become more effective at our mission in the world if we care for the ‘body’. Implementing a Wellness team with its roots in health for all fulfills this ‘good stewardship’ approach to wellness (Stewardship- simply to care for things entrusted to us by God). When we cultivate a vision of a ‘Well-Church’ with the leadership of the Wellness team, we go forth with confidence and assurance that healthy living is God’s will for us and our purpose or ‘calling’ in life can only be enhanced with our disciplined approach to healthy living.
You can see how easily an integrated Wellness team can only help put together this ‘shift’ of thinking. When pastors and a faith community are integrated into the Wellness team, the will to ‘get in shape’ is deepened. A more full commitment is reached. A new motivation is introduced, and the healthy habits will last for a lifetime.
