Living in a healthy world and maintaining personal, family, and community health is a major concern for most people today. Throughout our lifetimes we come face-to-face with illness, challenges of childrearing and families, and the changes that accompany living in society as we age. Additionally we are concerned about our surroundings and the impact they have on health.
Over the last decades the issues surrounding health and well-being have been addressed by healthcare providers and healthcare systems and for the most part they have not been a significant focus of the church. Even though many healthcare providers participate in churches, and sometimes interact with church members about health in their community, this kind of dialogue has been very limited. At the same time, as acts of service and missionary activities are supported by churches, few church-based efforts are focused on care for each other and those in our communities.
As Christians, we clearly understand the call to “love the Lord with all our heart,” however the instruction to “love our neighbor” may not result in us concretely addressing the health and well-being of those around us. Promoting health and wholeness for our community, regardless of where people live or how we encounter them, is one of the present challenges we will address at Hope•II.
In this health consultation our primary goal is to develop and support an ongoing Health Network for mobilizing and creating church health ministries.
The focus of our two days together will be:
- To examine how world view influences our understanding of church and health ministries
- To consider current strategies and approaches for church health ministries in our communities
- To energize and support each other as we bring a more holistic focus to our church activities