1. UCC WELLNESS MINISTRIES AND FAITH COMMUNITY NURSES
Caring Across the Lifespan
for Individuals, Families, Groups, and Communities

2. What is wellness?
Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life.
...a state of well-being of spirit, mind, and body, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Being at peace.

3. Resolution adopted by 21st General Synod, June 1997
22 years ago . . .
Resolution adopted by 21st General Synod, June 1997
Encouraged local congregations to develop and include in their mission a commitment to health and wholeness,
to engage health and wholeness issues through an ongoing health ministry team,
and consider implementation of a health ministry/parish nursing program.
Called upon UCC Boards, seminaries, CHHSM, Conferences, and local congregations to develop resources that support development and enrichment of health ministry programs in local churches.
“Reclaiming
The Church’s
Ministry
of Health
and Healing”
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

4. Local Congregation’s Wellness or Health Ministry Team is comprised of members within the congregation who:
Explain that caring for our bodies and each other is what we are called to do.
Maintain awareness of the ever-changing needs and opportunities of the congregation and the community it serves.
Seek to work together to offer coordinated programs that meets the congregation’s common goal.
May be led by a lay leader or a Faith Community Nurse (formerly titled “Parish Nurse”).

5. Faith Community Nursing is:
The specialized practice of professional nursing focusing on the intentional care of the spirit as the foundation of the practice.
The delivery of care and the relationship established promotes whole-person health and prevention or minimization of illness within the context of the faith community and the wider community (ANA/HMA, 2017)

6. UCC Wellness Ministries “Umbrella”
The collaborative mechanism that unites many diverse health and healing efforts within congregations
Pastoral Care Ministries
Health Promotion Ministries
UCC Health-Focused Initiatives
Community-based Ministries

7. Community-based ministries:
UCC Initiatives:
“Widening the Welcome” UCC Mental Health Ministry
OWL – “Our Whole Lives”
A2A -“Accessible 2 All” UCC Disabilities Ministry
ONA – “Open and Affirming” LGBT Ministries
“UCAN” – UCC HIV and AIDS Network
Wellness Ministries
Community -Based
Other UCC Ministries
Community-based ministries:
Disaster Response
Refugee & Immigrant support
Ministry to the Homeless
Meal Kitchens; Food Pantries
Clothing Closet
AA, NA, Al-Anon, and a variety of other support groups

8. And just a few more examples . . .
Pastoral Care Ministries:
Health Promotion Ministries:
Visitation
Prayer Shawls
Cards, Notes, Calls
Transportation
Meal Deliveries
Meditation practice
Bereavement Teams
Prayer Circles
Healing Services – ex. Longest Night
Healthy and Safe Eating
Walking Programs
Meditation, Yoga & Tai Chi
Safety Education
Support of those with chronic illness, including HIV/AIDS
Advance Care Planning
CPR, AED, and Naloxone administration
Mental Health First Aid and groups provided by National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI)

9. Addressing social issues to promote health, healing, and wholeness
UCC Wellness Ministries and Faith Community Nurses: Expanding the Church’s Vision
Integrating health and healing throughout the collective life of the church
Engaging in collaborative, multidimensional approaches to health, healing, and wholeness
Empowering individuals, families, and communities to achieve health and wholeness in the context of ministry
Addressing social issues to promote health, healing, and wholeness

10. We are called to do this work because…
Christ has no body now but ours, no hands, no feet on earth but ours.
Ours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion on this world
Ours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Ours are the hands through which Christ blesses all the world.
Christ has no body now on earth but ours.
Adapted from poem by Theresa of Avila

11. UCC Wellness Ministries and Faith Community Nurses
Reclaiming church’s role in healing of mind, body, spirit, community, and creation.
Health Promotion, Education, and Advocacy for persons across the life span.
Integrating and coordinating multiple ministries of caring.
Caring Connections for Health, Healing, and Wholeness