I'd like to return to a theme I've touched on before: that the local church is a great venue for health-promotion activities.

Below are a few resources for churches that are intentional about caring for the bodies of congregants and community members.  All of these program templates have some basic principles in common:

First Lady Michelle Obama is leading "Let's Move," a national effort to combat childhood obesity.  The United Methodist Reporter tells how churches are aiding the cause. 

Among other faith-based efforts, the Amazing Pace program in the Mississippi Conference is making an impact. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

I came across an amusing story over the weekend: about health-club employees preparing for an onslaught of new members. Gyms experience this spike in business every January 1, as sure as the ball dropping in Times Square.

From a December 20 news release by the North Carolina Conference:

Last week, Faith & Leadership published an article by Mark Miller-McLemore about clergy sabbaticals.  The writer identifies a number of downsides for the congregation and staff who must hold down the fort while the senior pastor is away.  The purpose of the article is not to urge against sabbaticals, but to point out some pitfalls that should be kept in mind when a pastor plans for a sabbatical. 

Have you ever noticed that in the gospels Jesus seems often to be at a meal, coming from a dinner, or on his way to a table? Eating together is one of the most important things we do. Gathered around a table we learn how to receive each other and the world as gifts from God. We discover that we are gifts meant by God to be given to each other for the healing of the world.

Note: This is the fourth post in a 10-part series, drawn from Connecting the Mind, Body and Spirit: Reflections on Health, produced by the Clergy Health Initiative and distributed at the 2010 United Methodist Annual Conferences in North Carolina.  Each reflection is tied to the lectionary; we will publish each reflection a week in advance of the Sunday to which it is tied.

July 25, 2010
Luke 11:1-13 • Give us each day our daily bread.

I loathe hot, sticky weather. That loathing permeates everything these late July days: the new puppy's antics are annoying, I dread the sensation that I may burst into flame when I walk from air conditioning into the outdoors, the thought of cooking dinner fills me with dread, and the idea of putting on a choir robe is truly daunting. So, what is a health-conscious person of faith to do with this season? Savor it, of course.

Recently I went online to rent a beach house for a week in August. The place I prefer to go is one I’ve visited many times over a span of more than twenty years. What struck me as I checked realtor websites for rental options this year were the selling points listed for the various properties. Location, of course, is always paramount, beach-front still at a premium.

Do people’s moods change over time? A 2008 Gallup phone survey of 340,000 Americans sought to measure both their sense of global well-being as well as their general mood (degree of happiness, stress, anger, or worry), and see whether either evolves. The results of this study recently were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the findings may interest you.