Health Screening (Photo: Global Ministries)
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward and Global Ministries are pleased to announce the kick-off of a new US congregational health initiative as part of the Healthy Congregations, Healthy Communities forum, September 8-10, 2015 in Houston, Texas.
The goal is to have teams of two to three people from multiple churches within the conference to attend the event and be prepared to develop creative approaches to promoting good health within their congregations when they return. Church and conference leaders will learn about the importance of health ministries for the church and receive toolkits to pilot new health ministries in local congregations. Focused guidance will be available for churches whose health goals are already well developed. Global Ministries looks forward to reporting to the 2016 General Conference on the initial results of the pilot work begun by those that participate in the forum.
For more information and to register to attend, please go to the US Health Forum website. The deadline to register is March 15, 2015. Participants will need to cover their own travel and lodging costs. Please also notify Kathy Duncan at kduncan@nccumc.org (919-779-6115, ext 256) or Steve Taylor at staylor@nccumc.org (919-779-6115, ext 257) so the conference office will know who is attending.
The health ministry forum is a joint effort of UMC Global Ministries, the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits and Wesley Theological Seminary. Other sponsors include Houston Methodist Hospital and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, which are helping to underwrite the costs.