I would like to recommend a 4-part congregational study guide that has been prepared for the North Carolina Council of Churches by Partners in Health and Wholeness. With the recent natural disasters in North Carolina, as well as around the world, we should consider those who are less fortunate. Their circumstances may impact their mental health. Then we have the tension and anxiety just before election day.
The 37-page guide is entitled Abundant Life in Mind, Body, and Spirit and is available to download from the Council’s website. Each session includes a reflection on scripture, discussion, a frame of reference for the group process, and case studies. The course provides resources of where to direct our congregations for more long-term help.
The assumption of HEALTH: physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
The topics cover health, mental health, caring for mental health in the community, and assessing the needs and resources of our churches and our communities.
With all the conflict, gun violence, and divisions in our own communities this seems a timely topic for discussion.
Over the course of his ministry, Jesus did more healing than preaching. Everywhere he went the sick came to him for healing. The common thread in each healing story is restoration to community — family, social, and religious group.
Besides being isolated when we are ill, many of us don’t much feel like going out anyway. We’re still recovering from the trauma of the Pandemic and the death of loved ones and friends.
Healing is a path toward restoration: between self and God, between self and others, as well as more self-awareness, and getting in touch with reality.
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