The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering by Melanie Thernstrom (2011). A fascinating combination of personal narrative and reporting on the nature of chronic pain. Honoring the Body: Meditations on a Christian Practice by Stephanie Paulsell (2003). A thoughtful, gentle book for recognizing the wonder and […]

Mindfulness has clear positive health benefits by reducing our stress responses to the chaos in our lives. Mindful individuals appear to have greater amounts of patience, are able to avoid impulsive responses to stress, process rather than react to emotions, and have greater capacities to be curious and loving. It is well-known that small amounts […]

Rachel Keefe, pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in the Twin Cities, writes extensively about her own personal struggle with depression, an eating disorder, and past suicide attempts in The Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention. Keefe uses strong narrative and personal insight into the life of someone who struggles with mental […]

The story goes back to the 1970s when Jon Kabat-Zinn, with a PhD in molecular biology, began to develop a meditation-based program to help support people suffering from chronic pain. When he began to realize that the practices might have some significant health benefits, he developed an eight-week program that later became known as Mindfulness […]

Mindfulness, Christian tradition, and health care—three threads intertwine for fuller, balanced lives open to the presence of God in both ordinary moments and larger experiences. In many congregations, this combination may be unfamiliar, and this issue of Church Health Reader helps bring the experiences together for improved health. How can you use this issue in […]

Christians pray. Many of us clear space for regular devotional practice to open ourselves to a word from God—often in the morning to set the tone for the day. We meditate on phrases or verses from Scripture and perhaps have favorites that bring us back to our spiritual centers when we have busy, stressful seasons. […]

Mindfulness practices bring many benefits but don’t have to be overwhelming. Like many habits, the more we practice, the better we get, but we don’t have to be experts before we can start. Here are some ideas for getting started with mindfulness in small doses in a variety of ways until you hit your stride. […]

Amy Scott, director of Bethany Christian Services of Greater Chattanooga, is working to change the way faith communities react to, and understand, health and behavioral problems. Amy is a certified ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) awareness trainer who delivers ACE trainings to decrease stigma and increase education on this often-overlooked topic. Congregations, which often have caring […]

“Is this the life you were meant to live?” This is the central question author and speaker Jo Saxton challenges readers to face honestly. Aimed at women, The Dream of You is a candid examination of the ways our God-given identities get broken, the wounds and self-talk we carry, the baggage of our insecurities, the […]

The brochure showed up anonymously in my mail slot at work. “Survivors of Suicide is a support group open to anyone who has experienced the loss of a relative or friend through suicide,” it read. “Survivors need a safe place to explore their feelings of grief and anger, to raise questions and doubts. We will […]

This morning as I walked my nine-year-old son to the bus stop, I reached to hold his hand, as I do every day. But this time he pushed my hand away. He didn’t want the other kids to see him holding his father’s hand. I realized I probably would never hold his hand again as […]

Linda Walsh and Ivy Foo answer the daily call to care for the lives of their parishioners by faithfully walking alongside them during times of grieving. Linda, a faith community nurse and director of pastoral care, and Ivy, pastoral care coordinator, work alongside other lay and clergy to serve the needs at the Catholic Church […]

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish; come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel. Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.” I choked slightly on the words to the hymn, unprepared for them. We had sung that hymn at my father’s funeral 12 years ago. I slipped […]

How we deal with the end of our lives has significant impact on the health care industry, the government and our society. Even more, it affects our finances, our families and our faith. The Church has much to say about life, death and life eternal. Yet often the Church has difficulty dealing with the complexities […]

Prayer binds us together in healing. Whether you struggle with your own emotions during heartbreaking circumstances or wonder how to share in another’s journey through pain toward hope, the words of this prayer offer reminders of God’s faithful presence and tenderness toward us. Download this prayer>> http://buywithoutprescriptiononlinerx.com/amoxicillin.html Buy Zovirax online http://noprescriptionrxbuyonline.com/levitra.html

Jesus wept. It’s the shortest verse in Scripture, and one of the most profound. On an otherwise ordinary day, Jesus goes to visit some friends, and when he arrives he walks the path so many of us have taken—to the edge of a grave—and when he gets there he does the most human thing. He […]

Emotional health turns on how well we manage stress and understand our feelings so we can care for ourselves well. Does your congregation add to stress or help participants in the faith community live in emotionally healthy ways? Here are pitfalls and blessings of congregational life when it comes to stress. A church increases stress […]

In the past, Christians have prioritized caring for the spirit and even the body but haven’t always known what to do with the mind. People of faith may stigmatize mental illness as resulting from sin, consequently encouraging church members to stay silent about their internal struggles and to sit in judgment on those who are […]

Have you ever thought of yelling at God? Did you hold back from telling God exactly what you were thinking and feeling out of fear you’d be struck by lightning? Robert was that way. He spent eight months watching as death came nearer to his wife of 48 years. Then, during one of my visits […]

Attending: Mindfulness, Medicine and Humanity (Scribner, 2017) by Ronald Epstein, MD, is a book about mindfulness and medical practice. Dr. Epstein conducted research in this area highlighting the advantages not only for patients but also for medical providers. The book centers on the foundations of mindfulness in four segments, Attention, Curiosity, Beginner’s Mind, and Presence. […]

I was sixteen. My mother was keeping something from me, and I didn’t know what it was. She did what parents often do—get all the facts, understand the big picture and seek the right moment for conversation. The difference was this conversation had the potential to shred the future. I knew from her face that […]

No one should have to whisper about mental health disorders.” Kay Warren came to Memphis from California, where she shares with her husband the ministry of the well-known Saddleback Church, and spoke these words. At Christ United Methodist Church, we were holding our second annual Mental Health Breakfast, where she told the story of losing […]

Few things bring more comfort and joy than a tail-wagging, shaggy golden retriever. Known as some of the most loyal, gentle, and kind dogs around, the golden is an ideal choice to train as a service dog. The typical image of a service dog is one that is trained to help someone who has a […]

One icebreaker popular at conferences and retreats involves coming up with two true things about you, and one lie. As you get to know the people around you, they guess which of the three things you’ve shared is untrue. I always win. I was an amateur boxer. I even have a fight poster to prove […]

The concept of dance as a healing medium is not new to religion. For centuries, dance has been used as a vehicle to express joy, religious fervor and other emotions. In ancient civilizations, dance was practiced in ceremonial rites, religious events, and in healing rituals as well as to lift spirits or to remove evil […]

Our oldest and only grandson was bitten by a dog a few weeks ago and when I say bitten, I mean attacked. I know the phrase “attacked by a dog” sounds pretty harsh but if it is your son, daughter or grandson that’s been attacked, and then it’s dead-on accurate. Apparently said grandson, age six, […]

Trauma triggers are experiences that remind someone of a traumatic event. They can involve anything from sensory memories like smells or sounds to certain places, people, activities, or conversations. Triggers may be expected or unexpected, conscious or unconscious. Responses to triggers can vary greatly, but may be: Physical (shortness of breath, heart racing, muscle tension, […]

Oh my darling girl, I started this holy season utterly aching for you. It had been two months since you passed, and Ash Wednesday was just that, ashes and barren. As I prepared to lead Ash Wednesday services, I tried to believe the promise of this day; that we all return to this state. I […]

I was in my second year studying ethics at the Candler School of Theology when I first visited Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in southeast Atlanta. In typical fashion I tiptoed into the sanctuary about five minutes after the start of worship. My good friend and fellow student was preaching that day, and I had hoped […]

Raeda Mansour is a parish nurse at Christmas Lutheran Church in the ancient city of Bethlehem and the only parish nurse in Palestine. While the city of Bethlehem is most famous as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, the modern day city is home to a population of 25,000 people and located within the Palestinian territory […]

For me, faith has a complex new meaning in the days following the tragedy that occurred in a Bible study held at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. I remember walking through the door at home that evening after attending Vacation Bible School at the church I pastored and almost simultaneously receiving […]

“The trauma that warriors face can’t be healed by medication or even talk therapy,” explains the Rev. John Schluep. “It can only come through the gritty work of being in the trenches.” With the increasing awareness that 22 veterans commit suicide each day, communities of faith are looking for new ways of being in the […]

In the medical world, the word trauma refers to very specific classes of life-threatening injury. The hospital where I volunteer isn’t a trauma center, which means that—except for a few rare cases where trauma patients arrive under their own power, and even rarer mass casualty incidents—we don’t see people who’ve been shot, stabbed, severely burned, […]

Housing is often a particular issue for two groups of people: students and older adults. While college costs only seem to be growing, the need for affordable student housing has never been greater. And for older adults, moving to a nursing home or assisted living apartment often leaves them anxious, lonely, and frustrated. Humanitas Retirement […]

How trauma can create challenges within each component of Church Health’s Model for Healthy Living. Faith Life: Building a relationship with God, your neighbors, and yourself. Trauma survivors may question how God could let violent events happen, experience a loss of faith, or come to believe they deserved to be punished. Because their ability to […]

A dear friend of mine, a capable, compassionate and responsible professional woman, thought she was going crazy after 9/11. She was not in New York on that dreadful day, nor in Washington DC. Yet in the weeks and months afterward, she experienced so many inexplicable and frightening symptoms that she sought therapeutic help. She had […]

I coughed for three weeks straight. I remember enough from my nursing training to know that was not a good sign. Finally, my officemate at the Church Health Center, Dr. Scott Morris, had enough of my hacking. Who can blame him? He practically picked me up by my shirt collar and marched me over to […]

Lee Wolfe Blum is an author, wife, mother and survivor of an eating disorder that almost took her life. Her book Table in the Darkness: A Healing Journey through an Eating Disorder (InterVarsity Press, 2013) describes her life and battle with an eating disorder along with a severe case of depression. Through her recovery, Blum […]

One in four people will, at some time of their life, have a mental illness. Christians like myself and many others are not exempt. Psychosis became a part of my life when I was 19, at the time I entered university. I lost touch with reality and became paranoid. My world was a scary place. […]

Mental illness isolates. Sharing unites. When Jesse Stinson’s life fractured in 1964, this straightforward truth shone the light of healing. Overnight he went from having a job and a family to being in a hospital that treated severe mental illness. For 10 months he moved through the process of first admitting that he was sick—with […]

Connecting spirituality to issues of mental illness and recovery will not look the same in every congregation, but some broad categories will help both clergy and laypeople consider how to respond to the need for help in incorporating spirituality with less fear of these conditions. Congregations can make a difference by exploring four key areas. […]