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Health Fundamentals Newsletter

An online newsletter published by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.

February 2008 Special Edition

Healthy Congregations

Working together with local United Methodist churches for a healthier Kansas

Reminder - Healthy Congregations Recognition Deadline is March 1
Reminder - encourage your Kansas United Methodist church to complete a Healthy Congregations Recognition report by March 1 and church members will be eligible to attend the Healthy Congregations Retreat at no charge!

The Healthy Congregations Recognition program, now in its twelfth year, highlights what Kansas United Methodist churches are doing to nurture, reach out, and educate through ministries of health, healing, and wholeness. Healthy Congregations Recognition also provides a way for churches to share health work ideas with others, encouraging and inspiring the growth of congregational health programs.

All congregations meeting the basic requirements of the Healthy Congregations Recognition Program receive a free health resource and recognition at the Healthy Congregations Annual Retreat and at the Kansas East and Kansas West Annual Conferences. $1,500 Healthy Congregation of the Year awards are presented to six congregations demonstrating outstanding health and wellness ministries.

Report forms are available online, with features designed to make reporting easy and simple. Churches that submitted an online 2006 report can easily roll-over recurring activities to the 2007 report.

More information about Healthy Congregations Recognition, including report forms for 2007 activities, is available on the Health Fund website at http://www.healthfund.org/hc.php. Completed reports must be submitted online or mailed by March 1, 2008.

Health Fund Seeking Feedback on Healthy Congregations Programs Through Online Survey
If you are a member of a Kansas United Methodist Church, we hope you'll take a few minutes right now to complete an online survey to help us improve our efforts to support and encourage congregational health ministries throughout the state. In appreciation, we'll make a $5 donation to a United Methodist agency you select.

For over 11 years, the Health Fund has sponsored a variety of programs designed to support the implementation or expansion of health ministries in Kansas United Methodist churches. Our work has centered on three main programs: Healthy Congregations Grants, Healthy Congregations Retreat, and Healthy Congregations Recognition reporting.

Throughout that time, the Health Fund has awarded over $200,000 in grants, over 230 churches have reported health ministry activities, and nearly 600 persons have participated in the retreat. We congratulate and thank all the congregations which have started and grown health ministry programs over the years.

However, the Health Fund believes that more can be done, in more churches, throughout the state. We are interested in your feedback on the current Healthy Congregations programs and on your ideas for how we might reach more churches in the future.

The online survey is available on the Health Fund website. Your ideas and feedback are valuable to us! Please take a few minutes right now to complete the survey, and in appreciation the Health Fund will make a $5 donation to a United Methodist agency you select from a list at the end of the survey.

Register Today! 7th Annual Healthy Congregations Retreat April 11-12, 2008
The 2008 Healthy Congregations Annual Retreat for United Methodists will be held April 11-12 at Rock Springs 4-H Center. Register online today and look forward to enjoying two days of relaxation, interesting and informational sessions, and networking with friends and peers in a beautiful and peaceful natural setting. The retreat is provided free of charge by the Health Fund (The $25 registration fee will be refunded at the event for all attendees whose church has completed a 2007 Healthy Congregations Recognition report. Please encourage your church to participate and receive recognition for health ministry work!). The event brings together United Methodists with shared interests in congregational health ministries and the promotion of holistic health and healthy lifestyles. The retreat features a variety of sessions covering the spiritual, mental, physical, and social components of health.

Who should attend the retreat?

Additional event information and online registration is available at www.healthfund.org/hcar.php.

C 2008 United Methodist Health Ministry Fund
www.healthfund.org – healthfund@healthfund.org – 620.662.8586 – 800.369.7191