The Faith and Health Perspective, June 2021


Honoring Life's Transitions

June is a quirky month: school has just let out, the season is moving to full summer, travel plans loom on the horizon - and this particular June, we’re engaged in making the not-always-simple shift into post-COVID times.   

In other words, now is a time of transitions -- some exciting, and some that aren’t always easy.  

In our newsletter this month, we are honoring life’s great transition: the aging journey.  Associate Director for PHW’s Healthy Aging initiative, Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn, will share how faith communities can encourage healthy aging attitudes and ministries (see directly below).  And check out our Resources section, where you’ll find our Healthy Aging Toolkit, with everything from a statewide list of aging resources to our small-group discussion guide on how to broach the topic in lively and fun ways.

We’re also honoring all of YOU who joined the PHW Collaborative in 2020 (and we’re accepting new faith communities into our Collaborative network now -- so make that transition!).  You’ll find our June events, and our first-ever “Staff Spotlight,” celebrating PHW Program Coordinator Michelle Peedin, who will soon be making a transition of her own, to Columbia University’s School of Social Work. We will miss her bright spirit, humor, and tireless efforts on behalf of our PHW network of congregations.

From all of us at PHW to all of you:  blessings on your own life transitions -- including the shift to a hopefully relaxed, healthy, and wonderfully memorable Summer 2021.
Engaging Healthy Aging: Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn PHW Associate Director for Healthy Aging

We receive endless messages from our culture that "young" is good, and "older" is ... well, not so good. In fact, in the past year since I’ve become the associate director for PHW’s Healthy Aging initiative, I’ve heard aging described as everything from a “malady" to a disease.  


At PHW, we have a different definition of aging -- as a natural, lifelong process that, when undertaken with a healthy, positive spirit, can be a remarkable adventure.  Certainly, we acknowledge that growing older can, and often does,  come with its own particular challenges. Yet our team works to educate faith communities with evidence-based research so they can understand, rather than fear, these challenges.  We also offer the resources and tools to equip our PHW network of congregations and their wider communities to meet these challenges in effective and creative ways.  Please scroll to the end of our newsletter, under our “Resources” section, to find PHW’s Healthy Aging Toolkit, which includes, among other resources,  the four cornerstones to healthy aging, videos from our expert friends on various aging-related topics, and a small-group discussion guide to help your faith community engage aging in a way that is fun, builds relationship, and bears fruit through ministry.  And know, too, we are always here to support you. For more information on healthy aging presentations and how to explore this important topic, contact karen@nccouncilofchurches.org.

 
June Events

Sacred Conversations: Caretakers of Creation Part II:

Faith and The Environment Q&A

Friday, June 25, 11 a.m.-noon
Online

Join our Partners in Health in Wholeness initiative as we hear from Sarah Ogletree, Program Coordinator for North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light, on her experiences working at the intersection of faith and the environment. This Sacred Conversation will be different from part I in this series. Sarah will answer questions from you; the questions you don’t want to ask, or feel like it’s the wrong time to ask, or the questions that you think will make you feel like the only one in the room who doesn’t know the right answers. 

As we explore practical ways to engage with our environment as good caretakers, our hope is that we can create a space and time where we all get to ask our questions out loud and share our collective knowledge. This Sacred Conversations is an extension of the newly updated Partners in Health and Wholeness Sustainability Pledge as we seek to highlight the intersection of health, faith and the environment. Click here to register. 

"Growing Communities of Inclusion: Mental Health and Harm Reduction"

Monday, June 28, 1 - 2 p.m.
Online 

Join us for a webinar on making the connection between mental health and harm reduction work. We will look at substance use, harm reduction, and mental health through the lens of faith. There will be tangible ideas and resources on how your faith community can get involved.

Let’s eliminate stigma together. Click here to register:

Miss Our Faith Health Connection on "Alzheimer's Prevention and a Healthy Brain, Healthy Body"? View Our Recording Here!

On June 4, Dr. Cory O'Donoghue, director of the Alzheimer's Association/Western Carolina chapter, taught us how to identify symptoms of, talk about, and help prevent  age-related Alzheimer's and dementia. You'll not want to miss this in-depth and enlightening conversation on such a crucial aging concern.

Click here to view the recording:
PHW Collaborative Pledge and Mini-Grant Cycle

The PHW Collaborative Pledge is open as of January 15, and the second PHW Mini-Grant Cycle of 2021 opened as of June 1. The PHW Collaborative Pledge is a commitment to continuing a journey of putting faith into action in your community. Through the Collaborative Pledge, we aim to promote connections and relationships among our faith communities to share wisdom, provide support, and build a community around health and wholeness. Click here to take the Collaborative Pledge. 

The PHW Mini-Grant allows PHW Collaborative faith communities to support projects that promote health and wholeness while engaging the community. Faith Communities are able to request up to $1000 for an individual mini-grant, and up to $5000 for a community mini-grant among a minimum of three faith communities. Faith communities must have submitted a PHW Collaborative Pledge in the last 12 months for their application to be considered. Community mini-grants are limited. For more information please reach out to our Program Coordinator, Michelle S. Peedin, at PHWinfo@ncchurches.org. Please click here to browse our FAQs and to get started!
And Congratulations to All the Faith Communities Who Made Our Collaborative Pledge in 2020!

We see the PHW Collaborative Pledge as a commitment to continuing a journey of putting your faith into action. Making the PHW Collaborative Pledge means your faith community is intentionally weaving health and wellness into the body of your ministries. We honor the following 2020 Collaborative congregations, who have done and are doing amazing work! (See the full list here)



Check out our calendar of events here, and our list of resources here, to keep up with PHW and community-based events and resources across the state related to faith, health, and justice.
Staff Spotlight: Michelle Peedin, PHW Program Coordinator

This month our newsletter is offering a new video series, "Staff Spotlight," to introduce to you our PHW team: their stories, their loves, and their work.  For this, our inaugural Spotlight, we couldn't think of anyone worthier than our own Michelle Peedin.  Michelle, as PHW program coordinator, is in many ways the "face" (and the voice) of PHW.  She is the staff member you connect with when you reach out for information regarding our Collaborative Pledge and mini-grant information. Sadly for all of us, Michelle will be leaving at summer's end to embark on a new adventure, at Columbia University's School of Social Work.   We have no doubt that Michelle will be -- just as she has been for PHW -- a blessing to everyone she encounters, and a powerful, compassionate force for good in the world.  Michelle -- you are loved and will be missed.  To watch Michelle's message, click here.
Resources: PHW Healthy Aging Toolkit

As a network of faithful people committed to health and wholeness, we can learn and share – creating effective and lasting resources for our local communities. PHW is continuously compiling healthy aging resources that can equip people of faith with the  tools to learn and grow in this work. Please reach out to Partners in Health and Wholeness for more resources and support around healthy aging ministries. 

1. Healthy Aging Sacred Conversations/Faith Health Connections, and More: 

The Spirituality of Loneliness in Life's Second Chapter, Part I: Click here, 

The Spirituality of Loneliness in Life's Second Chapter, Part II: Click here.

Alzheimer's Prevention and a Healthy Brain, Healthy Body: Click here.

How a Geriatrician Thinks About People: Click here.

2. PHW Healthy Aging Resource Guide: Click here.

3. Healthy Aging 101: Four Cornerstones:  Click here. 

4. Healthy Aging Faith-based Discussion for Small Groups:  Click here.

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