Women of the ELCA Raises Up Healthy Women and Girls

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls" is
the health initiative of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA). The women's organization of the ELCA gathered
about 60 women and girls for its first Healthy Hearts Event here
Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Worship, prayer, singing, yoga, water aerobics, walking,
stretching, journaling and meditation rounded out the program of
speakers, small-group discussions and exhibits. Participants
came from as far away as Florida.
Speakers discussed emotional, spiritual and physical health.
All three speakers emphasized the importance of balancing all
forms of health.
The Rev. Mary B. Stein-Webber, Trinity Lutheran Church,
Oakland, Calif., is a licensed counselor and director for "A Safe
Place to Heal," a Christian counseling center in Oakland.
Stein-Webber said others, especially family members,
influence our emotional health with their positive and negative
messages. "Being aware and awake of how they impact us is one of
the most important things in the world," she said.
The messages from others combine with the emotional
responses people choose to assign to each event in their lives,
Stein-Webber said. When the messages and responses are negative,
they must be confronted and corrected, "if we are ever to be
healthy," she said.
"Jesus told people the truth about who they were, and then
he set them free," Stein-Webber said. "I love that about him."
The Rev. Dawn D. Hansen, director for programs, Women of the
ELCA, started her presentation on spiritual health with some
questions: "What is the shape of your spirit? What does it feel
like? What does it look like? How do you feed your spirit?"
Exercise benefits spiritual health much the same way it
benefits physical health, Hansen said. Participants said they
"fed their spirits" through prayer, music, Bible reading and fun.
"Laughter is a very important piece in keeping our spirits
flexible, adaptable, resilient, elastic and open to new things,
change," Hansen said. "The ability to play is a flexible
spirit," she said.
The church is often seen as "sanctuary" from the "big bad
world" of change, Hansen said, and "growing up" is equated with
"growing closed." Jesus said believers mature by becoming like
children, she said, trusting God to provide.
Dr. Gwen Wagstrom Halaas, a family physician in St. Paul,
Minn., and author of "The Right Road: Life Choices for Clergy"
discussed the place of physical health within a "wholeness wheel"
that included emotional, social, vocational, intellectual and
spiritual health.
Halaas challenged each participant to write her own
"prescription for good health," setting specific goals in each
area of health. Lifestyle accounts for about half of a person's
health issues, she said, stressing the importance of goals
ranging from regular exercise to keeping in touch with friends
and volunteering.
Jan Hultgren participates in the "St. Paul Healthy Heart
Million-Minute Challenge." She told the audience about the
program that involves about 20 people at any time at St. Paul
Lutheran Church, Villa Park, Ill.
It began about three years ago, Hultgen said. Participants
keep track of the minutes they exercise -- walking, cycling,
jogging, etc. -- and phone in their numbers each month. Totals
are recorded on a chart at the church and reported in the
bulletin, she said.
Each February, around St. Valentine's Day, the congregation
hosts a heart-healthy lunch or breakfast, to celebrate progress
and to present awards. Hultgren said participants are about
280,000 minutes away from meeting the challenge to log one
million minutes of exercise.
At Capital Drive Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, "The Journey to
Healthy Living" uses competition as an incentive. Julie
Pekarske, RN, serves as parish nurse for the congregation in
partnership with Luther Manor, Wauwatosa, Wis.
Participants receive a book with suggested Bible readings
and information about healthy food and activities -- from
exercise to social events and service opportunities. Pekarske
told the audience that points are awarded for each activity.
Each week the 30 to 40 participants phone in their points,
and the numbers are totaled for each of their teams, she said.
"We did it before Thanksgiving," Pekarske said. "People did
feel good about going into the holidays, because they were eating
healthier and exercising," she said.
Pekarske said one reason she attended the Women of the
ELCA's Healthy Hearts Event was to gather fresh ideas for her
program's book and to develop new activities for longtime
participants.
The Women of the ELCA's Chicago event included a Healthy
Hearts Fair. A softly lit room, filled with gentle sounds and
aromas, featured several tables positioned in the shape of a
heart. Each "station" included information or exercises that
illustrated a different aspect of a healthy heart.
The next Healthy Hearts Event is planned for Oct. 27-29 at
the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons and the Joseph S.
Koury Convention Center, Greensboro, N.C.
-- -- --
The home page for Women of the ELCA is at
http://www.womenoftheELCA.org/ and information about "A Safe
Place to Heal: Christian Counseling" is at
http://www.safeplacetoheal.com on the Web.

The Wholeness Wheel is at
http://www.ELCA.org/health/wholenesswheel.html and the ELCA
social statement on "Caring for Health: Our Shared Endeavor" is
at http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/health/ on the ELCA Web
site.

Audio of Jan Hultgren describing the "St. Paul Healthy Heart
Million-Minute Challenge" is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061005A.mp3 and Julie Pekarske,
RN, describing "The Journey to Healthy Living" is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061005B.mp3 on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog