In 2014, the residents of Harvey, La., had a difficult time maintaining their health. Many residents faced chronic health concerns such as heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension. Health care disparities impacting this community were exacerbated by a poverty level 42% higher than the national average. Many residents could not afford memberships at fitness facilities, and there were few programs that offered preventive health services. Twelve years later, a community-centered health and wellness ministry, born out of Faith Presbyterian Church, is changing that and bringing new life and nourishment to the people of Harvey: Be Well-Come Together.  

Starting a health ministry was not on the mind of the Rev. Jean Marie Peacock when she first arrived at Faith Presbyterian Church in summer 2014. The church had called her to lead them through a period of discernment and transition. The members knew of her years of experience planning, organizing and leading nonprofit ministries and her denominational leadership in congregational development. At the time, Faith Presbyterian Church had about 40 members. It had called Pastor Jean Marie to help the congregation better connect with their surrounding community in hope that this would revitalize its presence and lead to renewed vibrancy in the church.  

The members were surprised by her first initiative — listening. Pastor Jean Marie trained a core group of leaders in the art of one-on-one conversations and helped them spend 18 months starting conversations with their neighbors. “We hung out at the local strip mall and the snowball stand and engaged people in conversation,” said Pastor Jean Marie. “That’s where the concerns in the neighborhood really bubbled up.”  

To the surprise of both Pastor Jean Marie and the congregation, their neighbors voiced the most need for health and wellness support. Fatigue, high cholesterol, diabetes, lack of healthy food and other chronic conditions were severely affecting neighbors and their families. The congregation decided to test out a ministry responding to the issues that they were hearing and organized a series of nutrition workshops with a dietician from Louisiana State University’s Agricultural Center. “We had people coming out of the woodwork to attend those sessions,” said Pastor Jean Marie.

The church also partnered with Baptist Community Ministries to train congregation members as community health advocates; this training equipped volunteers to have informed conversations about health with their neighbors and refer people to appropriate services and programs based on their health care needs. The church now had more support and information to build an effective health ministry.  

Quickly the new health ministry snowballed. The church’s health advocates were trained in an intensive curriculum around nutrition, blood pressure, cholesterol and stress management. The church planned to engage about 20 people in the 10-week course; the spots filled quickly, and soon there was a waiting list. A parishioner began a free exercise class at the church, which also attracted many more neighbors than imagined.  

Faith Presbyterian members continued to engage the community in conversation: “What else can we do?” They organized monthly community Soul Food dinners to offer a space for spiritual nurture, bringing neighbors and parishioners together over a meal to explore questions of life and faith. As new needs were identified, the church responded. The church started offering grief support groups and stress management workshops, addressing mental and emotional needs as well as physical ones. It branded its ministry “Be Well-Come Together” to highlight this holistic approach to health and wellness.

Be Well…We focus on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Well-Come…Be part of a welcoming environment where no one is judged, all are accepted, and everyone supports each other.

‍Come Together…Find strength in community - no one should face life’s challenges alone. Together, we can improve our lives and our community.  

Many neighbors were now regularly walking through the doors of the church every week; it was clear that the congregation had been successful in connecting with the community and creating a ministry that was both needed and meaningful for its neighbors. But the health ministry’s momentum was bittersweet for some parishioners. “A lot of folks hoped that this new initiative would lead to congregational growth,” says Pastor Jean Marie. “They thought they would see new members, new pledges.”

While more people were coming into the building on weekdays for Be Well-Come Together programming, the number of people in the pews on Sunday morning stayed stagnant; plate offerings did not increase. The church members wrestled with the question of what they hoped for — was ministry about growing attendance in worship service, or was it about sharing Christ’s love and giving up control over the outcomes? “We had to change the way we thought about evangelism,” said Pastor Jean Marie. “We’re called to share Christ’s love without the expectation of receiving something back.”  

As the parishioners opened themselves to the idea that the congregation of Faith Presbyterian may not grow as a result of the new wellness ministry, their mindsets began to change. They began to see the regular participants in Be Well-Come Together as collaborators who had an equal investment in the ministry. Neighbors took on leadership, helped to plan programs and volunteered for events. The Be Well-Come Together community was growing, and members were pitching in with caring for the building as well as the wellness ministry.  

Faith Presbyterian saw that the ministry needed to become self-sustaining, and in 2017 the decision was made to create a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit that would house the ministry. This opened the possibility for new grants and funding opportunities and honored the collaborative leadership between both church and community members. In 2021, Be Well-Come Together applied to be designated as one of the 1001 New Worshiping Communities in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

This new structure allowed Faith Presbyterian to recognize Be Well-Come Together as not only a ministry of the church but its legacy. “The congregation sees it as something we gave birth to, a beautiful manifestation of Christ’s love in the neighborhood,” said Pastor Jean Marie. Faith Presbyterian Church is now known in the community and will be remembered for the ways it addressed needs, impacted lives and contributed to the neighborhood’s well-being through Be Well-Come Together, a new expression of “being church.”  

Faith Presbyterian’s church building may not see many people on Sunday morning, but the neighborhood is being changed by the experience of being loved and nourished during the week. “People might come to Be Well-Come Together for exercise class, but in exercise class they meet people, they connect, they share. They start coming to other programs and the Soul Food dinners. Suddenly they’re surrounded by support. It’s wonderful to see the care and community that evolves as people find those relationships.” And if that isn’t church, what is?  

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Property Stewardship Lessons

• Get out into the neighborhood and listen. Conversations are the foundation of relationships and new ideas for what can happen on your property.  

• Follow where the Spirit leads. We can’t make a strategic plan for ministry, but we can strategically follow the Spirit to learn what God is calling our church to be. We must be in constant discernment with both God and our neighbors.

• Focus on ministry growth, not membership. Successful evangelism is about changing people’s lives through the love of Christ, not increasing the number of names on the rolls.

• Use church property as a tool for mission and nonprofit organization.
  As congregations discern new models for ministry, church buildings can become centers for nonprofit partnerships, health ministries, education, connection and care.  

Congregations and leaders interested in learning more about Be Well-Come Together’s story and starting a community ministry in their neighborhood can contact the Rev. Jean Marie Peacock, MDiv, MSW, for training and coaching.

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