Health & Wellness Ministry
Did You Know?
Our Health and Wellness Ministry is designed to improve the overall health outcomes for our members and the communities they serve. In most cases, African Americans as a group have earlier and higher rates of death and debilitating illnesses than other groups of people.
The aim of this ministry is to train health coordinators for as many of our churches as possible. These coordinators will work with a health ministry/committee in the church to provide health information consistently for church members and visitors. BGCVA Health Ministry provides training and a connection to many resources to inform and equip members with the tools and resources needed to improve overall health and well-being. We also provide assistance with Health Days, Health Fairs, and other health-related events.
Current Health Ministry Programs:
Let’s Move! BGCVA Health Ministry is prepared to offer Health Ministry training based on the national Let’s Move! campaign. The Let’s Move! Initiative, started by First Lady Michelle Obama, has a national goal of addressing the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today reach a healthy adulthood. Let’s Move! is designed to engage every sector impacting the health of children and provides schools, families, and communities with simple tools to help kids be more active, eat better, and get healthy.
What is the Media-Smart Youth Program? Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active!® is an interactive after-school education program that focuses on building skills in media analysis and media production to help young people ages 11-13 understand the complex media world around them and how it can influence their health – especially in regard to nutrition and physical activity.
100 Congregations for Million Hearts® BGCVA Health Ministry is pleased to announce our partnership with Virginia Health Quality Center to offer two church–based heart health promotion opportunities. One of our areas of focus is improving heart health. Because heart attack and stroke are the leading causes of death in Virginia, VHQC will provide your church with free educational tools and resources to support healthier lifestyle choices. These resources include the Bless Your Heart toolkit, which helps congregations create or strengthen their health ministry, as well as understand the vital role they play in improving the heart health of their members and their communities.
Balanced Living with Diabetes (BLWD) Balanced Living with Diabetes is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded initiative in collaboration with Virginia Polytechnic University, Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, and Virginia State University. The program began in June 2010 and will continue through 2020. Another initiative with this is Empowering Healthy Families.
Soul Food Junkies – Screening of the Soul Food Junkies film followed by a panel discussion. In Soul Food Junkies, Byron Hurt sets out on a historical and culinary journey to learn more about the soul food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. Through candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as with doctors, family members, and everyday people, the film puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its positive and negative consequences. Hurt also explores the socioeconomic conditions in predominantly black neighborhoods, where it can be difficult to find healthy options, and meets some pioneers in the emerging food justice movement who are challenging the food industry, encouraging communities to “go back to the land” by creating sustainable and eco-friendly gardens, advocating for healthier options in local supermarkets, supporting local farmers' markets, avoiding highly processed fast foods, and cooking healthier versions of traditional soul food.
Monthly Health Blast – Monthly email of National Health Observances with links to additional information to be shared by church health ministries on bulletin boards, health tables, and/or church bulletins. Planning assistance is available.
Emergency Preparedness - Training seminars in the basics of being prepared for various emergencies in the church, home, car, or at work. For churches, the focus is on being able to shelter in place if necessary due to an emergency situation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. J. Elisha Burke
Consultant of Health & Wellness
We are BGC…Bringing People Together, Growing Churches, and Changing Communities!
~ Acts 1:8; Matthew 9:35-38; Mark 10:13-16