When Lisa Wallace wanted to get healthier, she turned to her church.
The church has always saved souls.
Now it was time to save bodies.
Wallace, a director of analytics for a financial services company, participated in a program at Atlanta’s Salem Bible Church called “The Journey,” which seeks to get people on a healthier path for mind, body and spirit. It includes lessons on healing, transformation, empowerment and growth.
Wallace was prehypertensive. Her mother, father, sister and aunt were all on medication for high blood pressure.
She was worried that would be her likely fate as well and was determined to reverse that trend.
She lost 10 pounds in six weeks, and her blood pressure was lowered.
“I’m a living testimony,” said Wallace, who said she also grew in her faith. “I think that the mind, body and spirit are all aligned. You can’t just pray everything away. We’re instructed to take care of our temple. We only have one.”
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What’s going on at Salem is being repeated more and more in African American sanctuaries around metro Atlanta. It’s not a new trend, but it’s growing and some churches have established ministries specifically dedicated to physical and mental health.
It’s particularly important in the black community, which typically has higher rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Since an intensive holistic program, “The Journey,” began in 2012, participants have lost an estimated 14,000 pounds, said Joseph L. Williams, senior pastor at Salem, which has 10,000 members in Atlanta and Lithonia. Those involved in “The Journey” include members of Salem and other congregations. The program includes diet, and exercise is encouraged, but not required.
“The Journey” is a holistic transformation of mind, body and spirit.
People form teams and work on individual goals. There is meditation, reflective journaling, diet, prayer and reading of the Word.
The program is free, but when individuals complete it, they are asked to make an optional donation to the ministry.
One person lost 55 pounds. The average blood pressure reading among participants dropped 7%.
“The church is still a great institution in our community,” Williams said. “And the local pastor has equity in his parishioners that others do not have. As pastor, I want to positively motivate people.”
From 2016 to 2019, a companion program, the “40-Day Turn Up,” which is focused mostly on weight loss and weight management, has resulted in more than 16,000 pounds lost among more than 1,200 participants.
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More faith communities are offering programs that address the well-being of their members — from partnering with health advocacy groups, to holding health screenings and HIV/AIDS testing, to promoting healthy eating by stocking fresh fruit and vegetables in their food pantries.
Some, like New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, have gyms on their campuses.
Ebenezer Baptist Church has a “Faith & Fitness” group, which meets on Saturday mornings to walk, run and jog around the city. The church rents gym space at a site owned by the city of Atlanta. It has a health ministry led by doctors and nurses who are also members of the church.
“Pretty much every month, we have a different health focus — mental and physical,” said the Rev. Bronson Elliott Woods, assistant pastor, Young Adults and Outreach.
During the month of December, for instance, the church focused on HIV/AIDS awareness.
“We’re trying to take care of what God has given us,” he said. “That’s our mind, body and soul. We have to do more than preach about it. We have to live it, we have to walk it and we have to run it.”
Recently, the American Heart Association and WW International (Weight Watchers Reimagined) launched the EmPOWERED & Well Healthier Church Challenge, which is designed to support and expand ongoing health and wellness activities of black women and their faith-based communities.
According to the American Heart Association, a recent study found that black women have three times the risk of sudden cardiac death compared to white women.
“Women are the chief medical decision-makers in their homes and community,” said Kimberly Wright, vice president of the American Heart Association’s Health Strategies-Metro Atlanta. “The value of this program allows women to focus on themselves to be healthy and in turn improve the health of their family members and community.”
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The challenge will kick off the week of Jan. 19 in Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. The 12-week pilot program will help participants with weekly coaching and science-based health education. Ten of the 54 churches selected to participate are in metro Atlanta.
They include Elizabeth Baptist Church, Greater Springfield Baptist Church and World Changers Church International. Two winning churches will each receive $5,000 and a wellness celebration at their church.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, African Americans are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. They are more likely to suffer complications from diabetes, such as end-stage renal disease and lower extremity amputations.
Lakeview Seventh-day Adventist Church in Powder Springs has also made good health a priority.
MaYa Thornton, co-director of the health ministry, said the church recently held a health fair that included fitness information, a Hula Hoop contest, a program on natural remedies, preventive health, food demonstrations and speakers. The church plans to hold another in 2020.
It also started an eight-week series on ways to prevent and reverse diabetes.
Thornton also leads a seminar on plant-based foods.
Earlier this year, the church provided the congregation with a snapshot of what is plaguing the community: glaucoma, heart disease and mental health issues. This forum gave participants a chance to hear updates from leading experts on prevention and control activities in the U.S. and globally involving HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes and heart disease, as well as ways to address mental health issues.
In fact, according to a study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers reported that black churches have a long history of caring for disadvantaged communities.
It also outlines how faith-based organizations can lead the way to removing the stigma from some illnesses adversely affecting the African American community with programs for substance abuse, mental health and suicide prevention.
“The black church could use its influence to transform negative beliefs toward those struggling with mental illness to supportive attitudes and initiatives that promote psychological well-being as a part of spiritual well-being,” according to the article. “Mental health could easily be integrated into church-based health interventions focused on health.”
It makes sense, said Ellen Idler, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Chair of Sociology and director of the Religion and Public Health Collaborative at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
“The social capital of congregations is that congregations know how to organize and mobilize,” she said. “Faith-based organizations are able to use their networks, and they have the space, facilities and resources that can be put to use. People know that this is a safe space and not some scam. It makes so much sense for public health to collaborate with faith-based organizations because they reach into every community regardless of race, ethnicity and religion, especially among immigrant communities.”
Williams, Salem’s senior pastor, knows the health battles well.
In his late 20s, Williams tipped the scales at 330 pounds. He had issues with his knees and back. He moved slower, was prediabetic and had high cholesterol and hypertension.
“I was tired of that lifestyle and wanted to do something about it,” he said.
He’s now about 200 pounds.
“I never saw myself getting into the space of health and fitness,” said Williams. “But when I saw the needs of the congregation and other people, I felt it was my responsibility to speak out.”
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