The Incarnate Word Foundation

FAITH & HEALTH CONFERENCE

APRIL 2000

Bringing Together the Faith and Health Communities

Martin Marty, PhD
University of Chicago

The Faith and Health Conference brings together two communities that are often differentiated, Marty said. Modernization is characterized by specialization, he noted, but today our culture is trying to correct the attitude that faith and health are totally separate specialties. Both faith and health address the human condition and deal with human suffering, frailty, and mortality. "Before you have faith, hope, and love, you have to accept finitude ( 'I will die'), contingency ('things happen to me that I can't control'), and transience ('things will pass'). You have to talk about death," he said.

The nation's renewed interest in spirituality should inspire faith groups and health communities to converse with each other, Marty said. Unlike argument, in which the participants already believe they have the answers, conversation is guided by questions and the exchange of ideas. He urged conference participants to converse during the meeting and suggested five "Rs" to use in conversation:

Reconnaissance. Conversation should include discussion about why churches and healthcare institutions were started, why churches had priests, and other factors that can shed light on the current situation.
Remembrance. It is important to recall communities of the past, memories, and traditions.
Retrieval. We should selectively retrieve elements of the past and of the texts in which faith communities are rooted.
Recognition. New circumstances must be recognized and discussed.
Response. We must be willing to respond to new attitudes about faith and health. The university, Marty said, is based on the concept cognito ergo sum . "What we need in our time is a new phrase: 'I respond although I will be changed.'"

Toward "Faithhealth": A Call for a System Change

Gary Gunderson
Interfaith Health Program, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

A faithhealth movement is just emerging, although a number of faith projects have had an impact on health. Gunderson called for the "next step"--a system that is not just about medical healing or, in the case of elderly people, "putting things back together as when they were young." The faithhealth movement would go beyond existing uncoordinated efforts and would nurture the capacity of people to participate in life and wholeness no matter their physical health.

The faithhealth movement, guided by leaders, can emerge through linkages woven like a spider web in the spaces between hospitals, churches, and social service agencies, few of which are connected, Gunderson said. But a challenge for communities such as St. Louis is bringing together myriad competing ministries and organizations.

Gunderson said faith communities should be asking themselves the following questions:

How can we imagine what God's intentions are for an emerging, pluralistic community?
Are we just picking up other's trash--that is, trying to fix the damage that systems have done to individuals and families?
What spiritual formation is adequate for lay leaders who will carry out the mission?
How can "disease care" systems reinforce our congregations in forming a "health" system?

Health professionals should ask some difficult questions, he said:

What can be done to correct the factors that we know harm people, such as smoking and economic status? Whose job is it to respond?
Does the church understand its own spirituality, much less that of others? Although much research is being done on alternative medicine, for example, few religious leaders can speak about spirituality to the medical community.
Are we capable of developing health strategies that address the faithhealth vision?
What evidence do we have to support what we are doing? Do we ask hard questions about whether what we are doing is making a difference for people?

All the elements are in place to accomplish his vision, Gunderson said:

A rich stew of real projects
A broad mixture of congregations
Academics who are involved in research, training, service, and curriculum development
A role for health providers
A role for resource partners such as foundations
A learning-serving orientation

Congregation-Based Ministries

The Rev. Michael J. Lydon
Pastor, St. Pius V Catholic Church

The Rev. Thomas W. Wyrsch
Pastor, Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church

Four workshops demonstrated actual programs in St. Louis that are uniting health and faith communities by promoting healthy exchanges between people for their own well-being and for the health of the region. Following is the report of one workshop on congregation-based ministries.

Both Fr. Lydon and Fr. Wyrsch have been in their respective parishes for about five years. Formerly mostly white, their communities have recently experienced influxes of immigrants and refugees from many places, including Eastern Europe, Africa, Vietnam, and Latin America. Both churches have congregations who live in the neighborhood and have a stake in relationships in the neighborhood. Each parish runs an elementary school, which accepts non-Catholic as well as Catholic students.

In both church and school, the pastors have made many efforts to emphasize respect for persons of other religions and races. "We have an opportunity to create a healing environment and heal prejudice," said Fr. Wyrsch.

"In our school, we hope that from exposure to various ethnic groups these children will grow up more compassionate than if they went to a school with only one ethnic group," said Fr. Lydon. His school also works with the Division of Family Services to teach parenting skills such as hygiene and nutrition, and it has a half-time counselor who addresses abuse and neglect.

Both parishes participate in C4, an ecumenical group of 20 churches in South St. Louis. The organization encourages leaders to be public in their faith and active in addressing social issues that affect the health of communities, such as urban sprawl, drug houses, and trash.

The C4 core teams in each parish build relationships with neighborhood residents, who also take the initiative in solving problems. In Resurrection parish, the team has worked on landlord issues, housing, and establishing a police substation in an area where residents were having many conflicts. Both pastors emphasized the need to maintain ongoing relationships with people and groups in the neighborhood. "Crisis galvanizes people to act," Fr. Lydon said, but after the crisis, momentum is usually lost. Fr.Wyrsch recently organized the South Side Bosnian Services Collaborative, a group of organizations which will address problems of community residents, such as obtaining loans for home buyers.

Funding Opportunities

Fred Bleeke
President/CEO, Lutheran Charities Foundation

Bridget McDermott Flood
Executive Director, Incarnate Word Foundation

Michael Anderson
Manager, Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation

Representatives of four St. Louis foundations gave practical advice for agencies seeking funders for their programs.

Individuals give significant amounts--$140 billion in 1999--so organizations should develop a constituency of persons who care about their programs, advised Fred Bleeke. Foundations, he said, can give programs a start, but ongoing support from individuals is important.

Interest is growing in faith and its application in meeting health needs, Bleeke said, and about 125 hospital-conversion foundations (those created with the assets of a hospital sale, including Lutheran Charities, Incarnate Word, and Daughters of Charity) exist in the United States. Grant seekers can find help in the National Guide to Funding in Health (The Foundation Center, New York), which lists more than 7,000 grantmakers in health. "In St. Louis, a quarter billion in assets is being deployed in health services related to faith," he said.

Flood emphasized the importance of building relationships with funders:

"Do your homework before applying for a grant," she said. Grant applicants should research funders to find those whose mission and geographical parameters match those of their organization.
Building relationships with funders helps them understand your program and make a case for awarding you a grant, she told workshop participants. She advised initiating a contact with funders, and meeting with them if possible, before applying for a grant.
Grant applicants should view funders' guidelines as hard-and-fast rules. For example, she said, if the guidelines call for two copies, applicants should be sure to send them. Also, they should not ask for funding for programs that the foundation does not underwrite.

The key to success, Flood said, is program planning. Without a clear, credible business plan, the grant "won't get anywhere."

Michael Anderson described the approach of the Daughters of Charity Foundation of St. Louis and the Daughters of Charity West Central Region Foundation. The first funds medical services, spiritual healthcare, maternal and child initiatives, and others. The latter focuses on the elderly, as well as spiritual care, preventive healthcare, and other issues.

The St. Louis foundation concentrates on healthy communities. "The foundation pulled coalitions from neighborhoods, businesses, human services agencies, health providers, educators, and others with a stake in the community," Anderson said. They discussed community needs and how to meet them. The foundation will work with them for five years.