THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A HEALTH AND WELLNESS MINISTRY AT THE OPEN DOOR CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY __________________ A Project Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry __________________ by Dalton Eugene Holt, Sr. May 2011 APPROVAL SHEET THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A HEALTH AND WELLNESS MINISTRY AT THE OPEN DOOR CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Dalton Eugene Holt, Sr. Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ T. Vaughn Walker (Faculty Supervisor) __________________________________________ Timothy K. Beougher Date______________________________ To Arie, my encouraging wife, and to The Open Door Church of Louisville family TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . viii LIST OF FIGURES . ix PREFACE . x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT . 1 Statement of Purpose . 3 Statement of Ministry Goals . 3 The Context of Ministry Project . 4 Rationale for Project . 12 Research and Methodology . 13 2. BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HEALTH AND WELLNESS MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH . 15 Biblical Foundations . 15 The Old Testament . 16 The New Testament . 21 Theoretical and Theological Foundations . 24 Historical Foundations . 29 The Contemporary Church . 40 iv Chapter Page 3. DEVELOPING A HEALTH AND WELLNESS MINISTRY MODEL AT THE OPEN DOOR CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE . 42 African American Health - An Introduction . 42 African American Health Status . 43 Health Status of African American Women . 52 Health Status of African American Men . 53 Elderly Issues in the African American Community . 54 An African American Health Directive . 55 The Road to Creating a Health and Wellness Ministry . 56 Examining Models for a Health and Wellness Ministry . 57 New Horizon United Methodist Church Champaign, Illinois . 58 Canaan Christian Church Louisville, Kentucky . 59 Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church Orlando, Florida . 61 Northminster Church Columbia, South Carolina . 62 Cable Baptist Church Louisville, Kentucky . 62 Glide Memorial Methodist Church San Francisco, California . 64 Shiloh Baptist Church Waukegan, Illinois . 65 v Chapter Page Apostolic Church of God Chicago, Illinois . 66 Assessment of Churches Discussed in the Project . 67 Limiting Factors to Consider . 67 The Model for The Open Door Church of Louisville . 67 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT . 69 Administering the Focus Group and Health Evaluation Questionnaire . 70 Administering the Pre-Questionnaire . 70 Planning the Health Fair . 71 Health Education Lessons . 72 The Last Class Meeting . 79 Project Summary . 79 5. EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT PROCESS . 81 Evaluation of Ministry Project Objectives . 81 Personal Reflection . 84 Theological Reflection . 85 Conclusion . 87 Appendix 1. ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRES AND RESULTS . 88 2. PRE/POST QUESTIONNAIRES AND RESULTS . 95 vi Appendix Page 3. HEALTH FAIR PHOTOS . 101 4. CLASS HANDOUTS . 102 5. DEFINITIONS . 142 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 143 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table A1. Pre/Post Questionnaires Results . 97 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure A1. Health Status of Participants by Age and Gender. 92 A2. Health Condition of Participants by Age and Gender. 93 A3. Weight Status of Participants by Age and Gender. 94 ix PREFACE I thank God almighty for His favor. I wish to acknowledge, with gratitude, those individuals who have been chosen by God to assist me along my spiritual and ministerial journey with their prayers, friendship, and guidance. First, my wife, Arie, thank you for your patience and encouragement. You never allowed me to hold my head down too long. It seems that God gave you the right words to heal my pain and kept me moving forward. Thank you for lending me your typing skills, “I never would have made it without you.” I want to thank my professor Dr. T. Vaughn Walker for not allowing me to give up when my life was plagued with trials and turmoil. You helped me keep my eyes on the prize and for that I am forever indebted to you. I am also grateful to The Open Door Church of Louisville for your participation and sacrifice in the completion of this work. Lastly, I want to thank Dr. Charles Lawless for the leadership that he provides to the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism and especially the moments of grace he provides to all of his students. May God forever bless you. Dalton Eugene Holt, Sr. Louisville, Kentucky May 2011 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT Health means different things to different people. In the past health referred to curing people’s illnesses. Today, health can be defined more inclusively to denote healing and wellness of the whole person -–body, mind, and spirit. Abigail Evans describes the biblical definitions of health as wholeness and sickness as brokenness reflecting health as an integration of body, mind, and spirit—inner and outer harmony, shalom.1 Each person is empowered to assume responsibility for his/her own health. Healing and restoring people to wholeness are as much a part of congregational life in worship as it is to the way we live our lives. Congregational communities become more vital and enlivened when congregates are mobilized to care for one another through a health and wellness ministry. Today, hospitals continue to treat the most acutely ill people in our society. However, there is not much emphasis placed on maintaining healthy living through health promotion and prevention. Access to medical care for many people has declined. The cost for services has escalated and too many people are falling between the cracks in institutional health care today. Many health outcomes are within the control of 1Abigail Rian Evans, The Healing Church: Practical Programs for Health Ministries (Cleveland: United Church Press, 1999), 141. 1 2 individuals and the community through early-prevention screenings and education. The present situation urges local congregations to assume a significant role in managing the health of its people. The church is the only institution to represent all socio-economic strata of people from birth to death. Furthermore, many people trust the church more than they do a health care institution. Trust is the starting place for making changes in unhealthy behaviors. The state of health for African Americans is especially precarious. Chronic disease has an excessive impact on minority populations. According to Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, African Americans are 12 percent of the population, but have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world. African American males have a 50 percent greater chance than White males to have prostate cancer, and 181 per 100,000 African American males will have prostate cancer. One in three African American males suffers from high blood pressure, versus one in six whites. African Americans have a 20 times greater chance than whites of suffering with kidney failure. Twenty-eight percent of all dialysis patients are Africa Americans. Diabetes is the third leading killer among African Americans, while it is the sixth leading killer among whites. Ten percent of African Americans have diabetes, but once they become 55 years of age, 25 percent of African Americans will suffer from diabetes.2 Many of the health issues that confront African Americans could be lessened through prevention, early detection, education, and good dietary practices. It is in light of the above situations that plans were carried out to develop and implement a health and wellness ministry at the Open Door Church of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. 2Jawanza Kunjufu, Satan, I’m Taking Back My Health! (Chicago: African American Images, 2000), 153. 3 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a health and wellness ministry at the Open Door Church of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. This ministry informed and educated the congregation as well as the 6th District of Louisville which comprises the neighborhood communities of California, Old Louisville and Russell in prevention, early detection, and maintenance of health issues that are common but not explicit to African Americans. Statement of Ministry Goals This ministry accomplished four goals. The first goal was to discover and analyze the health and wellness needs of the congregation. This assessment afforded concentration on specific issues confronting the congregation. The second goal was to explore creative ways to inform and educate the congregation and the various neighborhoods of the 6th District on prevention, early detection, and maintenance methods for the assessed health issues. The third goal was to implement a ministry of health and wellness in the Open Door Church of Louisville. The implementation involved the structuring of a formal auxiliary within the church. The fourth and final goal was to develop the concept that God is a wholistic God who is not only concerned with spiritual wellness but also physical wellness. In his prospectus Establishing a Wellness Clinic at International Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, the author, Wrex Kermit Hauth, Jr., writes that “Many Christians do not understand that God wants them to enjoy a lifestyle that will keep them healthy and will honor Him. By being stewards of their physical bodies, Christians can enjoy a better 4 quality of living that will put them in a frame of mind conducive to spiritual growth. Also, being healthy and feeling good helps people maintain a positive mental attitude, and a higher self-esteem.3 The Context of Ministry Project The journey of city life in America has come full circle. Nearly desolate America’s cities have survived and are moving toward a brighter future. Over the past half-century, urban decay has been the flip side of suburban growth. City life became synonymous with crime, poverty, and disinvestment; urban became a negative term. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the federal government helped make suburban living attractive and accessible to many Americans. The lack of a similar package of incentives for city living limited investment in city neighborhoods and discouraged the development of new urban single- and multi-family housing.