Talk it up among people of the parish, especially the leaders of the parish, and see who shares your concern and vision. Get them involved and work together toward the goals that you jointly set. It can be fun and very rewarding.
THE key person in trying to start a health ministry is the pastor. A pastor’s enthusiasm for a project like this can be a great help. Keep him/her informed every step of the way.
Early on you will need to get the official councils and boards of the church involved. Having a group of parishioners and the pastor supportive of the idea can facilitate any action that must be taken.
It’s a good idea to officially establish a “health council” or “health cabinet”. This group should identify the needs of the congregational members, set realistic goals for the ministry, develop a budget and ways to fund the budget, explore what other parishes have done, keep the pastor, congregation, and church council informed about the developing ministry, plan for recruiting a nurse to coordinate the program, and conduct any other functions regarding the health ministry that become necessary. Some “health cabinets” prefer to recruit from within the parish, but this is not always possible nor is it necessary. Once the parish nurse is on board, the “health cabinet” will continue to carry out its roles in conjunction with the parish nurse.
Depending on the size of the parish and the scope of the program, the nurse who is recruited may become THE parish nurse, or may be the coordinator of a program that involves many nurses. In any case, the size of the parish and its available resources should have some influence in determining the scope of the program. It is much better for the program to start SMALL and grow than to attempt to do everything one can think of and have the program become ineffective and perhaps collapse.
During the period prior the nurse coming on board, some health ministry can still be done and should be done. For example, bulletin inserts with health information or programs presented by nurses or others from outside the parish might help to meet some of the health needs of the parish. In addition, these activities would also serve as good publicity for the future parish nurse program.
In many communities hospitals, councils of churches, or other organizations are involved in facilitating the establishment and ongoing mission of parish nurse programs. These can be a valuable resource for information, advice, ongoing education of the parish nurse, and a chance to network. If your community has such an organization, it is worthwhile to contact them.
There are many other good resources that should be consulted when planning and conducting a parish nurse ministry. For example, the General Board of Global Ministries (see the column on the left) has many helpful suggestions and much more detail than what has been presented here, including an introduction to congregational health ministries and guidelines for the health committee. Similarly, Episcopal Health Ministries answers questions frequently asked, provides additional theological grounding for health ministry, and describes the relationship of “parish nursing” to pastoral care, spiritual healing, and other aspects of health ministry. The International Parish Nurse Resource Center offers a vast amount of information and should be consulted frequently by “health cabinets” planning parish nursing programs as well as by active parish nurses.
Helpful Links:
The General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church -http://gbgm-umc.org/health/congmin/page5.html
http://gbgm-umc.org/health/congmin/guidelines.stm
National Episcopal Health Ministries - http://www.episcopalhealthministries.org/
International Parish Nurse Resource Center - http://ipnrc.parishnurses.org
The Health Show - http://www.healthshow.org