Where All Are Welcome

In the summer of 2019, my small urban church hosted a series of Friday evening programs entitled "Friday Family Fellowship." On one of these evenings, a group of nurses from the congregation and I ran a health fair. We organized a blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) screening table, and created posters and interactive educational materials on diet and exercise. Healthy snacks were offered. During the evening, a group of ladies gathered with beverages in hand after viewing the materials on display. They looked at me expectantly from chairs assembled in a row. "When do the talks begin?" one asked. This was an interesting turn of events. We had planned no "talks," only visuals. The other nurses looked at me, and after making a split-second decision, I replied: "Who wants to talk about diabetes?" For the next 30 minutes, we engaged in a lively discussion about diabetes, during which it became quite clear to me that many knowledge gaps existed. I felt encouraged, but with no plan for how we might close this gap. A few days later, my neighbor Jayne∗ knocked on my door. She had listened to our diabetes discussion and was now armed with her blood glucose and blood pressure logs, a food diary, and recent lab results. Her hemoglobin A1C was dismally high, fingerstick blood glucose readings were inconsistent, and her food diary indicated that she lacked understanding regarding a healthy diet for her condition. We started from the beginning, with the development of healthy diet goals to improve her blood glucose control. In between these front-step consultations, Jayne diligently kept appointments with her physician. She began to lose weight and walked her dogs for exercise. Jayne learned what foods affected her diabetes and implemented changes. Her physician adjusted medications based on her expanded fingerstick readings. With time, Jayne's diabetes and blood pressure came under excellent control. More than this, we became friends. Our conversations encompassed topics other than diabetes: We discussed faith, family, and end-of-life care planning. During this time, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. As with many churches, the pandemic affected our in-person events. Although Jayne was not a member of my church, the opportunity created by the health fair gave me a chance to build a relationship with her during a time that would otherwise have been even more difficult. Three years later, our church is still rebuilding programs. As our faith community considers how to further develop a health ministry, here are lessons we learned from our health fair. Know your audience. What chronic health needs are specific to your community? Consider an opportunity to focus on disease-specific self-care management. What are literacy levels and learning styles? Your community might respond better to verbal versus written communication. Are you targeting children, youth, or adults? Consider the addition of fun hands-on activities. Be flexible. If your planned format is not working, consider a course correction, like our impromptu talks. Take facility logistics into account. Ensure ample seating and adequate restroom facilities. Consider the benefits of indoor versus outdoor events. Take advantage of foot traffic if your location permits. If outdoors, plan for adequate drinking water, shade, and an inclement weather alternative. Learn to view unexpected occurrences as opportunities. Align health goals with the mission of your organization. The mission of the church described above is to reach the community with the Gospel of Jesus. What does this look like for a health ministry? Use Jesus' example of meeting people where they are. Jesus repeatedly addressed people's deeper spiritual need for peace with God and forgiveness of sin, while not ignoring tangible physical needs for healing. In order to fulfill our church's mission, we must consider both physical and spiritual needs. Express love for fellow believers; this is a mark of a Christian (1 John 3:16-18). As nurses, we are in a unique position to meet whole-person needs, and in this way, we love not only in word but also in deed. Despite our novice planning mistakes, our church was able to use the health fair to make connections with our neighborhood. Going forward, we will invest these valuable lessons in a foundation for future ministry.