Health ministry has always been a holistically oriented profession. When ministering to the health needs of the church community, health ministers try to bring the therapeutic qualities of church, community, and faith in God to the healing task. Health ministers have professional training in a health-related field.
One model of a health minister is a parish nurse. A parish nurse is a registered nurse with additional preparation in holistic ministry who assists members of the congregation to become more aware of their health and to move toward a fuller sense of wholeness. Parish nurses are health counselors and educators, community resource liaisons and facilitators.
Parish nurses engage in the following ministries:
- Visit church members in their homes or hospitals.
- Provide counseling on health-related issues.
- Make referrals to community resources and assist in obtaining needed health services.
- Help members understand the relationship between body, mind, and spirit.
- Assist members in adapting to important lifestyle changes.
- Teach classes on how to maintain good health.
- Provide nursing services across the life span.
- Provide health screenings.
- Develop support groups within the church.
- Train and coordinate congregational volunteers.
Parish nurses are not expected to provide patient care in the church or at a patient's home. They are a source of referrals for the services available in the community. They coordinate existing services and supplement them with a holistic dimension of health and caring.
Parish nurses are ministers of health and members of the church staff. A parish nurse program can operate in several different ways. There may be one church with a full-time or part-time paid nurse, several churches supporting a nurse, or a team of volunteer nurses. Sometimes the parish nurse is related to a hospital or clinic, which may pay some of the nurse's salary.
More About Parish Nurses
The following links to other web sites will open in a new window.
- International Parish Nurse Resource Center
International Parish Nurse Resource Center at Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries
475 East Lockwood Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63119
Telephone: 314-918-2559
Fax: 314-918-2558- Parish Nursing: Basic Online Preparation Course
Kris L’Ecuyer, RN, MSN
Director of Nursing Continuing Education
Saint Louis University School of Nursing
3525 Caroline Street
St. Louis, MO 63104-1099
Telephone: 314-977-8975
fax: 314-977-8949
Email: lecuyerk@slu.edu- Parish Nursing Team of New York Annual Conference, United Methodist Church
Email: woodcockr@wcsu.edu- What Is Parish Nursing?
National Episcopal Health Ministries
10 West 61st Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46208
317-253-1277, Ext. 17
Fax: 317-766-0569
Email: jeandenton@aol.com
For more information:
Health and Welfare Ministries
General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive, Room 330
New York, NY 10115
Phone: 212-870-3869; FAX: 212-870-3624
E-mail: hwmin@gbgm-umc.org
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/health/
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