How We Serve: HEALTH AND CONGREGATIONS

Faith communities can play a major role in providing health advocacy and education to their members.

How does your congregation respond to members'
needs for spiritual support, for information on physical
or mental health issues, for dealing with loss, for
preventing illness?

Health advocacy and education activities centered in
churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples are a
rich opportunity to connect faith and health. What
better places than our houses of prayer and worship
to integrate the spiritual, physical, emotional, and
relational aspects of personal and communal
health?

ICS aims to increase the number of people receiving
needed health advocacy and education by helping
congregations start or expand their own health programs.
A congregational health program may include everyone
who is compelled to work for the promotion of health
and wellness. It's a program developed by a health
committee or team, with input from congregation members.
Such a program is tailored to the needs of each
congregation and helps people navigate the health care
system, learn to better take responsibility for their own
health and the health of their communities, and to
integrate their faith and health.

ICS has a strong record of partnering with faith
communities and an award-winning Health Advocacy
service. Using these strengths, ICS is available to
provide guidance, information, and support to
congregations building their health advocacy and
education programs.

To find out more, read a summary of this new
project or contact Karen MacDonald at 297-6049
or kmacdonald@icstucson.org. For links to
additional resources, please click here.