SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has a great resource that defines recovery.

This clip from the 2015 movie “Inside Out” features three characters and their reactions to one another. One character offers distracted listening to the character that is dealing with a loss. Another character offers attentive listening to the situation. One response is based on “We can fix this,”, the other response is more “I am sorry.” This is a good comparison of ineffective and effective listening and could be used as an introduction to a listening session or workshop.

Brene Brown is featured in this clip articulating the difference between empathy and sympathy. The four qualities of empathy are defined and accompanied by animation that depicts these qualities. The goal of empathy, Brown explains, is to create sacred space and to encourage connection. Empathy is feeling with people, sympathy is trying to make things better. Brown provides clear definitions and uses examples that are helpful for ministry. 

The Alban Institute has a series of curated articles on "The Art of Listening:"

"Learning to Listen in a Time of Heartache," written by hospital chaplain Ylisse Bess,uses the Billie Holiday song Good Morning Heartache as an entry into listening to ourselves.  

"Identifying Community Needs by Listening" is by Joy F. Skjegstad and is an excerpt from her book, 7 Creative Models for Community Ministry published by Judson Press. 

The Health & Wellness Team (H&W Team) began at Bethlehem in February 2010. At that time, there was a workshop held at our congregation where a representative of our synod spoke on the work of health and wellness ministries at the synod level. We were inspired to make a new Health and Wellness committee for our community. Currently, the core team is made of individuals who have backgrounds in health professions or an interest in health and wellness living like an associate professor who taught pathophysiology to graduate nursing students, a math teacher interested in healthy living, exercise and nutritional eating, a medical assistant and director of a university health center, and a registered nurse with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Other healthcare professionals in the congregation have stepped up to handle such services as blood pressure readings.

The Health & Wellness Ministry’s mission is to seek to be an extension of Christ’s ministry of healing by providing resources, education and support for the body, mind, and spirit of our congregation and our community. In addition to many other ministries that this committee endeavors to serve, we have provided brochures on drug and alcohol awareness and recovery through the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency. The committee uses the congregation’s newsletter to feature monthly articles on well-being, disease and disorders, and mental health. Most articles have a link to a source and more information. Our mental health articles have included: