Wellness
How will you be well?
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LCMS church worker wellness resources
The LCMS website has a wonderful church worker wellness resource page. This is a one-stop page for everything from spiritual wellness to congregational wellness to financial wellness to mental wellness.
Church workers and their spouses will almost all at one time or another struggle with stress, burnout, illness, depression, or other issues. These resources seek to help ease those burdens while also lessening the impact they have on the worker’s family, marriage, and ministry.
concordia health plan employee assistance program (Eap)
Beginning May 1, 2024, Concordia Health Plan (CHP) members and anyone living in their households have access to Evernorth Confide Behavioral Health Navigator, a new and enhanced Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering expanded mental health care.
Evernorth Confide focuses on providing personalized navigation to break down the most common barriers to getting mental health care.
Grace Place Podcast
Church workers are dedicated to their vocation of ministering to God's people and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins. Along the way, how do you remain well while growing in your call? How do you avoid common pitfalls to wellness, learn skills to maintain or increase a healthy lifestyle, and increase your effectiveness as a minister? The Grace Place Wellness Podcast, presented by LCEF, helps church workers find relief from the pressures of ministry.
The Grace Place Wellness Podcast - Lutheran Church Extension Fund (lcef.org)
webinar: how lay leaders can care for
their church worker’s mental health
Lay leaders have an important role in caring for their church workers. This webinar provides about available mental health resources for your church workers when they need help.
Facilitated by:
Vincent Grochow, Concordia Plan Services
Dan Nommensen, Christian Family Solutions
Rev. Stefan Wismar, Executive Assistant to the President, MN South District
This webinar is designed for lay leaders and meets Resolution 6-01 of the 2022 Minnesota South District Convention:
To Encourage Congregational Leadership to Support Their Church Workers through the Many Resources Available to Them for Mental Health Care.
Ministry can be tough. Do your church workers need help with mental health and life’s everyday challenges? Concordia Health Plan can help through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Find out more here.
Confidential support for pastors and their families is available through Concordia Plans. The Pastoral Support Network can assist with personal & professional support as well as family & parenting support. Check it out!
Thank you for your awareness and care of your church worker’s mental health!
Take Heart Respite Retreats
DOXOLOGY is now providing respite retreats for all Teachers and Commissioned Ministers currently serving in the LCMS. These retreats are fully funded by the LCMS Office of National Mission; there is NO COST for participants to attend!
Commissioned Ministers include Rostered Teachers, DCEs, DCOs, Deaconesses, DFLMs, DPMs, and DCMs.
Workers have labored tirelessly to serve faithfully throughout and beyond COVID challenges. They have responded with skill and grace to countless student, parent, and parishioners’ needs.
“Take Heart!” respite retreats invite teachers and church workers to step away for a few days. The retreat will provide respite, rest and renewal for dedicated teachers and commissioned ministers. The goal is to serve the servants and have them return to their schools and parishes refreshed for the work God has given them to do.
For more information and to register:
Take Heart Respite Retreats
Find the help you need
Christian counselors
The search for a counselor who will support and encourage you throughout your counseling process can be exhausting. This resource helps you work through the questions to ask to find a counselor and also lists several Minnesotan Christian counselors who are in agreement with the LCMS.
COVID-19 wellness resources
As we begin to understand the full emotional impact that quarantine and physical distancing are having on emotional wellness, these resources may help you navigate both your own emotional health and the emotional health of your staff.
Parish Nurses
Parish nurses work within our churches and ministries to develop and lead programs of physical and spiritual health. They intentionally integrate their nursing practice with their Lutheran identity.
Learn more about LCMS parish nursing at lcmsparishnursing.com.
Ministry Sabbatical Resources
Ministry Sabbatical Resources offers various resources, guides, and coaching to help both congregations and church workers create a ministry sabbatical as a regular part of church worker ministry. Coaches Rev. Tim Fangmeier and Rev. Arthur Umbach are available to help congregations and ministry leaders throughout the process.
Sabbatical Scholarships
Coming out of the pandemic, many church workers continue to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually exhausted. A ministry sabbatical could be a key to ministry longevity for weary church workers. LCEF’s Grace Place Wellness is not only encouraging ministries to consider a ministry sabbatical but has started a scholarship fund to assist church workers with planning a sabbatical.
What is a ministry sabbatical?
A ministry sabbatical is an intentional time for a church worker to rest and be renewed for ministry. This serves both the church worker and the ministry he or she serves. It is not a vacation, nor does it replace a vacation but has a specific focus for renewing a church worker and helping revitalize a ministry. A properly planned ministry sabbatical normally requires anywhere from 16-24 months to plan. It is recommended that church workers develop a planning team of lay leaders. With this planning team, we encourage the development of a unified and shared theme, which not only provides ownership for the ministry, but also enables the ministry to participate in the sabbatical experience. Church workers often return from a sabbatical energized and even more productive.
How do you apply?
LCEF recognizes the toll ministry can have on a church worker, and we care. We are grateful for our church workers. This is why LCEF is providing four ministry sabbatical scholarships of $5000 to help church workers taking their first ministry sabbatical. Applications are available here.
Applicants will have until October 31, 2024 to work with their team to come up with a preliminary plan and other documents outlined in the application. Four applications will be selected by LCEF and the funds will be sent to the church worker’s ministry. For more information about planning a ministry sabbatical, please check out the Grace Place Wellness Ministry Sabbatical guide.
Additional resources for holistic wellness and crisis situations
Shepherd’s Canyon
Are you feeling overwhelmed by burnout, stress, depression, or another conflict?
Shepherd's Canyon Retreat Ministry, located in Arizona, may be able to help! Through week-long counseling retreats for men and women in ministry, Shepherd’s Staff opens the door for God to perform great and wonderful acts of mercy and grace. The staff for each retreat includes two counselors, a chaplain and volunteers who provide outstanding hospitality.
Doxology
DOXOLOGY welcomes pastors, counselors, and lay leaders from various walks of life who are committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially as God gives it through the Holy Ministry.
At its core, DOXOLOGY provides training, mentoring, and consultation services for pastors who would like to better help those struggling with the ever-increasing personal, family, and social complexities of contemporary life. Pastors will find a safe space to reflect on their own spiritual and emotional health as they review and enhance their professional competencies and skills.
DOXOLOGY strengthens pastors so they can more faithfully pastor others.
Project Connect Booklets
Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) has a series of booklets, called Project Connect Booklets, that bring hope and connect God’s Word to real-life issues, including abuse & addiction, domestic violence, emotions, families & relationships, physical health, finding hope, life skills, and spiritual life.
All booklets are available as a free PDF download or for purchase. To download a booklet, simply click here and enter the topic you’d like to explore.
Concordia Plan Services
Concordia Plan Services (CPS) provides benefits for over 6,000 LCMS organizations, including schools, universities, congregations and other ministries worldwide.
The CPS website includes a wellness hub with resources to help with physical, emotional, and financial wellness. From heart health to money management to the Employee Assistance Program, Concordia Plans is ready to improve the lives of church workers and their families.
Wellness reading recommendations
The District wellness committee’s latest reading recommendations are Making Christian Counseling More Christ-Centered and Holding up the Prophet’s Hand.
