Roadblocks Preventing Health
Education Programs from Being
Welcomed By Local Churches
Wayne Wylie
Health Educator
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
What Is Spiritual Formation?
• In Care of Mind, Care of Spirit, Gerald G. May
has written, “Spiritual formation is a rather
general term referring to all attempts, means,
instruction, and disciplines intended towards
deepening of faith and furtherance of spiritual
growth. It includes educational endeavors as
well as the more intimate and in-depth process
of spiritual direction.”[1]
– May, Gerald G. Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual
Direction. 1st HarperCollins paperback ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,
1992, p. 6.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
What Is Spiritual Formation?
• Spiritual formation is a universal experience. Dallas Willard writes
that “it is a process that happens to everyone…. Terrorists as well
as saints are the outcome of spiritual formation. Their spirits or
hearts have been formed.” [2] A study of various world religions such
as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism,
and others would enable one to understand specifically how each
religion views spiritual formation or spiritual growth within its unique
belief system.
• In Christian Spiritual Formation the focus is on Jesus. It is a life-long
process as a believer desires to become a disciple of Jesus and
become more like him. This would be possible because of the divine
grace of the Gospel and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Dallas Willard writes that “spiritual formation for the Christian
basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner
world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner
being of Christ himself.”[3]
– Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ.
(Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2002) p. 19 & p. 22
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Health Education Can Be Helpful in
Spiritual Formation
• Spiritual Formation is said to be holistic …
– Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual
Growth written by Thomas Ashbrook and published by JoseyBass, Oct 2009
• The spiritual dimension of wellness involves seeking
meaning and purpose in human existence. It includes
the development of a deep appreciation for the depth
and expanse of life and natural forces that exist in the
universe
• So, could not health education taught in religious
settings by trained professionals be helpful in spiritual
formation of those seeking to be like Christ?
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Health Education Can Be Helpful in
Spiritual Formation
• This hope and encouragement comes in the area of spiritual
wellness which is missing in large part from many health
education training programs in higher education institutions in
the United States.
•
Health educators and related, allied professional groups have
done well in teaching to the physical, emotional, social, and
intellectual, but fall short in addressing the spiritual domain.
• Religious leaders are comfortable within their defined spiritual
domain but fail to see how it is vitally interconnected with the
physical, emotional, social, and intellectual.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Health Education Can Be Helpful in
Spiritual Formation
• Professional education fails to adequately connect the
spiritual domain for both groups.
• Simultaneously the American public is facing a crisis in
dealing with many health related matters (i.e. stress related to
unemployment, lack of health care, victims of disasters, war
time anxiety) and are looking to both the university setting and
the church setting to give them wise counsel as how to have
optimum health/wellness in their lives.
• But there are roadblocks.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Overview of Sabbatical – Fall 2010
• 9 States
– CO, TX, AR, TN, NY, NH, VT, MA, ME
• 18 Schools/Colleges/Universities
• Numerous Local Church Groups
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Overview of Sabbatical – Fall 2010
•
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•
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Arkansas (Harding University)
Colorado (Colorado State University, Colorado Christian College)
Maine (University of New England Biddleford),
Massachusetts (Harvard University School of Divinity, Gordon
College)
New Hampshire (Dartmouth, Plymouth State University, University
of New Hampshire at Manchester, Franklin Pierce University)
New York (Syracuse and Rochester Institute of Technology)
Tennessee (Freed Hardeman University)
Texas (Abilene Christian University, St. Mary’s University &
Concordia).
Consultations and field work were completed in various churches
and retreats in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Texas.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education Programs
from Being Welcomed By Local Churches
• Ministers and Other Church Leaders
Think They Are Knowledgeable
About Health Content
– Media
– Personal experiences
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education
Programs from Being Welcomed By Local
Churches
• Ministers and other Church Leaders
Do Not Understand What
Professional Health Educators Do
– Championed “Health Education” especially “Community
Health Education” explaining to interdisciplinary groups as
to what it is, how it fits with needs of a spiritual community
and how it is needed as an essential part of professional
preparation for church leadership (i.e. rabbis, ministers,
clergy, elders, deacon, and other religious titles of
leadership).
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Health education also takes the
holistic approach
Physical Health
Environmental Health
Mental Health
Social Health
Emotional
Health
Spiritual
Health
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education
Programs from Being Welcomed By Local
Churches
• Ministers and other Church Leaders
Do Not See The Topic of Health As
Multidimensional
– Internalized meaning of “spiritual wellness”
and specified how it both fits in with the
holistic approach to teaching health education
and compliments the current religious work of
spiritual formation.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education
Programs from Being Welcomed By Local
Churches
• Professional Preparation Programs
of Ministers and Other Church
Leaders Do Not Include Even the
Basic Entry Level Health & Wellness
Course
– As a Result Most Church Leaders Could Not
Understand Why or How State Universities/Colleges
Could Offer Assistance About Spiritual Wellness
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education
Programs from Being Welcomed By Local
Churches
• The challenge was great in educating the many potential
stakeholders to understand how non-traditional entities
such as public universities could realistically lay claim to
“spiritual health” or “spiritual wellness.”
• The Sabbatical allowed Dr. Wylie to initiate that
discussion within private religious oriented colleges and
universities by posing the question, “Why do not
Christian colleges and universities do more to offer
health education courses to their own student body,
especially those who want a professional career in the
ministry?
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Roadblocks Preventing Health Education
Programs from Being Welcomed By Local
Churches
• The Definition Of Spiritual Wellness
Is Not Universally Understood
– Even among health & kinesiology profession
– What Is It?
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Challenges
• Tell the “story of health education”
– People need to know about the profession
• Make clear the holistic nature of health
education
• Especially teach what “spiritual wellness”
means
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University
Final Positive Insight
•
The Faculty Development Leave also provided great opportunity to
understand how a need assessment could not be as easily designed and
implemented within a religious setting as it has successfully been done in
worksite populations. Specifically, the religious communities do better in
responding to need assessments that strike the chords of how their spiritual
life is impacted by personal health problems. Resulting strategies for the
planners then become predictable as the approach to improving the health
problem fell into one of two, at most, categories: that of increasing faith and
that of ceasing personal behavior practices defined as sin. Only when
those two categories were satisfactorily accomplished could the wellness
program in the church setting morph into a program better reflecting
traditional wellness programs found in worksite communities. This
discovery can easily be interpreted as a strong point for the church
wellness program bringing about more lifelong healthy lifestyles than
the typical worksite program.
Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies 2011 Conference
Dr Wayne Wylie, Texas A&M University