09 Feb The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund Received a $999,058 from the Lilly Endowment
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (UMHMF) recently received a grant for $999,058 from the Lilly Endowment to support the expansion of the Healthy Congregations Program through increased use of the Good Neighbor Experiment (GNE) program.
Funding from the Lilly Endowment will be used to expand the existing program, enhance and research the impact on communities, and develop a network of facilitators. Expansion will include serving 60 new Methodist and non-Methodist congregations over the next five years. Enhancement and research will include new education, technical assistance, and assessments with the Wichita State University School of Social Work. The university will conduct formal academic research on the impact of neighbor-to-neighbor relationships on congregations and communities of various sizes and geographic settings. A network of facilitators will be trained to support churches through day-long retreats and ongoing technical assistance to help them plan and implement community-based projects that use the collective assets to address community social needs.
Created and led by The Neighboring Movement, the GNE is a nine-month-long learning cohort for congregations that gather for three training workshops, implement small group curriculum that connects asset-based community development (ABCD) with time-honored Christian practices, and take actionable steps toward practicing the learned skills of community neighboring. As part of the program, participants identify a project that aligns with ABCD practices and then connect with local resources to accomplish the project goals. Healthy Congregations churches have benefitted from using ABCD to expand their discipleship through community engagement, in turn gaining clarity of mission and focus.
The Health Fund seeks to impact the health of communities. The Healthy Congregations (HC) program was developed to strengthen congregations due to the major role they play in shaping their communities. Since 1996, HC has engaged Great Plains United Methodist Conference (GP UMC) churches in projects to improve spiritual, physical, social, and emotional health in their congregations and in their communities. The Neighboring Movement was founded with the goals of strengthening communities, connecting individuals, and revitalizing churches in a new way.
Scarcity drives division and weakens community. When members feel there is not enough of something (money, volunteers, programming, leadership), they look across the sanctuary at others with feelings of either contempt (e.g. “That person isn’t doing enough for our survival”) or shame (e.g. “I’m not doing as much as that person, so our church’s decline is my fault”). Abundance, however, creates a greater sense of community. When members believe there are enough resources for them to fulfill God’s calling, they can engage one another with generous hearts. The Good Neighbor Experiment (GNE) cultivates abundance by celebrating the unique gifts each congregation member brings while also finding ways to share these gifts for the greater good. Through this ongoing process of discovery and sharing, a vital sense of community emerges.
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund is a 33-year-old, $50 million health philanthropy located in Hutchinson, Kansas. Our mission is to improve the health of Kansans through cooperative and strategic philanthropy guided by Christian values. The Health Fund focuses on three strategic areas to accomplish this mission: access to care, early childhood development, and the Healthy Congregations program. Healthy Congregations addresses community health by providing Great Plains United Methodist Church congregations in Kansas and Nebraska with learning experiences, training, and grant opportunities. One such opportunity is the Good Neighbor Experiment (GNE).