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MANSFIELD — Last week to commemorate the 2016 National Family Health History Day, twenty-seven area pastors from Richland County, Ohio sent a correspondence to health care stakeholders in North Central Ohio regarding a case study involving disease prevention. The twenty-year study, conducted by Harvard University, concluded that an effective way to prevent disease is by attending religious service.
The pastor correspondence stated, “As pastors of twenty-seven local congregations, we agree there is something that can be said about the connection between spirituality and health. Without a doubt spiritual issues like anger, unforgiveness, and anxiety to name a few, can manifest into medical realities like suicide, depression, ulcers, and hypertension. Interestingly, the Bible documents at least thirty-one individual healing accounts performed by Christ.”
The clergy letter referenced a study of 75,000 nurses found that those who attended religious services once per week or more had decreased risk of both cardiovascular mortality (27%) and cancer mortality (21%).
According to the senior author of the study, Mr. Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at Harvard, “Part of the benefit seems to be that attending religious services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful outlook on life.”
One of the signers of the clergy letter, Reverend Chris Thomas of Diamond Hills Baptist, commented “With the study coming from a secular source, it certainly adds credibility to the study’s findings.”
“Without a doubt spiritual issues like anger, unforgiveness, and anxiety to name a few, can manifest into medical realities like suicide, depression, ulcers, and hypertension. Interestingly, the Bible documents at least thirty-one individual healing accounts performed by Christ.”
Clergy correspondence to health officials
The letter below was sent to: President Jerome Morasko, Avita Health; President Jean Halpin, Ohio Health; Executive Director Pam Crank, Richland Pregnancy Services; Health Commissioner Martin Tremmel, Richland Public Health; Health Commissioner Dr. Ajay Chawla, Shelby Health Department; and CEO Jared Pollick, Third Street Clinic.
Richland County Health Commissioner Martin Tremmel thanked the clergy for reaching out to him regarding disease prevention.
“It is both interesting and helpful to know this study and its findings were supported through the National Institute for Health. I applaud your collective efforts to assist us with improving the public’s health by protecting our citizens by promoting healthy lifestyles,” Tremmel said.
Pastor Thomas hopes the letter will lead to increased collaboration between local churches and the health community. “While we believe healing is for today, we also believe that disease prevention is for today,” the twenty-seven pastors wrote. “Please prayerfully consider this case study and how this information may be applied.”
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Exodus Chapter Twenty-Three, “You shall serve the LORD your GOD, and He will bless your bread and your water, and He will take sickness away from among you.”
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