Adventist Churches and Healthcare Institutions must be ‘A Healing Presence in the Community’

August 17, 2023 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

“Comprehensive health ministry invites us to think about what health means and what roles we might play in aiding communities to experience all of what good health involves,” said retired former General Conference vice-president Lowell Cooper. Cooper was addressing dozens of church administrators, hospital administrators, and health ministries leaders attending the Inter-American Division (IAD) Health Symposium in Miami, Florida, United States, Jul. 27-29, 2023.

Defining comprehensive health ministry starts by listening to what Jesus said, about His purpose in coming to this world found in John 12:46 and John 10:10, said Cooper.

“What might Jesus mean when he speaks about having life and having it abundantly? Does living a long time equate with having an abundant life? Does living with lots of money and lots of depression constitute the abundant life? What does Jesus mean about not remaining in the darkness? Could this be a reference to the role of lithium batteries and solar power sources? How then are we to understand what Jesus meant when He said ‘I have come as Light into the world’?” asked Cooper.

God’s mission involves the restoration of all that was true about his whole creation and the eradication of all the evil that has worked its way into this world, referenced Cooper. “Our mission has to be as comprehensive in scope as the gospel the whole Bible gives us.”

It could be said that God does not have a mission for the church, instead He has a church for His Mission, stated Cooper.  It’s about caring more for humanity than for religions.

The health message is more than eating vegetables and abstaining from tobacco. “The health message involves those things but embraces much more—how we think, how we live, and why.”

Together in Mission

Part of expressing the health ministry involves teaming up between the church and healthcare institutions much like ‘Together in Mission’ as the core theme of the symposium, said Cooper. “In the truest sense, the hospital and the church are designed to be institutions of healing. They do not occupy the same place nor the same role but they are in the same business repairing, rehabilitating, restoring, reorienting, and re-energizing lives with meaning and purpose.

Bringing the church to demonstrate a togetherness in mission and embrace comprehensive health ministry means proclaiming the whole gospel. “Those who teach, preach and write the gospel message must be sure that they are communicating the gospel correctly,” he said. Grace must be bigger than guilt.

Cooper emphasized that Salvation is not just forgiveness but a new order of life with new purpose, new motives, new attitudes, new relationships, and a new reference point.  God’s mission essentially “reframes our entire life, attitudes, appetites, beliefs, behaviors, commitment, habits, relationships, and values.” In turn, he said, the mission of God can give a new perspective to suffering, bring financial stability to spending habits, keys to coping with debilitating disease, provide power to free a person from an evil habit, release us from crippling burden of guilt, bring light to the darkness of a prison, restore peace to seemingly unresolvable conflicts, recharacterize failure and defeat into wisdom and grace.

Being in harmony with God’s mission, the church and institutions will become known for what we affirm rather than only for what we deny, shared Cooper. “There is more to Adventist lifestyle than abstinence from pork, alcohol, tobacco, and addictive substances. Can we not be known as a people of joy, peace, health, longevity, and love?

Living the health message

As Seventh-day Adventists, we must live, not just teach the health message, challenged Cooper. “We must become experts in the demonstration of healthy human relationships for the church and the hospital are connected in a continuum of care for the whole church is called to be a healing community.”

During his keynote message, Cooper warned against proclaiming a gospel of prosperity in which people are led to believe that if they eat right, pray often, keep the Sabbath and tithe faithfully, God will pave their way into eternity. “This line of thinking is a treacherous deception. Let us not look down on those who suffer from chronic disease as though they are experiencing the just results of their lifestyle. How little we know about all the factors that shape the course of one’s life.” It’s about being careful about being judgmental, instead being quick to sympathize, empathize and to serve, he added.

Practicing neighborliness

Being neighborly is about enlarging the circle of acquaintances and influence. It’s about moving out of the church and into the community, said Cooper. “Let us become aware of people’s needs and act in ways to relieve suffering.” That’s how every local church needs to see itself, as a healthcare institution. “Healthcare may rely heavily on the science of medicine, but health care in the community relies heavily on the science of love, forgiveness, grace, and companionship.”

“What would happen in our churches if we became the healthiest, happiest, holiest, and helpingest groups in the community?” asked Cooper. “Would it not be, as in the days of Jesus, that people would break down the walls to get in—because such a community ministers to their deepest needs.”

As far as what healthcare institutions can do to demonstrate togetherness in mission embracing comprehensive health ministry, it has to do with focusing on whole person health and not just recovery from disease. “We must emphasize wellness, not just recovery from disease.”

Jesus’ declaration that “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” leads the Christian healthcare worker to focus not just on the eradication of disease or discomfort but to give close consideration to everything that will enhance life, said Cooper. “The healing ministry is intrinsically related to the whole redemptive purposes of God.”

Advocating for spiritual awareness

“Healthcare facilities are not churches, but they can be very effective ways of pointing people to a faith community,” emphasized Cooper. “We should never be afraid or reluctant to identify our facilities as Seventh-day Adventist owned and operated, thus enhancing the mission of the church at large.” In short, the spiritual mission of the church over healthcare ministry prepares soil and sows seeds, and not primarily a harvesting machine.  Wall posters, literature, and signage of the institutions are ways in which a healthcare institution can promote spirituality, he said. In addition, a chaplaincy program, a chapel in the institution, the Sabbath features—not just what is not done but what is added.

Partnering with other agencies in the community, as well as fostering a global branding of Seventh-day Adventist healthcare institutions can also be effective in highlighting togetherness in mission among the church and its healthcare institutions, he said.

“Our pathways into the future will doubtless be littered with obstacles and opportunities,” said Cooper. “At times our best thinking and energy will be thwarted by circumstances outside our control. In other moments, we will be amazed at the growth and expansion that creeps upon us unawares.”

No doubt, Cooper said: “Our success in mission, psychologically and financially, derives from our recognition that God’s mission addresses every aspect of life that has been damaged by human rebellion. He invites us to engage in His mission, and when we love Him, we work well together with Him.”

In the end, there is nothing to exclaim, Cooper said, “but ’Glory be to God’ for He has accomplished His purposes.”