Healthy Seminarians-Healthy Church Initiative

Programs: Education (classes, workshops, cooking demos & food tastings) highlights include: -"eating for faith" lenten team challenge 2017 (ltc): we had 60 people participate in this health incentive campaign. Participants came from the columbia theological seminary community (1/3 of the cts staff participated in the challenge), forest lake presbyterian church (columbia, sc), and first presbyterian church spartanburg (spartanburg, sc). Our 2017 effort (this was the third year we offered the ltc) focused on increasing faithful eating through reducing the consumption of animal products so as to bring about greater health for us as individuals, our communities, and god's creation. We had excellent feedback from the participants, and we look forward to seeing how god works through our ltc 2018 health incentive campaign -cooking demonstrations & food tastings: we offered multiple cooking demonstrations and food tastings at cts during the 2016/2017 school year and we were also invited to do a food tasting at forest lake presbyterian church (columbia, sc) in april 2017. (total outreach was 100+) -cooking demonstrations filmed by aib tv (local interfaith cable network with worldwide "on demand" programing): they filmed in june 2017, the hshc doing a series of cooking demonstrations, several in partnership with forward food initiative, for their grow program (airing july 2017 - september 2017).

coaching & consulting (individual & groups) highlights include: -columbia theological seminary (cts)/global growers network (gg) partnership: we created and facilitated an exciting partnership between cts and gg (a local non-profit active in environmentally sensitive food production, csa administration, and education). This cooperative effort provides garden plots for six local refugee families to grow their own food on the seminary campus and gives cts students access to expert instruction in organic gardening skills, while offering both refugees and students the regular opportunity to be in active relationship with one another. (6 refugee families = 24 to 36 people, plus there have been so far about 20 to 25 participants from cts who have participated in garden workdays). -coaching: provided small group and individual wellness coaching with columbia theological seminary community members. (approximately 15 participants) -consulting: worked with and provided resources to pastors and congregations in ga, sc, ny as it relates to implementing health and/or sustainability efforts in their congregations. (5 congregations)

research & advocacy: (1) researching the current state of as well as how to effectively improve the health and wellbeing of seminarians and young clergy, (2) advocating for students in academia and into their vocational calling. Highlights include: -national speaker: the hshc was asked to present at two national conferences: -october 2016: seminary stewardship alliance annual conference (portland, or), 70+ in attendance, 36 seminaries/divinity schools represented. Title of plenary session: cultivating healthier seminaries for a healthier world -june 2017: the american theological library association national conference (atlanta, ga), 250 - 300 in attendance, 25-30 people attended the workshop. Title of workshop: making libraries an unexpected space and place supporting health and wholeness -publication: rev. Dr. Karen h. Webster had her doctoral thesis published: fit to serve: making seminaries models of health and wholeness (dec. 2016).