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UMNS# 05137-Bishop challenges clergy to 'indulge' in self-care


From "NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>
Date Fri, 4 Mar 2005 15:30:23 -0600

Bishop challenges clergy to 'indulge' in self-care during Lent

Mar. 4, 2005 News media contact: Fran Walsh * (615) 742-5458*
Nashville {05137}

NOTE: Photographs and other related resources are available with this
story at http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=6882.

A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

A United Methodist bishop is willing to put her money where her mouth is
and donate a portion of her salary for clergy to "give their fat to the
Lord" and get healthy.

Bishop Sally Dyck is challenging all the clergy in the Minnesota Area to
adopt healthier eating habits during the 40 days of Lent leading up to
Easter. And if they lose a little weight along the way, she will donate
$2 per pound to the Minnesota Annual Conference Bishop's Mission
Challenge. Proceeds will benefit a project for Russian United Methodists
and the building fund of La Puerta Abierta United Methodist Church, a
predominantly Spanish-speaking congregation in St. Paul.

Dyck's health plan includes eating five to nine "clean" fruits and
vegetables a day, exercising at least 30 minutes a day, and praying and
reading the Bible for 30 minutes. By "clean" she means no butter, sour
cream, mayonnaise, cream or other "Minnesotan favorites" that can drown
fruit and vegetables.

Preaching to a gathering of Metro East and West District clergy on Feb.
9, Ash Wednesday, Dyck used Eugene Peterson's translation of Leviticus
3:16, "All the fat is the Lord's!" to make her point. "I took the
passage shamelessly out of context," she says, laughing.

She also pledged to donate $4 per pound that she and her husband, the
Rev. Kenneth Ehrman, lose during Lent. Ehrman heard about the challenge
after the sermon.

"My husband was a little surprised about the whole thing," she says. "He
shares my core values around health and also mission. Even without
having consulted him ahead of time, I knew he would be very supportive
of this."

The challenge also took a few other people by surprise.

"When I sat down that morning, it wasn't exactly the message I was
expecting to hear on Ash Wednesday," says the Rev. Joyce Slostad,
Champlin (Minn.) United Methodist Church. "And yet it is a message that
we need to hear almost any time about taking care of ourselves,
establishing healthy practices. She wasn't encouraging us to go on a
diet but to put healthier habits into our lives."

"It was a real encouraging twist on Ash Wednesday service," says the
Rev. Joan Lilja, minister of Christian education at Centennial United
Methodist Church, Roseville, Minn. "It spoke to all of us, I think, as
far as the importance of what we do with our lives and care for
ourselves."

Dyck encouraged the clergy to think of Lent as a spiritual spa and
"indulge" in taking care of themselves.

"At that Ash Wednesday service I really challenged the clergy to think
about Lent in a little different way-that Lent is really a spiritual spa
and the true nature of a spa is one finds healthy habits and practices,"
she says. Often Lent is thought of in negative ways, as a time to "give
up" something. For clergy, Lent can be especially stressful as they take
on extra work, she says.

"We just tend to look at the calendar and feel overpowered with the
responsibilities that we have," Lilja says. "She challenged us all to go
toward Lent in a different way this time. It felt good, and it helped. I
felt my shoulders a little lifted."

The Rev. Max Richter, Edgewater-Emmanuel United Methodist Church,
pledged to lose 10 pounds. He, too, found Dyck's message "refreshing."

"It is a sensitive topic that she handled well," he says. "The body is
the vehicle for the soul, and we can't separate the two. We can't
separate our physical care from our spiritual care."

Dyck emphasizes her plan is not a diet but an encouragement to develop
strong spiritual leadership.

"My concern is that the clergy in our congregations are as healthy as
possible. They also have a great impact on the health practices within
their church."

As the bishop travels around the area, she says she often finds herself
eating two meals a day at different churches. She says many times she is
not offered one "clean" fruit or vegetable in two meals.

"What happens is when the clergy begins to notice, it does impact local
churches," she says. "It doesn't mean they will no longer have delicious
desserts or dishes with cream sauces, but they will at least be offering
one or two healthy choices. I have seen it happen; it changes the
culture in that local church."

She emphasizes that she is not trying to make everyone go on a diet or
give up all the foods they love. In her column on the Minnesota
Conference Web site, she points people to a Web site for free trade
chocolate.

"Does that sound like a contradiction?" she asks, laughing. "I thought
it was great to be able to offer a justice issue around chocolate as
well."

Slostad, who says she has struggled with her weight most of her adult
life, also pledged to lose 10 pounds. She says she surprised herself by
telling her congregation about the bishop's challenge and her pledge at
her own Ash Wednesday service.

"I told my congregation I had quipped, 'You could lose a lot of money
there bishop,' mainly talking about myself but knowing there are a
number of large people in our conference." She has received support and
encouragement from her congregation. "They want me to succeed," she
says.

"To have our bishop say, 'I want you to be healthy for your own sake,'
made me start thinking more seriously about it," she adds. "I didn't
hear in her tone or her words or message in general that she thought we
are so unhealthy as a conference but rather, 'do this for yourself and
you will feel better, perform better.' I think that is why she chose the
spiritual spa theme."

Richter agrees that taking care of yourself makes good sense.

"It makes me more effective, more centered, more responsive to my
congregation. The better I take care of myself, the better pastor I am."

Dyck hopes she will be donating "thousands of dollars" at this year's
annual conference from her challenge. "The purpose is to raise money for
what we think are two very important outreaches. It is a fun way to
invest in what this annual conference has done in reaching beyond
itself."

To read more about the bishop's challenge, go to www.minnesotaumc.org
and click on the Bishop's Corner.

# # #

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org


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