wfn.org | NCC Women's Caucus Advised to Reduce Stress and Protect Children

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National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
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	50th Anniversary Newsroom - Nov. 8-12, 1999 call 216-696-8490

NCC11/11/99						FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOMEN'S CAUCUS ADVISED TO REDUCE STRESS AND PROTECT CHILDREN

	CLEVELAND, Ohio, Nov. 10 - The National Council of Churches' Women's 
Caucus luncheon offered two nationally known speakers who provided advice 
to reduce stress and a challenge to work harder for the nation's children.

The Rev. Dr. Emily Chandler, Massachusetts General Institute of Health 
Professions, presented statistics showing that prayer can ease stress and 
shorten hospital stays. Marion Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense 
Fund urged the caucus to challenge politicians to promise health insurance 
for children and protect them from guns.

Dr. Chandler, a Presbyterian pastor and registered nurse, said research has 
shown that "people who pray have shorter hospitalizations, less need of 
medication, and less stress."

She described the health care profession's renewed interest in faith as a 
factor in treating patients.  "It's the forgotten factor in health," she 
said.  The prevention of disease is about managing stress.

"People who attend services of worship seem to live much longer, tend to 
adopt healthier life styles and are capable of managing stress better than 
those who don't attend church . . . When people get together to worship, 
things begin happening to their bodies,"
Dr. Chandler said.
	
Marion Wright Edelman called upon women to challenge politicians "of every 
stripe" to promise health insurance for all children, and to support laws 
outlawing guns.
	
"Children under age 15 in the United States are 12 times more likely to be 
involved in shooting incidents than in 25 comparable countries combined," 
Ms. Edelman said.  "Every two hours a child is killed by gunfire, and that 
doesn't count the number of children who are wounded - and I also worry 
about the children who witness these acts of violence," she said.  We must 
insist that politicians protect children instead of guns, she said.

	Ms. Edelman called upon church women to work for the eradication of 
poverty in the United States.  "Hunger is not an act of God, it is a choice 
of people," she said.  "No other industrialized country in the world lets 
children be their poorest group as we do.  Where is the voice of the 
church?  Ending poverty as we know it - the church must take the lead," she 
said.

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