Community Health Newsletters

Archive for WCC Community Health Program newsletters

Healthy People, Healthy Church, Healthy Community

Healthy People, Healthy Church, Healthy Community

Healthy People, Healthy Church, Healthy Community

This one goes out to the preachers

Being healthy as individuals and as a community involves, among other things, making the choice to stay connected. Pastors and other leaders who shape vision should work to develop imagination for connection now.

It’s tempting to file a thesis statement like that under “Duh, obviously.” But allow me to explain!

Top Ten Reasons to Still Care about WCC Guidelines

Top Ten Reasons to Still Care about WCC Guidelines

Returning to Church is still a thing This past Monday, the WCC issued Returning to Church 5.0, the latest in its series of COVID-safer guidelines for churches and other faith communities. I assume most of you are aware of this by now, so I’ll include only the briefest of synopses here: We set everything in the context of the pandemic that…

The short version about long COVID

The short version about long COVID

I’ve been meaning for a while now to talk about long COVID and the effect it might have on your community. And so I will today. The view from 30,000 feet: there’s a lot we’re uncertain about. But we do know long COVID hurts people physically, emotionally, and financially. But before we get to that: Combination flu and COVID vaccines won’t…

What do I care if COVID began with a lab leak?

What do I care if COVID began with a lab leak?

What do I care if COVID began with a lab leak?

You may have heard reports in the past few days about the origins of COVID-19. Specifically, some people think it started with a leak from a biomedical research laboratory in Wuhan, China. The full picture is complicated, but it should not distract us from important truths about COVID.

The story arises from a reconsideration of evidence by the U.S. Department of Energy. The DoE used to think it unlikely that COVID started in a lab. But based on undisclosed intelligence, it now says that it did, more likely than not.

You can guess from that last sentence that this is not a firm conclusion. And indeed, it’s not. The DoE says that it has “low confidence” in its theory. To my knowledge, none of the other U.S. intelligence agencies have said they have conclusive evidence one way or another.

In fact, news reports are that the intelligence community is divided on this question. Some say COVID had natural origins, some say it didn’t.

We will likely never be able to say with certainty where COVID came from