Raising up healthy women and girls

When we commit to caring for ourselves, we can commit to God’s command to make disciples in the world and stand ready to serve others. Healthy women can produce healthy families, churches, and communities, as well as develop healthy, more just, and more holistic societies.

To achieve the shared goals of the Women of the ELCA health initiative, our plan includes a commitment to:

• educate women to care for themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally
• share knowledge and experience in order to prevent women and girls from continuing today’s health risks tomorrow
• advocate for more research, particularly to hasten the elimination of heart disease and stroke in our lifetime.

To carry out that plan, we pledge the following:

• as emotionally healthy women we will engage in and seek healthy, meaningful activities and relationships to better support one another
• as spiritually healthy women we will engage in Bible study, spiritual renewal, and holistic healing
• as physically healthy women we will make healthy choices for our bodies

We strive to raise up a woman’s total ESP—emotional, spiritual, and physical health—and make a positive difference in the lives of many girls.

This message was adapted from the Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls: Connecting with and Supporting Girls resource available for free download at womenoftheelca.org.