The Mission of Parish Nursing for our congregation is to build strong households of faith by promoting health and wellness of body, mind and spirit. We understand that being healthy doesn’t mean we don’t have a disease process to contend with, but we are being helped by others to control our disease whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual.

I have been working as a volunteer, and have a wellness group to assist me. We have been taking blood pressures and counseling the first Sunday of the month between services. We also write a wellness letter monthly in the messenger. I assist the pastors in our healing service, which is a real blessing to many people including myself. We have coordinated two blood drives at our church in August, which has been quite successful even with our proximity to the Mayo Clinic. Our Prayer Shawl Ministry has been a blessing to many people-to those who make the prayer shawls as well as those who have received them.

I have also helped several of our members with dressing changes, but do not do this on a regular basis. Working with some of our physical therapists on several projects has been very interesting, and I welcome assistance from other health care professionals when you have the time to help with a need in our church.

Finally, I also attend an area Parish Nurse group where we have given classes on the Living Will or Advanced Directives to church groups in the area. I would welcome other nurses to attend the Parish Nurse Class, as we know that two heads are better than one. It has been a privilege for me to be St. John’s Parish Nurse since 2003.

Your friend in Christ, Genny Hendrickson Tel.-634-7047