| Churches build connections between body and soul BY CHRISTINE KUMARUMCONNECTION STAFF 
Patty Moffitt goes to church to sweat. She is not alone. At Calvary UMC in Mt. Airy, the community is discovering that healthy bodies contribute to healthier souls. Moffitt visits the churchs fellowship hall for aerobics during the week, others come for volleyball and basketball, and still others seek physical and spiritual wholeness at the churchs Wednesday night healing service. Participants at the healing service remember a young mother in their congregation who was dying of breast cancer. How could ones faith be left out of that physical struggle, they asked. It couldnt, and it cant, said the Rev. Carol Yocum,  one of the churchs pastors. The churchs holistic approach to ministry has developed over the years. The healing service began in 1989, following a year of research into similar ministries. For Yocum, that specialized service is an oasis in the bustling and growing church. It promotes a sense of peace, she said. But healing does not always mean cure, she stressed. Some will experience full recovery, some will experience a measure of improvement and some may be given the patience, as Paul was, to live with what they have, she said. The healing service, held in a small chapel at Calvary, includes songs, prayer, Scripture readings, the celebration of Communion and a laying on of hands. Were not the source of any ability or power to change or transform a persons life, but the Holy Spirit is, and we just make ourselves available to be used by the Holy Spirit, Yocum said. While miraculous cures seldom occur, Yocum attests that an occasional pain in her hip was relieved during a service. It was a small mystery of Gods healing and a measure of Gods grace, she said. In a different kind of body-soul fitness, the congregation at Calvary also offers weekday aerobics, yoga and cardio-sculpting. This program began 14 years ago. Participants in the class exercise as Christian music blasts throughout the large room. Arms are raised in exercise and in praise, McLaren said. Bible study and prayer often follow the sessions. In addition, the church sponsors a recreation ministry that encourages people of all ages to exercise by playing volleyball, basketball, golf, softball, biking, walking and taking camping trips. The church participates in a regional mobile ministry, the Mission of Mercy. It offers healthcare to the communitys needy people. Calvary is not the only church in the Baltimore-Washington Conference to discover the link between body and soul. Grace UMC in Fort Washington, for example, offers healthy cooking seminars and hosts an annual Awareness Journey seminar that teaches people about good eating habits. Otterbein UMC in Hagerstown has a parish nurse program with a team of nine registered nurses who do blood pressure screenings Sunday mornings between worship services. Loch Raven UMC also has a parish nurse program, in partnership with Good Samaritan Hospital, and the churchs outreach committee holds an annual health fair for the community, offering flu shots, blood and bone screenings, ear and eye examinations and other health-related services. | 
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