CHHSM Resources for Health and Human Service Sunday Offer Support and Healing in Times of Stress and Fear

The UCC Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (CHHSM) recently released resources for Health and Human Service Sunday, which takes place Jan. 26, 2025, the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The resources provide a means for UCC churches, CHHSM members, and friends to bring the message of serving leadership and support for all health and human service workers to their local congregations.

Included in this year’s resources are liturgical elements and prayers that emphasize how the UCC has embodied extravagant welcome through health and human service ministries. Woven throughout the liturgical elements and prayers is the theme of extravagant welcome and caring for each other, for hope and healing as, together, we create a just, caring, compassionate and equitable world.

“The lectionary reading for this year’s Health and Human Service Sunday — 1 Corinthians 12 — is where Paul gives us the image of the church as the Body of Christ,” said the Rev. Dr. Elyse Berry, CHHSM’s associate for advocacy and leadership development. “One of my favorite verses is ‘And even those members of the body which seem less important are in fact indispensable.’ This speaks beautifully to the work of our CHHSM members, and the UCC’s Health and Wholeness Ministries, which centers those society has deemed dispensable, unworthy of care, or not within the circle of concern. Our faith shows us over and over again that such violence and harm is not the way of our God — tenderness, inclusion and care are.” 

Within this year’s resources is additional optional material for the liturgy: a meditation focusing on one small part of the body, the amygdala. “This year, I thought about the amount of stress, fear, and feelings of being overwhelmed that folks have been experiencing,” said Berry. The meditation “invites folks to imagine holding that part of their brain, the small amygdala, which processes stress, fear, and anxiety. But in my research, I also found that the amygdala helps us in communication, caregiving, and our feelings found in our memories. I was struck by the beauty of this tiny part of our brains, and hope that the prayer offers folks a space to honor the whole range of experiences they have been going through.”

In addition to the meditation, the Health and Human Service Sunday resources include all the typical liturgical elements of a worship service, each providing a poignant moment of hope and healing. They include a special prayer about peace for all bodies written by the Rev. Amy Johnson, the UCC’s minister for sexuality education and justice. The materials also provide worshipers a chance to discern their own gifts of service and ministry.

Included with the materials is the Health and Human Service Sunday logo plus a series of graphics that churches and organizations can use online and in their print publications.

CHHSM is comprised of some 400 health care centers, hospitals, affordable housing communities, older adult communities, transitional housing agencies, agencies for people with disabilities, and service centers for children, youth, and families across the United States.

“Health and Human Service Sunday is an opportunity for the whole United Church of Christ to bear witness to the UCC’s extravagant welcome through CHHSM’s and the UCC’s health and wellness ministries,” said Jamar Doyle, CHHSM president and CEO. “The many schools, hospitals, and orphanages founded by various UCC predecessors today carry on in new ways, thanks to CHHSM’s member organizations across the country — many on the front lines, struggling to bring God’s message of healing and hope to their communities. We celebrate and thank them all, and pledge our continued support of their ministries.”

Local churches can discover and partner with UCC-related CHHSM agencies near them through CHHSM’s Find a Provider link to discover and partner with UCC-related CHHSM agencies near them.

Learn more and download the CHHSM Health and Human Service Ministry Sunday resources.