Oct 30, 20192 min read

Spirit of Giving: Thank you!

Thank you to all who joined us on Saturday, October 19 to celebrate the work of faith community nurses (FCNs) and health ministers (HMs) in the north sound region!

This year’s lunch was a wonderful event because of the community created by FCNs, HMs, partners and supporters! Thank you.

We are thrilled to announce that we raised more than $7,000 for Health Ministries Network. That includes 28 individual gifts and 20 business sponsorships. These funds are essential to continuing our services of seeding new health ministry, and providing foundational and ongoing educational opportunities.

If you did were not able to attend and would like to support Health Ministries Network, you can give online or send a check to: Health Ministries Network, 800 E. Chestnut St., Ste 1A, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Angel Awards

Perhaps most importantly, we honored the more than 100 faith community nurses and health ministers who serve in our region. Thank you to each of the faith community nurses who shared their stories as Angel awardees.

Blood pressure screenings:

Carol Nicolay, First Congregational Church, Bellingham

Health education:

Glenda McLachlan, First Presbyterian, Bellingham
Rebecca Cutler, Unity Spiritual Center, Bellingham

Home visits and wellness checks:

Mary Lynn Palmer, First Presbyterian, Bellingham
Sylvia Williams, Congregation Beth Israel, Bellingham

Support group facilitation:

Pam Colyar, Hope Lutheran, Lynden

Advance care planning:

Pam Colyar, Hope Lutheran, Lynden

Professional development:

Dennis Taylor, St. Stephen's Episcopal, Oak Harbor

Transitional Care:

Norma Maarhuis, Sonlight, Lynden

Palliative care / Hospice visits:

Pam Colyar, Hope Lutheran, Lynden
Carol Nicolay, First Congregational Church, Bellingham

Referrals to community programs:

Carol Nicolay, First Congregational Church, Bellingham
Norma Maarhuis, Sonlight, Lynden

If you are a Faith Community Nurse or Health Minister and have not yet submitted your hours, please do so now by clicking here.

Clergy Champion

We also honored this year's Clergy Champion, Pastor Bobbi Virta (left) of United Church of Ferndale, nominated by FCN, Celeste Hilde (right).

From her nomination:

“Bobbi offered to be my mentor during my Faith Community Nursing class even though she was very busy preparing for her sabbatical. She has been very supportive of me as a Faith Community Nurse and takes time out of her busy days to sit down and discuss what we have going on at church and giving advice on what she thinks we need to do.

I feel very lucky to have a pastor that is very supportive of me. Pastor Bobbi puts a lot of work and commitment into everything she does and is a big supporter of me as a Faith Community Nurse. ”

Supportive clergy are essential to health ministry. Please invite your faith community leaders to join us this January for our Clergy Breakfast: Building a Health Ministry, to learn what health ministry can do for your congregation and how to get started.