c. 2006 Religion News Service

LINDEN, N.J. _ Clad in black sweat pants and a baggy black T-shirt, Tammy Holmes wasn’t appropriately dressed for church, but it was the perfect ensemble for her to lead one of the weekly Christian holistic weight-loss and exercise classes offered by Morning Star Community Christian Center.

Holmes, who is a registered nurse, is the pastor of the church’s health ministry, and reflects how churches nationwide are increasingly finding ways to address their members’ bodies as well as their spirits.

Morning Star’s two-year-old health ministry was a natural for a church led by a medical doctor. The Rev. Therman Evans worked for more than 20 years as senior medical director of health insurance giant Cigna and is the author of two books on health issues facing African-Americans.

Christian weight-loss products and programs have grown into a profitable industry in recent years, with books like “The Maker’s Diet,” “What Would Jesus Eat?” and “Body by God” appearing on best-seller lists.

But church-based programs are also being recognized as a way to promote health education in “populations that have not always been in the mainstream,” said Luvenia Cowart, director of the Genesis Project, a program aimed at preventing and treating obesity within African-American church communities.

One recent Wednesday night, about a dozen church members _ all women _ gathered to weigh in, worship and sweat. As the circle of women clasped hands, Holmes offered up a prayer.

“Lord, we ask that you bless this holistic health and weight-loss program,” Holmes said. “We ask that everything that is said and done be pleasing to your sight.”

With that, the exercisers began 45 minutes of aerobics choreographed to gospel music. They marched in place to the song “When I Think About Jesus,” lunged to a musical rendition of Psalm 23 and finished with a warm-down stretch-and-worship, reaching their arms to the ceiling to praise God and ease sore muscles.

Carvetta Freeman, a 45-year-old mother of two, mopped sweat from her face at the end of the workout. “I’m struggling, but I’m going to keep it up,” she said. Freeman, who aims to lose 30 pounds, joined the class because “it looked like it was going to be a real comprehensive thing,” she said.

Freeman had tried Weight Watchers and exercising with her family, but the Morning Star program was the first organized exercise she had done in 14 years, she said. Putting Jesus in the gym gave her the inner strength to persevere through the disappointment of slow weight loss. “It gives you something to fall back on,” she said. “He helps you be strong and go forward.”

Including Scripture is an effective part of a faith-based weight-loss program, said Cowart, who is also an assistant dean at Syracuse University’s College of Human Services and Health Professions.

“The Bible in many ways is used as a guide to one’s life and one’s quality of life. If you are drawing from that source and make Scriptures part of the overall programming, then it really speaks to the participants,” she said.

The classes include weight monitoring and low-impact aerobics, as well as blood-pressure monitoring, healthful eating tips, field trips to a Whole Foods grocery store and free massages.

“Because the black church often functioned for many, many years as the cornerstone of the black community, it really is a very powerful medium,” Cowart said. “Its power really has to do with an individual’s faith, and the message coming from pastors who a congregation trusts.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 percent of African-American women are obese, compared with 31 percent of non-Hispanic white women. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and some cancers.

“I have tons of degrees,” said Holmes. “I think it would be a disservice to me if I didn’t pass this information on to people.”

Morning Star’s health ministry also acts as a community health resource, holding regular information sessions and distributing information on specific diseases such as diabetes, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

“The whole human being is spirit, mind and body, but historically churches have been set up to only address spiritual things,” said Evans. “You’ll never get a completely healthy human being unless you address all three.”

(Molly Bloom writes about religion for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.)

KRE/PH END BLOOM

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