Churches from across the state, in partnership with Try This! West Virginia, are preparing to launch a "Healthy Bodies, Healthy Spirits" Network to connect churches with the resources and tools necessary to help their congregations eat better and get active.
More than 100 people have already signed up to participate in the network's launch on Saturday at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, a day-long event starting at 9 a.m. that will feature workshops, brainstorming sessions geared toward implementing affordable programs, and music and fellowship.
"It's past time to do this," said Steve Willis, pastor of Kenova's First Baptist Church. "We'll be there to help people find new ways to live healthier, longer lives. We'll be there because this is God's work."
Willis, author of the book "Winning the Food Fight: Victory in the Physical and Spiritual Battle for Good Food and a Healthy Lifestyle," was instrumental in helping to transform his own church. When CNN came to Huntington to document the city the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had declared the fattest in America, they visited Willis' church, where his congregation had collectively lost 2,000 pounds in three months.
Not long after, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver visited Huntington to film the first episode of "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," a series geared toward improving understanding about food and health. Building on his existing experience toward improving health, Willis was able to leverage Oliver's visit into greater opportunities for Huntington.
The kitchen Oliver used in the first episode of "food revolution" has since become a community kitchen that hosts regular healthy cooking classes, and Willis and others are doing all they can to turn Huntington's poor health statistics around. It's something he hopes other churches in the state will be able to replicate through the help of the "Healthy Bodies, Healthy Spirits" Network.
"Our aim is to trade ideas and inspire each other," Willis said. "Our children are at risk. Working together, we can change that."
Kate Long, the co-director of Try This!, said leaders of the United Methodist Church, the Presbytery of West Virginia, Catholic Charities, the American Baptist Church, and others partnered with Try This! to create the network.
For Long, involving churches in the fight against West Virginia's obesity epidemic seemed natural. Many of the state's communities are heavily involved in its churches, she said, and many churches already participate in outreach activities that take the sort of effort the network is asking to combat obesity.
"Churches are powerful engines for change, one way or the other, in a lot of these communities," Long said. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a lot of major denominations in West Virginia, as well as independent churches, to help with this."
The event still is open to registration, and walk-ins are welcome, Long said. For more information, including a full schedule of events, visit www.trythiswv.com/healthywvspirit.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at
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