• Home
• Area Conferences
• Calendar
• Convention 2011
• Delegate Actions
• Denominational Ministry
• Directory
• Equipping
• Ervin's Blog
• Find a church
• Give
• Leaders
• News
• Peace and Justice
• The Corinthian Plan
• Youth

Available as PDF | Printer Friendly

Healthcare Access

March 27, 2007

The delegates at the Atlanta 2003 Delegate Assembly authorized the Healthcare Access Initiative. This four-year project will be drawing to a close at the SanJosé 2007 Delegate Assembly. During the past two years, project staffing has changed from a volunteer commission with limited staff support, to an Executive Leadership staff position filled by Dr. Glen Miller, with a supporting reference group and several project teams.

The work of the past two years focusedon 1) providing specific deliverables in accordance with the Statement of Theology and Witness¹ approved by delegates, and 2) responding to the delegates’ priorities identified by the Charlotte 2005 Delegate Assembly. Unlike the progress report for Charlotte, the materials that follow reflect recommendations and resources that can be used to carry this work forward in many settings. In the case of providing health insurance for pastors, we envision a new program to become operational in the future.

At the close of this project, the Executive Board is recommending the following delegate actions:

Whereas:

1. The healthcare access project for the present biennium has focused on:
   1. Promoting the study of Healing Healthcare throughout congregations, and encouraging local congregational actions,
   2. Developing resources to practice the Stewardship of Health,
   3. Responding to the healthcare needs of pastors in our congregations,
   4. Speaking to government regarding the public policy issues surrounding healthcare access,
   5. Relating to institutional providers, medical professionals and the business community.
2. Our current practices of providing health insurance for pastors in all congregations of Mennonite Church USA fall short of our stated beliefs and desired witness.

Now therefore, be it resolved:

1. That we affirm the Healthcare Access work completed since the Charlotte 2005 Delegate Assembly, including the Stewardship of Health and Public Policy Advocacy resources included and referenced in the following pages of this report.
2. That, as a denomination, we are committed to providing basic health insurance for all eligible² pastors.
3. That we request the Executive Board to oversee the development and implementation of a plan whereby all congregations of Mennonite Church USA participate together in an arrangement that covers all of our pastors with basic health insurance.

Special instructions: The role of the Executive Board will be to oversee a collaborative process including area conferences, churchwide agencies and related institutions and local congregations. This process is expected to result in a plan design and funding mechanism that will be owned by all parts of the church.

MENNONITE CHURCH USA HEALTHCARE ACCESS PROJECT

Introduction

Charlotte 2005 delegates took action to 1) affirm the Healthcare Access Statement as the foundation for our theology and witness and 2) “commit ourselves, and call on our members and institutions, to promote health. We will begin by inviting each of our member congregations to utilize Healing Healthcare: A Study and Action Guide on Healthcare Access in the United States…,” 3) “that the Healthcare Access commission continue its work through the next biennium with a primary focus on recommending models to assist Mennonite Church USA congregations and their members, as well as area conferences and church-related healthcare institutions to deal with the growing challenges of healthcare costs and access as community of faith. ”Delegates, in round-table discussions identified three major areas ofconcern: Stewardship of Health (Well ness), access for church workers and advocacy for changes in healthcare public policy. These issues, along with the promotion of Healing Healthcare study guide, have guided the program in this biennium.

The church is the embodiment of Christ and seeks to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. In doing this, the church follows the way of Jesus who at the beginning and end of his ministry emphasized the needs of the poor, the oppressed, the stranger and the sick (Luke 4:16-23 and Matthew 25:31-40). His message may be summed up with “care for one another.” His three years of ministry, bracketed by his words in his first public appearance and one of his last conversations with his disciples, was characterized by meeting people at their point of need, be that spiritual, physical or mental.

In our churches, we commonly share with each other our needs, and topping the list during sharing time is healthcare concerns. Many congregations, in addition to their prayers, have worked to promote models of care that are tangible and practical ways to address the physical, mental and psychological needs of persons in the congregation and community. In doing so, concern for “health” encompasses the whole person.

In the following pages we report on the work done in the following sequence:

1.  Study of Healing Healthcare and local congregational actions
2. Stewardship of health
3. Healthcare access for church workers
4. Healthcare public policy advocacy
5. Institutional provider initiative
6. Business and medical professionals initiative

Reference Committee	Public Policy Advocacy Project Team	Stewardship of Health and Healthcare Access for Church Workers Project Team
Rick Stiffney Ron Byler Karl Sommers Rochelle Beachey Phyllis Miller Clair Hochstetler Joe Kotva	Daryl Byler Dan Miller Phyllis Miller Karl Sommers George Stoltzfus Tim Wiens Krista Zimmerman Nancy Rodriguez-Lora Sandra Vielman Joe Kotva Glen Miller	Karl Sommers Ingrid Friesen Moser Ron Dueck Dan Nafziger Daniel Grimes Kirsten Klaassen Keith Harder Glen Miller

---

FOOTNOTES:

1 Available at here on pages 100 to 101 of the Charlotte 2005 delegate workbook.

2 Eligibility guidelines were not yet determined at the time of this book’s publication.