Gwen Wagstrom Halaas, M.D. The Right Road: Life Choices for Clergy. Augsburg Fortress, 2004.
Referenced in: Minister Self-Care
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
The special contribution of this book is the focus on the physical well-being of ministers. Halaas is a family physician and medical educator who since 2001 has directed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) Ministerial Health and Wellness Program. She builds upon a 2001 ELCA study on clergy health, as well as several similar studies among a wide range of Protestant groups. These studies revealed significant health problems among ministers. She suggests helpful strategies for monitoring and improving one’s well-being physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, vocationally, and spiritually. The appendix includes a complete wellness guide.
From the Publisher
Many clergy are in startlingly bad health. Not only do they regularly report depression, stress, and serious family and financial problems, they also exhibit higher than normal incidences of obesity, high cholesterol levels, inactivity, high blood pressure, and heart disease. How effective can professionals in ministry be with such debilities and vulnerabilities? Are clergy too busy helping others to take care of themselves?
Gwen Halaas’s caring and savvy book addresses clergy health directly: clergy have a spiritual as well as physical need to care for themselves, to live to the fullest, to ensure that they enjoy the life and gifts God gave them. Building her brief, practical book around the wellness wheel, Halaas emphasizes not just healthy eating but a whole array of life-affirming choices for clergy. Halaas provides the tools for clergy to choose growth and well-being over burnout and decline. With this practical and upbeat volume, clergy can begin to put their own lives in perspective and ‘keep [themselves] in training for a godly life’ (1 Timothy 4:7).
About the Author
Gwen Wagstrom Halaas is a family physician who has practiced family medicine for more than 15 years in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been in medical education since 1986, most recently at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, which included the teaching of health and wellness, management of disease, medical ethics, and assessing the health of communities. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a Masters in Business Administration in Medical Group Management from the University of St. Thomas.
In 2001, Gwen was named project director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) Ministerial Health and Wellness program by the Division for Ministry and the ELCA Board of Pensions. She is also Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and associate director of the Rural Physician Associate Program.
Gwen is married to the Rev. Mark W. Halaas, senior pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. They have three young adult children, Per, Liv and Erik.
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