This newsletter is geared towards those who have completed a Living Compass training, but is also intended for, and can be shared with all those interested in Living Compass. 
Living Compass Community Newsletter
July 2017
Wellness In Action
The folks at St. John's Episcopal Church in LaPorte, TX, under the leadership of the Rev. Viktoria Gotting, have been working feverishly to get ready for the opening of their new St. John's Living Compass Wellness Center and After School Program. Over the last several months they have renovated an under utilized part of their facility, and as of this fall will be offering all kinds of wellness offerings to their surrounding community.  Even the grounds have been refreshed by teams of up to 40 persons. Finally, they sent a team to Chicago for our first Parent/Teen training so they would have many CWAs on hand to help out to lead groups. 

All this preparation for service became "real" for St. John's as they put the program announcements onto banners, filled a July 4th parade float with joyful people, and cruised down the streets of La Porte! Staff, CWAs, parishioners, neighbors, students, and parents sat side-by-side on the hay bales, singing and throwing necklaces with attached program information. THIS is the Holy Healthy Community they envisioned.

Surrounded by an elementary, middle, and high school they will be offering tutoring, literacy enrichment, health and nutrition classes, fitness, yoga, martial arts and dance, music enrichment, and speaker offerings to students and families alike. All offerings are available to members of their parish, as well as to members of their surrounding neighborhood.  We applaud their efforts to bring wellness to their small community on the gulf coast of Texas, not far from Houston. We can't wait to see how things go as they set things  in motion!




Upcoming Congregational/Community Wellness
Advocate Trainings:    
Chicago, IL September 21-23, 2017
Chicago, IL October 26-28, 2017
2018 Dates Coming Soon- Visit livingcompass.org for info.

Learn how to use Living Compass and other ideas for wellness ministry to enhance your congregation's vitality and to connect with the community by beginning or expanding a wellness ministry. After a training retreat, you'll return to your congregations to complete your certification.

Parent and Teen Training
Chicago, IL November 9-11, 2017
 
This is not a traditional CWA training in that it is meant for people that want to focus specifically on parents and teen wellness in their school or church community. Visit our website or contact Edith@livingcompass.org for more details. 

Register for a Congregational/Community Wellness Advocate Training
Additional Training Opportunities
Private group trainings can be arranged both at the Nicholas Center and at regional locations (for large  groups) on mutually agreeable dates.
For more information contact Edith@livingcompass.org
 

Making Connections
Look for Living Compass, or join us at these up coming events:
Visit us at the Episcopal Diocese of Florida Wellness Days in Miami, FL 
on Sept. 19, 2017.
Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools Conference in Houston, TX on Oct. 26-28, 2017.

Certification Celebration
Please help us to congratulate the following Congregational/Community Wellness Advocates who have completed their certification:
  • D'Ann Downey- St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Rome, GA)
  • Judi Turner- St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Dover, NH)
  • Brielle Giard- Christ Episcopal Church (Cedar Park, TX)
  • St. John's Episcopal Church/St. John's Wellness Center (La Porte, TX)
    • Mae Pinkham
    • Beverly Dearinger
    • Barbara Cloud
    • Dianne Rader
    • Steven Gallington
    • John Lippincott
    • Sharon Hill
    • Barbara Moore
    • Amy Morrow
    • Sherry Burns
    • Katherine Gould
    • Tina Lippincott
    • The Rev. Viktoria Gotting
Many of you have already far surpassed the completion of what it takes to be certified and all you need to do now is fill out the form. 
 
I f you are interested in completing your CWA List of Activities for Certification found in your training binders or need a new form please contact Edith@livingcompass.org
 
We will be honored to send you your official certificate. Keep an eye out for future certified CWA promotions and events.
C oaching Corner 

Living Compass has long offered wellness circles for adults. Now we have created new materials so our CWAs can offer the same kinds of wellness circles for parents. Parents who participate in a circle will take a parent assessment, have discussions about healthy parenting, and make NEXT steps that they will share with the group. In the process of participating in such a circle, parents have a chance to be real with one another, empower themselves to make changes in their life and the lives of their family, have fun and make new friends. You have all the skills to run these parent wellness circles as they are much like the adult circles you are already running.

The Parent Wellness Compass
  
We are excited to announce our newest resource, the Parent Wellness Compass book. This book is a collection of four reflections on each of the eight areas of wellness, focusing on parent and family wellness, and includes discussion questions and space for the parent to fill in their NEXT steps. This book can be used by an individual parent, by a couple or co-parents, or in a group setting. So in that way it is much like Scott's book, Your Living Compass. It is also a great tool to use in conjunction with the Parent Wellness coaching program, as it can be an introduction to parent wellness or as a followup to a parent wellness circle. We are sure all of you creative people will find a way to use it in your community.

Visit our website  parentwellnesscompass.org   for more details. 


Closing Thoughts

We are so excited to say that at our two most recent trainings we shared our new Parent Wellness Circle materials and our new accompanying book, the Parent Wellness Compass. We have listened for years about the need for parents to have safe places in their churches to share the joys and challenges or parenting, and for churches to reach out to the parents outside their doors. With this in mind, we have created these new materials that all of you are trained to use. Please take a look and feel free begin to think about you could serve the parents in your community. Please contact any of us to help you think of how to use these materials and how to advertise them in your community. And if you use them please let us know how it goes!