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Healthy Congregations Program

Certification Training

The three-course certification training for Healthy Congregations provides teams with skills and tools for success in planning and carrying out effective congregational health ministry work. Certification of at least three team members is required for renewal funding in the Healthy Congregations program. The training is open to all Great Plains United Methodists.

Live Virtual Training: Train from anywhere - you'll just need a computer for the materials and a speakerphone. Pre-registration is required and registration closes one week prior to the training date. Sessions with low registration may be cancelled, so please register early.

2019 Live Virtual Training Schedule
Health Ministry 101
[6-9 p.m.]
Outcomes-Based Planning
[6-8 p.m.]
Program Evaluation Using Data
[6-8 p.m.]
Wednesday, Jan. 9 Thursday, Jan. 17 Thursday, Jan. 24
Thursday, Jan. 10 Wednesday, Feb. 6 Wednesday, March 6
Thursday, March 28 Thursday, April 4 Thursday, April 11
Tuesday, April 2 Tuesday, April 9 Tuesday, April 16

Not sure what you still need for certification?
Look up your Healthy Congregations training status here:
(note: you only need to take each class once, not every year)
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Register for training here:

Separate registration required for each person participating.
[note: registration for each session will close one week before the training date, and sessions with insufficient registration may be cancelled. Please register early to help ensure your sessions "make".]
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Please choose the training sessions you will attend in 2019:

Health Ministry 101
Outcomes-Based Planning
Program Evaluation /
Using Data
Thursday, Mar. 28
6-9 pm virtual
Tuesday, Apr. 2
6-9 pm virtual
Thursday, Apr. 4
6-8 pm virtual
Tuesday, Apr. 9
6-8 pm virtual
Thursday, Apr. 11
6-8 pm virtual
Thursday, Apr. 16
6-8 pm virtual

What is necessary for the live virtual training sessions?

  • A computer with internet access
  • A speakerphone (group/individual training) or telephone (individual).

Judy Johnston will provide an Adobe Connect link, toll-free conference call number/PIN, and handouts/slides to registered persons a few days prior to each session.

If you want to run a basic connection test ahead of time (recommended), use this link: Adobe Connect Test. This will help ensure success in connecting to the training session.

Adobe Connect system requirements are available here. KUSM-W tech staff has prepared a recommendation, available here, for students using Adobe Connect.

Detailed course descriptions

Health Ministry 101 (3 hours)
This introductory course includes Healthy Congregations program orientation and team-building in a church setting. Identify local priority health needs, set goals, and develop a plan to help you make a positive health impact in people's lives.

Outcomes-Based Planning (2 hours)
Introduction to the socio-ecological model and its use for planning, along with worksheets, instructions, examples, and assistance in developing outcomes-based plans for effective health ministries.

Program Evaluation & Using Data (2 hours)
Healthy Congregations teams work hard to improve people's health and well-being; in any human effort, measuring how well we're achieving progress toward our goals is critical to learning and adapting. This course covers evaluation methods, tools, and questions; using evaluation templates; and techniques for analyzing and interpreting collected information.