Faith communities that have used the CHI give the following advice:

• Build a strong Wellness Team to be able to share the work and do a thorough assessment, and to keep wellness in front of your congregation as a priority. It can be hard at first to find enough volunteers to be on the Team, but if your Wellness Team Coordinator and other leaders are enthusiastic and let volunteers know that you intend to make the experience fun and rewarding, people will want to join in. The Wellness Team can function as a small group ministry program, with members getting to know one another and having time to reflect on how the work is a spiritual practice and why it is important. Some congregations have small, but energetic teams that lead the CHI work, others are a larger group that divides the work into small parts. Both ways have worked well.
  
  
• Spread the word and involve as many people as possible in the CHI work, especially your clergy and people in leadership positions. Leaders’ support can give you the power to make healthy changes. The majority of your community will have to be behind these changes, or they won’t last or be effective. (Read the Congregational Wellness Pledge and consider creating one for your faith community as you start this work together.)
  
  
• Move carefully since eating, physical activity and obesity are personal and sensitive issues. Keep the focus on health, not weight.
  
  
• Try to meet people where they are and take small steps. You don't need to change everything at once! You may choose to leave some popular, but not necessarily healthy, traditions as they are, since they do not happen very often and changing them may be too much of a loss for your community. Or, think about making sure a few healthy options are available at the same time. Be sure to do some awareness-building before changing parts of your environment or the way you do things, that way more people will be supportive.
  
  
• Remember that every congregation will use the CHI a little differently and come up with different results and action items. Find a way that works best for you.
  
  
• For a richer experience, connect your CHI work to your faith. What values can you live out through this process? What does your faith teach you about wellness? Click here for faith and wellness resources.
  
  
• Check the Frequently Asked Questions page, or FAQs, for more information on possible challenges you will face when using the CHI, and how you can get around them.

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