When the leaders at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, looked at the data outlining health inequities in their community, they knew it was time to act.
Since social determinants such as access to healthy foods, quality medical care, education, social connectedness and fitness play key roles in a person’s overall well-being, Mt. Moriah put in place a mission to address people’s physical and spiritual needs.
“We are trying to consider the whole person,” Senior Pastor Larry Crudup says. “The community that we live in has disparities in health, and we are just trying to do our part in that area.”
Several decades ago, during an expansion of the church building, a gym was built with the hopes of one day using it to serve nearby families. Now, that gym accommodates a workout center plus line dancing twice a week, group fitness classes, and many other activities—all in an effort to get people moving.
But Mt. Moriah didn’t stop at promoting physical fitness alone. They wanted to address people’s other needs as well. The church started a tutoring program that benefits more than 30 local children, offers counseling to grieving families, hosts an arts and crafts time for seniors to encourage connectedness, and runs a food pantry to provide fresh, healthy foods to those in need.
Crudup says that meeting physical needs can change a person’s life, but Mt. Moriah’s goal is to lead people to spiritual healing as well.
“It is wonderful to watch people come into the building with a smile on their face, ready to exercise, and then stay around and talk to each other about their faith—it is really organic,” he says. “But we need to be intentional as well. Our hope, ultimately, is to be a hub for disciple making and evangelism.”
