An Ecology of Health
At the Centre we work with a four-fold model of health to which we have given the title an ecology of health. This includes ecological, global, personal, and spiritual health.
Ecology health acknowledges the interconnectedness of creation. It recognises that fulfillment through a sustainable vision of planetary well-being. Focus is placed upon the environmental factors that constitute health and ill health, while the inclusiveness of this heading gives rise to our overall theological categorisation of health as an ecology of balanced relationships.
Global health emphasises the global community and the socio-political dimensions of health. Here, the pursuit of peace and justice are seen as fundamental to any understanding of health and healing. we are particularly concerned to emphasise, and contribute to, a culture of peace and justice in contrast to a culture of violence, and we seek to do this by challenging both the logic and practice of retribution ideologies whether in their theological or secular forms.
Personal health focuses upon our physical and mental wellbeing. Here, both medical practices and the other healing arts are explored through the interpretative lens of the Christian story. Emphasis is placed upon a holistic model of human personhood that acknowledges the multiple influences constituting human wellbeing, whist also challenging definitions of health and ill health that isolate an individual from the wider relational contexts with which they live.
Spiritual health draws attention to the specifically cultural contexts through which all human experience is filtered. Here, emphasis is placed upon the Christian story as the primary mode of interpretation through which we come to know ourselves and our community as either healthy or unhealthy. Spirituality is defined in this context as the symbolic mode of experience through which we gain insight into, and value for, our lives.
None of the above categorisations can be understood in isolation, and so the Centre’s methodology is based upon a conversational encounter between these four overlapping strands. Not withstanding our commitment to the Christian story, we wish to emphasise that no legitimate enquiry into the constitutive factors of health and ill health are to be excluded from the Centre’s programme. We only ask that participants respect the diversity of views that constitute a genuinely open and searching enquiry.
