Anchoring Your Well Being: Christian Wholeness in a Fractured World
(Upper Room Books, 1997) Paper, 192 pp. ISBN 0-8358-0821-1

Anchoring Your Well Being: A Guide for Congregational Leaders
(Upper Room Books, 1997) Paper, 96 pp. ISBN 0-8358-0822-X

Book Review by George Donigian

Howard Clinebell’s two Anchoring Your Well Being books are encyclopedic. Clinebell, long known for his pioneering work in pastoral care, examines seven dimensions of well-being: spiritual, mental, physical, relational, work and play, crisis and loss, and environmental. The idea of reviewing an encyclopedia seems formidable. A reviewer might comment on the general format of the encyclopedia or might write about biases noted in an article or an omission of detail in the discussion of some arcane topic. An encyclopedia review implies that the reviewer has become fairly aware of the content of the volumes in that work, has perhaps worked through twenty or thirty volumes, and has an expertise from which to offer guidance to more general readers. I confess to a familiarity with the two Clinebell books because of some work I did with Dr. Clinebell, but I am no expert in the field of wholeness. After Howard and I worked together, I would talk with friends who often responded, “Ah, you’ve been talking to Clinebell again.” Howard’s passionate commitment to wholeness imbues all conversations with his concern for health, and that passion moves from person to person in spreading the word of healing and health.

Clinebell presents a perspective on wholeness and health that is grounded in Christian faith. The material is rooted in a biblical understanding of healing and salvation. In his overview, Clinebell offers his perspective: “...Jesus highlights the purpose of his ministry: ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’ (John 10:10) The New English Bible translates this Greek phrase as ‘life...in all its fullness.’ The abundant life or life in all its fullness is what is called spiritually empowered ‘well being,’ ‘wholeness,’ or ‘wellness’ in the contemporary language of this workbook. The fundamental purpose of the Christian life is to enable people to develop lifestyles of spiritually empowered wholeness throughout their life journeys and to help create a society in which life in all its fullness is possible for all members of the human family” (Anchoring, p. 17). All that Clinebell offers grows from this perspective.

The format of Anchoring Your Well Being: Christian Wholeness in a Fractured World is designed to help readers discover their strengths and their needs. Each chapter begins with a self-diagnostic checkup. Readers are invited to mark a list of statements to indicate whether the statement describes an aspect of health the reader is currently caring for or needs strengthening; e.g., “I often experience a sense of wonder, joy, serenity, and gratitude for God’s good gift of life.” “Our relationship has the ongoing support of a caring circle of friends and extended family members.” “My laughter and tears often complement and enrich each other. Each deepens the other.” Clinebell suggests that readers do each checkup prior to focusing on the chapter. The strongest chapters in the book deal with relationships and with crisis and loss because of Clinebell’s long-term interest in these areas. His “baker’s dozen” of strategies to increase self-other care in relationships is a gift to all.

Somewhat different from the main text is the Guide for Congregational Leaders. This brief book offers helpful session plans for teaching Anchoring Your Well Being, models for using it in an eight-week series and in different retreat settings, and suggested hymns and prayers. Most useful is the section, “Questions Often Asked,” as these sound very much like a seminar with Howard. The questions include: “What benefits have churches with wellness programs reported? What problems have churches with wellness programs reported? What are the principles of creative wellness teaching? Are there relatively simple ways to try a wellness group? In what church settings are well being programs useful? What type of publicity is most effective?” Clinebell’s plans and models work well in churches, but Howard invites people to write to him about ways they are working with this material. Each volume includes his address.

Wholeness and health have become part of a cultural quest. We identify functional and dysfunctional institutions and relationships. True to his Methodist heritage, Clinebell examines the dysfunction and offers a Wesleyan movement toward wholeness. To each of us come questions of wholeness—for ourselves, our loved ones, our churches: Seeking wholeness or “life in all its fullness . . . for all members of the human family” is our Christian vocation as we proclaim the Good News.