Of the various areas in which religion and politics intersect, the domains of medicine, law, and public health display those convergences with particular intensity. The long-running debates over Obamacare are rife with religious concerns, hopes, and objections, but those highly visible conflicts bespeak a much wider range of issues. What, for example, is the role of chaplaincies in the delivery of health services? How do such spiritual offices fit within ostensibly secular institutions? In what ways are religious groups able to help generate greater access to medical care for the poor and uninsured? Can Christian-based recovery programs garner state support and endorsement, and, if so, on what terms? Our distinguished group of lecturers this fall will help us engage these pressing questions, expanding the way we think about the junctures of religion, medicine, and the law.

Scott Morris, M.D., M.Div., is founder and CEO of the Church Health Center (CHC), in Memphis, TN, which has as its mission to seek to reclaim the Church’s biblical commitment to care for our bodies and spirits. The CHC, a health care ministry supported by a broad base of the faith and medical communities, provides care to over 65,000 patients in its clinic, which provides primary health care to low-income, uninsured working people. Dr. Morris will speak to his experience with these issues in his lecture, “The Faith Community’s Role in Health Care.” He will deliver his talk on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, at 4:30 p.m., in Umrath Lounge. Please join us for a reception immediately following the lecture.

Dr. Morris has an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University, and M.D. from Emory University. He is a board certified family practice physician and an ordained United Methodist minister.

This event is free and open to all; your RSVP is appreciated. Please contact us at
(314) 935-9345 or rap@wustl.edu for more information.