We are on an exciting journey.
Over the next few months, we will be launching our new website, enhanced membership services, as well as increasing the number of training resources and events.
The decision to make changes has resulted from a long period of reflection and analysis. We asked ourselves: how do we fulfil our objectives to promote and resource the healing ministry, working with medicine and science, in the world in which we find ourselves living?
The most pressing issues to address are to ensure we support the needs of churches to be hubs for health and healing, to extend our voice into the diverse health market, and to support individuals to grow in their faith and confidence in the power of the Christian spiritual life.
Part of this strategic evaluation was to look at all aspects of our communications, including our logo.
The current logo was created in 2016, when the Guild of Health and the Guild of St Raphael merged. It combined the image of the story of the Archangel Raphael in the Book of Tobit of the former with the Celtic cross of the later.
It is important for all organisations, even religious ones, to have a great logo.
Logos express values and boil down the essence of what we do and it must relate clearly to our members and to those we hope to work with.
While there may be sadness about the logo changing, what became clear in our consultation process is that the story represented in the logo, of Raphael showing Tobias how to make an ointment with the gallbladder of the fish that will heal his father, was obscure and that there was a need to create something simpler with more widespread appeal.
Our new logo is striking and simplified; it combines the powerful image of the wings of the archangel, with the original shape and soothing colours of green and yellow that have consistently been connected to the Guild’s branding.
The small green leaf is a motif that will be carried through the new logos for Chrism and Healthy Healing Hub project, which will be launched later in the year.
The green leaf remind us of the promise in Revelation 22 that the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nation which is at the heart of the mission of our organisation.
