The Church and Mental Health
Issue 020
JUNE 27, 2018
WRITTEN BY DR. ROBYN BISHOP
Robyn Bishop is the founding Pastor of The Distribution Center in Orlando, Florida - a faith community intentional about inviting, including and advocating for people affected by mental health conditions. Robyn received her Doctor of Ministry in Church Planting at Asbury Theological Seminary and has been married to her best friend, Stew, for thirty two years; they have five grown kids (two of them married into the family) and two young granddaughters.
How can we, as the church, be intentional about inviting and embracing people living with, or affected by, mental health conditions?
Over the past three years, my research has led me to interview various pastors and mental health professionals from Orlando to Seattle who are currently forging fresh insight into this topic. All of the research participants share the belief that the church is called to educate the community about mental illness although there are many churches who question how to go about this task.
Don’t worry. Those of us who are not scientists, therapists or psychiatrists should never pretend to be; however, we all can partner with professionals who have this common goal to educate, advocate, and love.This network, while sharing resources with one another, “links differences and bridges distances for the benefit of all.” In this way we all are being perfected by those “enough like us to be intimate, yet different enough to be necessary.” Professionals have studied a great deal in their arena and provide an opportunity to present information through various platforms, such as holding a one-day seminar, talking about mental health in liturgy, prayer or testimonies, and being intentional about embracing people in our communities.
“The church is not expected to be the expert on mental illness, but to be educated enough to respond with encouragement and understanding, rather than silence and shame.”
The church is not expected to be the expert on mental illness, but to be educated enough to respond with encouragement and understanding, rather than silence and shame. Have you considered that the Church often responds to people with mental illness people differently that people with a physical illness? You could say that mental illness is the “no casserole” illness because people are afraid to talk about it openly. If you added up the number of people who have heart disease, cancer and diabetes you would still have a number less than the number of people who live with a mental health condition; so why don’t we lift up people with schizophrenia or bipolar just like those with cancer or having heart surgery when we pray or share stories in our Gospel messages?
According to NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Health) one in five people live with a mental illness; a quarter of our population live with a mental health condition like depression, anxiety, PTSD, an eating disorder, bipolar, or one of the other two hundred possible diagnoses that are currently listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that has been published by the American Psychiatric Association.
The church can learn about signs and symptoms of mental health conditions to help people in earlier stages. Faith communities are in a perfect position to provide support for a meaningful, productive life. There are many people you may not realize that struggle with a mental health condition that may feel like they are hiding behind a mask with a desire to be set free!
“For freedom, Christ has set free”(Galatians 5:1). May each of our faith communities be intentional about inviting people to live out what it means to be free in Christ, with resurrected and redeemed lives even in the midst of illness, maybe not cured from a condition, but in companionship with each other and our great Healer, Jesus! What could your faith community do to educate, advocate and love people with mental health conditions?