MINISTRY RESOURCES FOR PASTORS
All Leader Resources
Mental health resources for pastors leading mental health ministries within their churches
Leading a Ministry
5 Ways Your Church Can Support Mental Health
In this 18-minute-long podcast from Hope Made Strong, Laura Howe discusses the importance of the Church supporting mental health and five ways to practically create and sustain mental wellness ministry in congregations. The podcast page contains ready-to-use resources to help get mental wellness ministry started in your church.
7 Things I Wish Christian Leaders Understood about Mental Illness
The struggles with mental illness are deep and complex. Here are seven things Christian leaders need to understand about mental illness to best support their church members and their families.
Mental Health Gateway’s Empower Training
Empower yourself by learning how to create a safe environment for those struggling with mental illness in the FREE 2- hour online video training with Dr. Matthew Stanford. This free course will equip you with the techniques for identifying mental illness, developing safe and effective situational responses, building a network to quickly connect those in distress with professional care, and starting the conversation about mental health in your faith community.
The Church and Mental Health Workshop Audio Presentations
5 audio presentations provide information and resources for congregations and church workers to help families navigate mental health issues.
5 Ways To Actually Create A Healing Space For Mental Health In The Church
At the heart of the Church lies the commission to share one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), care for the interests of others (Philippians 2:4), encourage the disheartened and gently help restore those who are weak (1 Thessalonians 5:14, Isaiah 35:3, Romans 15:1). Most of all, we have a hope that supersedes our earthly circumstances. We have the hope of Christ, whose eternal promises outweigh the sufferings of this world. For these reasons, the Church is not only on the front lines of the mental health crisis but is in the perfect position to foster hope and healing. This article explores 5 practical ways the Church can be a better place of support for those living with the experience of a mental diagnosis.
Mental Health and the Church: Seeking the Whole Story
This article, written by Casey Pruet from Mental Health Grace Alliance, covers three important questions regarding the current state of mental health in our country: 1) What story do current statistics on mental health tell us? 2) How has COVID-19 affected our mental health? 3) Where does the Church come into the story? Click here to learn more about the unique opportunity the Church has to walk alongside people through not just spiritual struggles, but also mental and emotional struggles.
Seven Ways to Implement a Mental Health Ministry Plan in Your Church
In this article, Dr. Stephen Grcevich explains seven practical ways churches can begin to implement mental health ministry initiatives which can help break down the stigma of mental illness in congregations and lead to help, hope, and healing.
Anxiety/Depression
Some Things You Should Know about Christians with Anxiety
Speaking from personal experience, the author of this article from Church Leaders covers 4 things you should know about your friends and family who are Christians with anxiety, including hoe the Gospel helps sustain hope in times of struggle.
Being A Christian Does Not Make You Immune to Depression, Hopelessness, and Suicide
In this article from Church Leaders, the author shares his personal experience as a Christian living with depression and discusses the necessity of the Church addressing mental health issues from the pulpit.
Giving Mental Health Awareness the Right Place in the Church
On the average Sunday morning a congregant may hear a sermon on being kind to strangers or a story about Jesus from the gospels, but how many sermons have you heard on mental health or suicide? Most likely none. And yet, the national suicide rate has increased 33 percent between 1999 and 2017. This is a public health crisis.
How Pastors Can Love Their Church Through Mental Health Difficulties
This article from Grace Alliance gives 5 ways churches can support individuals recently diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or other mental health condition.
How the church can be a community to those with depression
Church pastors and staffers, be courageous enough to talk about depression, and assure those in your congregations and communities that this Jesus we preach and teach about has real hope to offer, hope that is often found within the skill sets of counselors, doctors, and psychiatrists who have spent a lifetime preparing to help people. It is also found in the friendship and nurture of the church family.
Families impacted by depression…How can the church help?
Specific strategies for churches seeking to serve and welcome kids (and adults) with depression and their families.
Substance Use
Preventing and Addressing Alcohol and Drug Problems
A handbook created by NACoA’s Clergy Education and Training Project® for SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention providing basic information on alcoholism and addiction, the impact of parental addiction on children, facts about adolescent alcohol and drug use, and prevention strategies.
4 ways my pastor counseled me through drug addiction
I was addicted to drugs at 18 years old. I started developing an addiction at 14 and had a daily habit by 15. When I was 18, I began working for a guy at a mall kiosk who was a Christian. Through many conversations, he would seek to convince me why Christianity was true. For a year, I was very hostile to the conversations. At a time when I was very depressed and wanted some kind of relief, I finally, readily agreed to read the Bible. He suggested that I read Matthew because it was the first book of the New Testament. So I read it, God opened my eyes to his saving grace, and I became a Christian.
Why churches matter in the fight against addiction
The church has been stepping in at this time of crisis, and we need even more of that as we battle a national illness that has no simple remedy. This article discusses how church planting is one key to attacking the problem of addiction. Click here to read article.
Suicide
Suicide Prevention Competencies for Faith Leaders: Supporting Life Before, During, and After a Suicidal Crisis
This new resource, informed by faith community leaders and suicide prevention experts, aims to help equip faith leaders with the capabilities needed to prevent suicide and provide care and comfort for those affected by suicide.
After a Suicide: Recommendations for Religious Services and Other Public Memorial Observances
A brief guide for faith community leaders and other community leaders that provides background information, suggests ways to care for and support survivors, and offers recommendations for planning a memorial observance.
Responding to a Member Who May Be at Risk for Suicide
Key steps to take to help someone who may be at risk for suicide.
Suicide Prevention: Three Approaches for Engaging Faith Communities
In this article from The Christian Post, a former ER doctor describes three practical approaches the Church can take to help prevent suicides: Top Down, Bottom Up, and Peer to Peer.
Trauma
Mental Health in Pastoral Ministry Podcast
In this Sanctuary Mental Health podcast, Pastor Wally Nickel shares his journey through a mental health crisis stemming from childhood trauma, his experience living with anxiety and depression, and how this lived experience has shaped his faith and work, including leading small group mental wellness groups in church.
Becoming a Trauma-Informed Faith Community
Insights and resources to help churches and other faith communities do ministry with people affected by adverse childhood experiences or other trauma.
Sacred Series: Becoming a Trauma Informed Faith Community
This resource contains liturgy examples, steps and ideas, tips for practical ways of doing trauma informed care, a glossary, and 2 videos.
Toolkits/Organizations
How to Experience Mental Health Recovery + Navigate Professional and Community Support
This free faith-based e-book from Mental Health Grace Alliance explores the mental health recovery journey from a whole- health perspective and provides practical tips and resources for helping navigate the system of care for yourself or your loved one.
How to Understand Mental Health Challenges and Recovery
This free faith-based e-book from Mental Health Grace Alliance explores how to understand mental health challenges through the lens of grace, how to approach your or a loved one’s mental health journey from a whole person wellness perspective, and provides a model for the continuum of mental health recovery and resilience for your personal or loved one’s mental health journey.
List of Mental Health Toolkits/Guidebooks/Manuals
Discover a compilation of handy free toolkits and other resources
List of Mental Health Ministry Organizations
A compilation of local and national mental health ministry organizations
I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone Accept Treatment
In this Hope Made Strong podcast, Dr. Xavier Amador of the Leap Institute shares the LEAP method, an evidence-based communication method which helps guide people toward mental health recovery. LEAP is for any relationship, but it also gives you the tools you need to persuade someone in “denial” about mental illness to accept treatment and services. A link to the LEAP Institute organization and their other resources are also included.
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
"Navigating a Mental Health Crisis: A NAMI Resource Guide for Those Experiencing a Mental Health Emergency" (Crisis Guide) provides important, potentially life-saving information for people experiencing mental health crises and their loved ones. This guide outlines what can contribute to a crisis, warning signs that a crisis is emerging, strategies to help de-escalate a crisis, available resources and so much more.
Mental and Emotional Health Ministry Insights and Resource Guide
This free guidebook from Mental Health Grace Alliance helps ministry leaders (1) discover the need for mental health ministry in the Church, (2) learn how the Church can help reduce stigma related to mental illness, and (3) build a more caring culture to open the door for conversations in the Church about mental wellness. Free samples of Grace Alliance’s mental health workbooks are included in this guidebook.