The stories of Mental Health Ministry are filled with lessons, hope, and are a reflection of Christ’s mercy and love. Throughout the globe parishes, dioceses, and Catholic organizations have brought this ministry to those in their community. Through their dedication to accompany those living with mental illness and mental health concerns, they are bringing the light of Christ to others. Read the stories below. Check out the resources they have created. And see how the Holy Spirit might be inviting you to start a ministry in your community.
Sometimes God will call us into this ministry in mysterious ways. Sometimes in painful ways. Sometimes in ways that are foggy every step of the way. From clinician to minister, leading the Orange County Diocesan wide Mental Health Ministry, Margery Arnold has led 15 parishes within Orange County as they collaborated with community agencies, organizations, and mental health providers to bring the light of Christ to those in their diocese. As she puts it, they are “stretcher-bearers and hope holders.”
In launching this ministry, the Mental Health Ministry team has 3 goals.
As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. - 1 Corinthians 12
This ministry is filled with successes and trials. It cannot be done alone. As a Mental Health Ministry team, each member of the team recognizes the gifts that they have been uniquely called and created to use within this ministry. When the team works together, the work becomes sustainable and joyful. The path through this ministry is not always known, but we must trust in the Holy Spirit to provide for us, both ministers and individuals living with the mental health concern. We must trust that the Holy Spirit will provide us with the people, gifts, and resources needed to continue to say, “yes” to Mental Health Ministry.
Stigma and fear are very real components of this ministry. This is where education comes into play. Through programs such as the Sanctuary for Catholics course, the team can provide for themselves and the greater parish community a foundation and an invitation to greater conversation and understanding of what it means to accompany those living with a mental health concern. But, parish education events alone are not always enough. Reaching out to local Catholic newspapers, radio stations, podcasts, and other forms of media, provide additional educational opportunities for both the Catholic community and the community at large.
One of the greatest lessons learned comes from involving individuals living with a mental illness and their loved ones in leadership in the ministry. This became critical to the ministry’s success. Do not be afraid to invite and learn from those most affected by mental illness. Learn from their story. Accompany each other.
“We are joyful, connected, and creative missionary disciples.”
Starting a ministry, one that carries both a sense of newness and stigma around issues and concerns the people the ministry will accompany is not an easy task. When we see a need for a specific ministry and feel the tug (or more often a push) from the Holy Spirit, we want everything to happen at lighting speed. This desired speed and sense of urgency can have us feeling less than adequate when God has a different pace and/or the world around us slows us down. The pandemic slowed many of us down, but we can take this new pace and sit in frustration, or embrace the doors that the Holy Spirit are opening in our ministry and in our parish life. In Rockford, IL, the Mental Health Minsters are embracing the slower start as they build both community support, and lay the groundwork for education. Starting with the Sanctuary for Catholics 8-Part course, (to learn more about this course, click here) one parish is engaging its parishioners and breaking down the stigma of mental health in the Church. Through this course, bulletin announcements, and one-on-one engagement, slow and steady will build a sustainable and flourishing Diocesan wide ministry. As this year unfolds, there will be moments for continued education for each minister, prayer, faith formation, all while cultivating a community. They understand the need to balance both the clinical and the ministry, to know that their job is to minister and support, not solve all ills. They understand the need to be a community of faith, in addition to a ministers, to take care of one another so that burnout and distress is prevented as much as possible. Rockford has created some beautiful resources that we share with you now that might help you find ways to launch a ministry and discover ways how to keep the momentum going, without extinguishing the light.
Engagement of parish leadership is not always an easy task. Our priests often have full calendars and many demands, adding one more ministry sometimes feels like it might break the camels back, yet, there are simple ways we can engage our priests and bishops and as we have learned from St. Thomas of Canterbury Church in California. With their grant they were able to focus on building awareness, spend time identifying the needs of the community, and provide training in Mental Health Ministry. By building a foundation within the parish membership, they were able to take the leadership of the ministry off the shoulders of the pastor and instead engage the leadership as a friend of the ministry instead of the sole minster. Regardless of who leads this ministry, one should never do it alone. By establishing 2-3 ministry leads, the work load becomes manageable for a volunteer team. If the Lord is calling you to lead this ministry, don’t be afraid to take the role, build a team, and invite your pastor to become a friend of the ministry.
Work small. Don’t be afraid of Small Groups. (8-10 people including the facilitators.) It is the perfect size to cultivate discussion. Us scripture as a guide, talk about real mental health issues, and invite God intro your healing process. Get started! No one is perfect, but everyone can inspire a community free from judgement, open to the movement of the Holy Spirit.
People in our faith communities are hungry for information on Mental Health. This is something that the Diocese of LA discovered and worked with as they built and expanded their Mental Health Ministry. LA started with basic communication. Hosting general info Martian webinars/info sessions on Mental Health Ministry helped them gain perspective as to how many people might be interested. This was followed up with a 4 week training series that helped provide a much desired depth to what mental health ministry means for LA and lead to the momentum they found throughout this past years. Each program added more information, found greater depths, and has lead a robust training program where perspective and current mental health minsters learned from mental health professionals that were not only experts in the field of mental health, but also well versed in parish ministry. LA found a balanced blend of both the knowledge of the clinician and the desired outcomes of the ministry. Their success had not been without its lessons. Planning head, and having a portfolio of communication materials before launch would have been helpful. This would allow each participant to put the next event or training on their calendar will in advance, but it would also allow the ministry team space to not scramble at the last minute. As many ministries discover, this truly needs to be a team effort, it needs to come with networking, fellowship, and partnership both with fellow ministries, but also within the greater diocesan community. One other tip the would give fellow mental health ministries that they wish the did from the start, offer a toolkit at the end of the initial training so that ministers know how to bring this work into their parishes. Sometimes given a step by step guide to what to do is enough to help a parish take the first team, and then dare to open up for the Holy Spirit to flesh out the rest.
Start a book group, to grow in faith, education, and community. Select a book that will inspire conversation about mental health and the Church. Engage is discussion about how you might build a mental health ministry in your parish, all it takes is one person to answer “Yes!” Allowing the Holy Spirit to move through that “Yes” and build what is needed in your unique community. Kansas City chose The Depression Cure by Stephen S. Illardi.
Consider the spiritual and mental well-being of your team. Provide moments for rest, faith development, and social connection. Spiritual care can never be underestimated.
Your mental health education never ends! Continue to learn, grow, and expand your mental health knowledge/literacy. This will only enhance how you are able to accompany those who come to this ministry seeking the light of Chris
ENGAGE THE CLERGY! We need their support, their confidence, and input. With our priests and bishops supporting us, we ourselves find the confidence it takes to lead when we are called to this role of Mental Health Minister.