A crisis is not simply “someone having a hard week.” It is a situation where a person may be in immediate danger, has lost significant contact with reality, or cannot reliably keep themselves safe. Mental health crises can include suicidal thoughts, self-harm, psychosis, severe agitation, or a person becoming unable to care for themselves safely. When someone is in crisis, the church’s first job is not to fix everything. It is to stay calm and stay present.
The lives of David, Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, Hannah, Jonah, Paul, and Jesus show us that emotional suffering is neither new nor shameful. God met each of them in their anguish…and through their stories, we learn how to care for others when they are suffering emotional and spiritual distress.
Helpful practices for overcoming mental health stigma and misconceptions in the church include education and awareness, open dialogue, using respectful language, challenging discrimination and many more.
In both church and community, mental health is often seen as a spiritual failure, a personal weakness, or something shameful and dangerous, rather than as a real health issue that can affect anyone and often needs both spiritual and professional care.
The Westminster standards teach that after death, believers’ souls go immediately to be with Christ in the highest heavens, where they are made perfect in holiness, while their bodies rest in the grave until the resurrection. For the wicked, the standards teach that their souls are cast into hell at death, while their bodies remain in the grave until the final judgment.
Beth Sonnenberg recently taught a Timothy Two Project International workshop for a group of twenty Children’s Ministry Leaders from fourteen local local churches in Fortaleza, Brazil located in the northeastern coastal State of Ceará.
Beth Sonnenberg recently taught a Timothy Two Project International workshop for a group of 20 Children’s Ministry Leaders from 18 local churches in Verde Rico, Mexico located in a mountainous region of the southwestern State of Guerrero.
Mental Health Care in the Church 