Churches offering Radical Hospitality for Individuals with Mental
Illness and
Their Families.
NAMI-NC Annual Conference on March 9, 2007 Presentation
Rev. Dr. John M. Crowe
Certified Instructor,
Family to Family
Recipient of the 2002
President's Award from the Mental Health Association of NC
Introduction.
Research consistently shows that people with
emotional problems most frequently turn to clergy for help. People with serious
mental illness are as likely to contact clergy as they are to contact mental
health care professionals.
People do not choose these patterns of help-seeking
because they are unaware of mental health care resources. Rather, they do so because
they are more familiar with clergy.
Clergy do not charge fees. Also, there is less stigma involved in discussing one’s personal problems
with clergy. However, most clergy as well as congregations are grossly
unprepared for ministry to people with a mental illness and their families.
All too often what we see in the relationship
between churches and persons with a mental illness as well as their families
boils down to giving money to the mental health treatment systems and or referring
people to mental health services. Such support is for the most part
“non-religious” in nature and is not an example of offering radical
hospitality.
While just giving money and
making referrals is passively inadequate, the ignorant outlook and responses by
individual. Christians and
churches is far worse. People with a mental illness
have been told their real problem is sin, a demon, or lack of faith.
An adult church youth leader totally invalidated a
depressed teenager's feelings with an un-thoughtful response to a question.
This teenager had in previous youth meetings spoken about her depression and
thoughts about suicide. One day I overheard this young girl ask her adult youth
group leader if she was always that happy. Without a thought the adult
responded, 'oh yes, I'm always this happy in Jesus.' I can only imagine how
that statement made the teenage girl feel about herself and about her Christian
faith.
Sometimes a church member will tell another to just
snap out of their depression.
Here's an example of why you cannot just snap out of it (lean all of my weight
on a small person and tell them to just get up. It is not possible to just snap
out of it.)
Sometimes, the response of churches is similar to
what a graduate student in psychology at the
"Other students, who had previously been
engaged and excited about learning about mental illness in the abstract, became
extremely uncomfortable, refused to make eye contact with her, and were quiet
and withdrawn,"
This is a very sadly ironic story,
however the same kind of reaction too often takes place in our churches when a
member opens up as that student did. One Sunday a prominent Southern Baptist
pastor told his congregation about his personal struggle with depression.
Before the week was over, he found himself voted out and his family with no
where to live.
As a Christian, someone with a family member who
has mentally illnesses, a person with bipolar disorder, and a former pastor for
20 years before going on disability, I’ve experienced the Christian community
as both sometimes radically hospitable and other times ignorantly cruel. The
sad truth is that clergy on disability are viewed by many in the church as
second class for you are neither active nor retired.
We clergy are afraid to talk about our own mental
health because so many of us carry the secret burden of depression. Many
members of churches carry the burden of mental illness in secret as well. In
fact, 1 in 4 church households are afraid to tell you their secret.
Carlene Hill Byron's article about this silence closes powerfully saying
“The challenging good news is that when people
with mental illness turn to someone outside “the system” for help, the church
is first to get the call 40 percent of the time. Is your church ready?”
Hearing the stories of Jesus and singing hymns of
commitment to follow where he leads us in ministry to others is all very
exciting in the abstract. However, what we hear in Sunday School
lessons and sermons along with the songs of commitment we sing suddenly becomes
very concrete in the face of human need.
Peterson’s The Message Bible translates the Greek
words for “the least of these” in some translations to—the “overlooked and
ignored” Matthew 25:31-46
How can what you do or don’t do for the overlooked
or the ignored somehow is how we treat Jesus Christ? Well, when I was a young
boy, someone called my dad “Old Crowe.” I took it as if the man had said it me.
So, I told him to not ever say that again or I was going to beat him up.
The NT, particularly in the first chapter of John's
Gospel, Jesus is presented as both our creator and our redeemer. As was said
over and over again in the movie Nativity “God has come for the lowest of men
to the highest”
So often, the stigma of mental illness leads to
persons with a mental illness to feel like we are the lowest of all people. We
constantly see examples in every sphere of life where we are overlooked and/or
ignored. Yet, Jesus' parable says that whatever someone does or does not do for
persons with a mental illness, they have done or not done unto Jesus.
A. What models can help us?
Let's take a look into 4 churches for some models
of radical hospitality. The
websites where you can read more about these churches is in your handout.
One half of their membership are
persons with a mental illness.
The church works with
many community agencies to help provide support to those in our community who
are in need.
The church has a Togetherness Group which represents the primary, and in some cases,
the only social
outlet for many of its members.
The group meets weekly for activities. The
Togetherness Group Council meets once a month and plans the activities. The Council
consists of Pastor MacDonald, Becky Schrock-Herdeck,
two volunteers and 4 group members.
Plymouth
Congregational Church, UCC,
www.pathways2promise.org/pdf/model-psmin-2005.pdf
Mount Vernon
Presbyterian Church of Alexandria,
Hillsboro
Presbyterian Church of Nashville,
Please take a few minutes to rate your faith
community using the form provided in your handouts.
How to
Rate Your Faith Community
(Adapted from criteria established by the Presbyterian Serious Mental
Illness Network – PSMIN)
1. Does your congregation make a deliberate
attempt to welcome and integrate persons with a serious mental illness and their
families into the total life and work of the church without being obvious and
setting them apart by:
- Being accepting,
friendly, understanding and genuine?
- Praying for those
who have a mental illness the same way as for other illnesses?
- Visiting and
calling on the mentally ill person and by offering to help in little ways?
- Offering support
and love to the parents family of the ill person, by inquiring about
the relative's health as one would for
anyone who is ill?
- Listening and
talking with the mentally ill person?
2.
Does your congregation use every opportunity to educate themselves and others
about mental illness by:
- Encouraging clergy,
lay staff and congregations to learn about mental illnesses?
- Raising awareness of
mental illness in sermons, bulletins, and newsletters.
- Adding books and
other publications to the congregation’s library?
- Becoming familiar
with local mental health services and support groups?
3.
Does your congregation offer its facilities and/or resources to those having a
serious mental illness and their families by:
- Hosting a group of
people from a local facility?
- Sponsoring a
support group for them and/or their families?
- Sponsoring a social
club or drop-in-center?
- Offering employment
opportunities?
4.
Does your congregation advocate for people with mental illness by:
- Working with other
churches and organizations, such as the Mental Health Assoc. and NAMI
(National Alliance on Mental Illness)?
- Supporting efforts
to obtain appropriate housing and jobs?
- Not letting false,
stigmatizing statements about mental illness go unchallenged?
- Supporting adequate
state and local budgets for mental health services?
- Giving money for
research into the causes and cure for mental illness?
5. Does your congregation undertake a ministry to, ministry
with, and ministry by persons with serious mental illness and their families?
Are they invited to serve as officer bearers and on committees?
The
National Council of Catholic Bishops rightly stated the following “We proclaim that if any
disabled person is prevented from active participation, the church community is
incomplete.” The ultimate goal of radical hospitality is empowering both
ministry with and ministry by persons who have a mental illness and by their
family members.”
-------------------------------------------------
Anyone want to share what you gained by doing this
evaluation?
Two additional challenges.
Just what is radical hospitality? Frankly, it is the
exact opposite response of what so many with a mental illness and their
families experience. Such a response has led many to quietly disappear from
their congregations and join the alumni of the membership. These experiences
lead people to develop a perception or stigma of the church. This is quite a
hurdle to overcome, but it can be done.
Experiences of churches telling people their mental
illness comes from a sin, a demon, lack of faith or poor will power created a
stigma about the church in the minds and hearts of both some members of
churches and non-members. Thus, many church members with a mental illness and
their families become part of de-churched. One goal of this workshop is reverse
this trend.
Some people hear these tragic stories and develop
their own negative views of the church and mental illness. Some mental health
professionals have a negative view concerning Christians and thus see no place
for faith in treating someone with a mental illness.
I hope this workshop helps reverse this as people
hear good stories about churches offering radical hospitality to people with a
mental illness and their families.
B. What is next after we evaluate our church?
One possibility is for a small group within a church or a church as a whole must
develop the biblical perspective that whatever they do or don't do for the
overlooked and forgotten (people with mental illness and their families), they
have done unto Jesus. Invite other church members to join you in looking at the
plight of our state's mental health reform through those verses in Matthew.
Hopefully, some will see a new area in which to extend the ministry of Christ
in the world.
Second,
gather some information about Christian leaders of the past and present with a
mental illness. For example, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon,
Doug Murren.
Third,
honestly face the fact that your work has been made even more challenging by
the ignorant outlooks, and hurtful responses too many churches have toward
those with a mental illness and their families.
Fourth,
have Carlene Hill Byron chbyron@nc.rr.com. and her husband to come to your church to train
those already doing care-giving like Stephen's Ministries.
C. A gift idea for Clergy Appreciation Month and
Mental Health Week in October?
As we move now to A gift idea for Clergy Appreciation Month in October during
mental health week, I want to highlight a few resources.
Carlson, Dwight L. Why Christians Shoot
Their Wounded?: Helping (Not Hurting) Those
with emotional Difficulties. Inter-Varsity, 1994.
This book is worthy of its many good reviews.
Carlson, a physician and psychiatrist, cites scientific evidence to restore
peace and dignity to those who have been told by well-meaning individuals that
their mental illness is due to sin, spiritual weakness, or lack of faith.
Pointing to substantial research findings, Carlson
takes issue with prominent Christian writers and speakers who over-simplify
emotional distress
Gregg-Schroeder, Susan. In
the Shadow of God's Wings: Grace in the Midst of Depression. Upper
Room Books, 1997.
In taking us on her personal journey into
depression, Gregg-Schroeder
encourages a new understanding of the spiritual gifts that can
come from depression. She also has a
small group study guide for this book.
Hammond, Mary Tuomi. The Churched and the De-Churched: Mending A Damaged Faith.
Mary does an excellent job of writing about how
those haunted with mental illness join the ranks of the de-churched and offers good
ideas on how to reach them once again.
Murren, Doug. Churches That Heal: Becoming a Church That
Mends Broken
Hearts and Restores Shattered Lives.
Publishing, 1999.
This book is written from the perspective of an
experience pastor who has bi-polar disorder. With it properly medicated and
under good control, Doug built
and was pastor of the fastest growing and largest
church in his denomination.
The congregation was begun in his living
room with ten people and grew to an a Sunday attendance of 4,800 people.
Like Martin Luther who suffered from
depression, Rev. Murren did not
keep his mental illness a secret but used it as an opportunity for ministry.
Pastor Doug Murren writes
as one wounded healer (bi-polar)to another by sharing
scripture and true stories of how to create a church that brings healing to
the broken emotional lives and relationships in their
community.
Strobel, Shriley. Creating a Circle of Caring: The Church
and the Mentally Ill.
In this curriculum for adult study, Shirley Strobel reminds us that “Among the most forgotten of our
fellow human beings are the mentally ill.” Drawing
inspiration from professionals in the mental health field, Strobel uniquely formats a wealth of information about mental illness and calls on church
members to begin a ministry with persons who are
suffering. She uses theological reflections in succinct and gripping lessons
that will sensitize adults in the faith
community to both the plight of those suffering from severe
and persistent mental illness and the plight of their families.
Waterhouse, Steven. Strength for His
People: A Ministry for Families of the Mentally Ill
(Book) Westcliff Bible Press, 1994.
Speaking from the experience of having a brother
with schizophrenia, Pastor Steven Waterhouse shares the painful impact of
mental illness on a
Christian family.
Rev. Waterhouse carefully brings to the forefront
several concerns seldom addressed in other materials—particularly the valid and
invalid theories of
schizophrenia’s causes and the relationship of psychiatry to
religion. One difficult issue is covered with a frank discussion on
differentiating schizophrenia from
demon influence, this work is extremely thought
provoking. (A copy of this
discussion is copied in your handout.)
As someone who spent 20
years as a pastor, let me encourage you to be wise in how you encourage a
pastor to read something, attend something or receive something. Pastors are
bombarded with requests that end up only giving them one more thing to do on
their own. The best approach and one that shows appreciation for a pastor’s
ministry and weighty responsibility is to say something like here’s something
that might free your ministry up by teaching us to minister as a congregation
in this area.
In your handout is listed a web page where you can
find Suggestions for
a clergy mental health packet I’m just going to mention a few
of them. Several of are available for free.
The plight of clergy mental health.
I’m going to say just a few things about depression
and clergy today. The executive director Pension, Inc. for the Virginia
Conference of the UMC stated the following in a June 22, 2006 UM News article.
The clergy population as a whole consumes a
tremendous amount of mental health benefits. The health insurance industry has
walked away from clergy because of that. They say ‘we can’t handle you any
more. You’re too expensive.
During the time of the previous generation of
clergy, we were in the top five healthiest professions in the
Christian leaders with a healthy outlook about persons with a mental
illness.
Your handout has the online address where you can
read what historical spiritual giants like Martin Luther and John Wesley had to say
about mental illness and the Christian faith. It will surprise and bless
you to know their outlook is more biblical and healthier than many of their
spiritual descendants in
These two along with today’s Dr. Larry Crabb, and the writers of the books I mentioned earlier
call the church with one load clear voice in calling for churches to offer
racial hospitality to persons with a mental illness and their families both as
persons to be ministered to but also to equip for being in ministry with.
D. How can I advocate in my church
Now for a major shift into an
area that I’ve been active in since 2002. We hear a lot about advocacy and it is exclusively aimed toward
local, state and federal government which is good. I want to tell you today
that you can advocate within your local church, your area District, Synod,
Conference, etc. for people with a mental illness and their families.
Upon my family member’s fourth hospitalization
between August of 2000 and May of 2001, a LCSW gave me a brochure about NAMI.
That summer, I joined the newly formed NAMI-Affiliate in the
In the spring, that affiliate and the one in
Until then, I had never written a resolution on
mental health. Neither had I ever seen such a resolution in almost 20 years of
pastoral ministry.
My resolutions use whereas clauses mentioning
Jesus’ ministry. ( “Jesus came preaching, teaching,
and healing. . . continues through the Church.”) Then I drew from the
founder of Methodism, John Wesley’s ministry such as. writing
a sound book on home health remedies; starting dispensaries of medicines to the
poor who were being charged way too much; and advocating for better hospital
conditions; as well as better housing for the poor.
I also drew from supporting parts of the United
Methodist Hymnal as well as our denominations Social Principles related to
mental health, advocacy, the role of government in health care, and the right
of all persons to have equal access to health care.
Then, I included some whereas statements about
changes in the state mental health plan and what congress has yet to do about
parity. From there I included some statements about NAMI. Be sure to mention
Shirley H. Strobel's Creating a Circle of Caring:
the Church and the Mentally Ill.
The therefore let is be resolved part of each
resolution called for the church to some specific actions, such as requesting
each church be asked once a year about their activity and plans for ministry in
the area of mental health. Also, ask the denominational leadership in district
within NC to offer mental health and the church workshops.
Another resolution, called for lifting
up mental illness concerns in worship services in October; publicizing mental
health resource information in church newsletters; and Utilize the video/DVD
resource “Creating Caring Congregations” during the year.
The most recent resolution asked for a conference
director of mental health ministries, but we ended up with a committee on
disability concerns which our Book of Discipline mandates each conference to
have.
As far as I know, I’m the first clergy on
disability leave to serve on much less chair any committee or commission on the
conference or district level of our own Conference. We were able to have a
wonderful fall conference for the clergy and laity on mental illness and the
church. Part of our latest focus is on our clergy and their families who are on
incapacity leave. We know very well that the church at large views us as second
class citizens because we are neither active nor retired. A growing number of
us going on disability in the UMC, Lutheran denominations and others is because of depression or other mental illnesses. We are
meeting this spring with the committee overseeing incapacity leave to see how
we can help those who feel forgotten and overlooked by the church.
Now another aspect of advocating which helped these
resolutions was getting the support of friends on other conference agencies
like the Conference Board of Church and Society. They were glad to help. One
way they helped was to speak on the floor of annual conference when I was just
not able to.
There are a list
of statements from different denominations about the church and mental illness
which are online. Using them, you will be able to take parts of it or all
of it and advocate for your local church, your district, synod, etc. to get
about the ministry which your denominational leadership has stated in these
documents. (The online address for finding these statements is included in your
handout).
Do your homework. Make sure to mention the ministry
of Jesus, quote some scripture or at least reference to it, tie in someone with
your church system that has done something good in this or related area, draw
any supportive statements you can from whatever book of church order or book of
church discipline you have, pull some support from your hymnal or song book and
tie it in to a few concrete action steps which must be done for your church to
demonstrate radical hospitality to individuals with a mental illness and their
families. In addition, before you submit it to a local church governing body, a
district or conference group or a big denominational wide meeting seek support
from others like your pastor and people who chair other committees.
Conclusion
Someone did a research project on human nature and
this biblical story. Every person was told they were to give a talk on the Good
Samaritan in a building near them on a college campus. Some were told they had
plenty of time to go and speak. Others were told they had very little time. The
last were told you barely have enough time to even get there on time. Between
the two building beside the sidewalk on which each
person walked laid a person in obvious need. Just like in the real story, a
vast majority of the people walked right past the person on their way to talk
about the story of the Good Samaritan.
Too often, Churches are like some in the story of
the Good Samaritan.
Reflect
on this statement.
"Our reaction to
those who have dropped exhausted on the road of life is the ultimate test of our
personal understanding of God's grace."
Say after me,.
"Our reaction.......
to those who have
dropped exhausted......
on the road of
life...........
is the ultimate
test...........
of our personal
understanding ..............
of God's grace."
Therefore, I will share…..radical hospitality…to individuals
with mental illness… and their families and I will advocate….for my
congregation to do the same.
This
presentation was adapted from my earlier one for the NAMI-NC Fall Regional
Workshops in October of 2004. 
The NCC-UMC Committee on Disability Concerns
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imply our endorsement. Nor does listing imply full agreement with the content or the
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references, referrals, or links.
For more information contact: John M. Crowe, D.Min., APC
Member, NAMI-NC Member, NC Mental Health AssociationIncapacity Leave
E-Mail drcrowe@nccumc.org
Phone: 919 759-2146 
This space is provided in partnership mission by the North Carolina Conference Information Technology and Communications, The United Methodist Church The content of this home page is the responsibility of the Committee on Disability Concerns.
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