1. Brochure “Guidelines for Clergy: Providing Pastoral Care to Persons With
Mental Illness and Their Family.” (PDF Format)
2. May is Mental Health Month Bulletin Insert
3. Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents
4. Children and Mental Illness Bulletin Insert (Print out back-to-back and cut in
half to use as an insert - PDF Format)
5. Mental Illnesses
Awareness Guide for Clergy and Other Spiritual Leaders
COST: Free
Available from: American Psychiatric Association.
Phone: 1-888-267-5400
6. When Mental Illness Strikes in A Family of Faith
A brochure in Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish versions for families and for clergy working with families who have a
member who has mental illness.
7. Outreach to People with Mental Illness and Their Families,
a packet of four
bulletin inserts:
Reaching Out to Someone Who has Mental Illness
I was a stranger and you took me in. Matthew 25:35
Mental
Illness: Community Outreach
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect of show your hospitality to strangers
for by doing that some have entertained angels without know it. Hebrews 13:1-2 Creating Caring
Congregations for People with Mental Illness and Their Families This is my commandment, that you love one another as
I have loved you. John 15:12 Responding to People with Mental Illness in the Congregation and
in the Community. And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with they God? Micah 6:8 Order Form Children and Mental Disorders: Myths and Facts
And whosoever shall give
drink unto one of the little ones a cup of cold water, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Matthew
10:42 Order Form Putting the Pieces Together: Correcting the Myths of Mental Health and Aging Give Justice to the weak and
the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. Psalm 82:3-4 Available
in a Christian and in a Jewish version.
8. How to Rate Your Faith Community
(Adapted from criteria
established by the Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network – PSMIN)
9. Writers from One Caring Place, Authors. St. Meinrad, IN:
One Caring Place (imprint of Abbey Press).
These short (8-10 page),
inexpensive, and sensitively written Care Notes
These pamphlets
deal with a wide variety of spiritual, mental and emotional challenges for people of all ages and stages of life—children,
teens, parents, single adults, and seniors. They are based on current medical and counseling practices, and offer
further reading suggestions at the end of each positive, balanced piece. Sample topics range from grief, serious
illness, depression, anxiety, chronic illness, and anger to forgiveness, stress, unanswered
prayer, and addiction. One Caring Place (an
imprint of Abbey Press) offers these in bulk rates for individual use, or church foyer display stands. An excellent
tool for chaplains, counselors, and individuals who care.
10. Caring for
Every Child's Mental Health
Available from: P. O. Box 42490, Washington,
DC 20015
Phone:
1-800-789-2647
FAX 301-656-4012
11. Information
brochure about mental health and children:
Publ. #CA-0037 Sept. 1999
Available from: U.S. Dept. of
Health &Human Services
12. The Religious
Community and Mental Illness:
How a Congregation Can Respond
Clergy and congregations
are asked to respond to a variety of community needs.
These needs often focus on persons living within the neighborhood
of the congregation. In many cases an effective response can be made. This is as true for the needs of those who have a mental
illness as it is for others in need. The following are some suggested ways to respond:
Members of the congregation can be a friend.
Long- term mental illness
tends to isolate people. Be a friend to those who may have no other friends or support systems.
· Be accepting, friendly, understanding, and genuine.
· Write, send a card.
· Telephone to keep in
contact.
· Talk with the person,
listen to the person.
· Make visitations.
· Encourage the person
to work with their strengths, with their gifts.
· Help set realistic goals.
· Be a resource for information
and referral.
· Avoid implying that
if the person can "get things right with God" or "confess" that the person will be cured
Members of the congregation
can let the person know he/she is not alone.
· Welcome the person into
the church community.
· Recognize the need for
spiritual healing, without focusing on the "cure" for the illness.
· Always reassure the
person that God loves and cares for him/her.
· Remember that this is
not a punishment from God or caused by demons or the devil.
· Encourage the person
to join a support group, social club and/or advocacy group.
The congregation can
offer opportunities to integrate the person into the church community.
· Holiday
programs are nice. More important is including the person in the church's year round activities, outings, interest groups,
etc.
· Encourage the person
to volunteer at the church. Make tasks you ask of the person constructive and meaningful. These could include doing a reading,
preparing the place of worship, helping with the coffee hour, helping with the bulletin or newsletter.
The congregation can
open the church to:
· Hosting a group of people
who have a mental illness from a community facility.
· Sponsoring a support
group for persons who are ill or family members.
· Sponsoring a social
club or drop-in center.
· Offering employment,
such as secretarial, using artistic talents, janitorial, maintenance, food preparation, etc.
· Initiating a visitation
program.
Members of a congregation
can educate themselves and others by:
· Encouraging clergy,
lay staff and congregations to learn about mental illness.
· Raising awareness in
the congregation about mental illness in a sermon, bulletin or newsletter.
· Adding materials about
mental illness to the congregation's library.
· Encouraging heightened
awareness about mental illness beyond its congregation by writing a letter to the editor or an article for a regional or national
denominational publication.
· Encouraging the denomination's
area wide, regional or national structure to be responsive to the needs of persons with a mental illness and their families.
Members of a congregation
can advocate for persons with a mental illness in the community by:
· Being willing to work
with other congregations in the community to improve the quality of life for persons with a mental illness and their families.
· Supporting efforts to
obtain appropriate housing and jobs.
· Not letting false, stigmatizing
statements about mental illness go unchallenged.
· Objecting in writing
or by telephone when media and public events stigmatize people who have a mental illness.
· Encouraging the denomination's
legislative and advocacy groups to support increased budgets for research, creation of appropriate housing, and community
services.
From "The Congregation:
A Community of Care and Healing." PC(USA)
13. Many More Resources @ Mental Health Ministries
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