Mental Health Awareness and Wellness
“Let’s make our churches and chaplaincies places of welcome and inclusion for people living with mental ill-health.”
World Mental Health Day 2022 on Monday 10 October 2022. Perhaps this year more than ever, it offers an opportunity to us to reflect on mental health in general and the 2022 theme ‘Making Mental Health and Well Being for All a Global Priority’.
Follow this link for more information: World Mental Health Day 2022
‘No Visible Scar‘ – by Richard Littledale, is a book which covers issues such as not being able to be with someone as they died, or say goodbye at a funeral, also the less obvious wounds of the loss of your one person in a sea of statistics. It may be a helpful, practical resource in parish ministry. Published by Authentic Media. ISBN 9781788932288, £1.99 (Packs also available)
Details & contacts for Mental Health Services by district.
Leading work in this area, the MHA (Mental Health Awareness) Planning Group includes:
- The Revd Sue Stilwell – Sue has been a Chaplain for 11 years in the elderly care sector, working with people living with dementia and life-limiting illness. Alongside this, Sue is part of the Bishop’s Hatfield Clergy Team and actively involved in pioneer church ministry.
- Mrs Wendy Waters – Wendy is a Reader at St Mark’s Church, Bedford. Wendy has a keen interest in Mental Health and Wellness after having become a Carer for a close family member. Wendy has a long-held passion to remove the stigma around mental ill-health and to help improve the care and treatment of those affected by it.
- Mrs Janet Bird – Janet is a member of the Diocesan Board for Mission and Ministry. Over many years serving the diocese, Janet has been a leading voice to encourage and support the church’s engagement with social responsibility matters, serving our diocesan initiative, Living God’s Love, to see ‘communities transformed’.
Previous events include:
July – December 2020 – webinars
In response to the lockdown imposed by Covid-19, a series of webinars were planned to offer some time for reflection and discussion. You can see the promotional flyer for Webinars here: ‘It’s Okay Not To Be Okay’ – Webinars July-December 2020.
May 2020
- Talk prepared for the ‘Thinking Lunch’ organised by the St Albans and Welwyn Methodist Circuit, cancelled due to COVID19: ‘When I needed a neighbour – where were you?’
- Report produced by Living Ministry (part of the Church of England National Ministry Team), outlining 6 factors which contribute to the well-being of ministers: THRIVE … during a pandemic
19 October 2019: Training Day with ‘Mind in mid-Herts’ on MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS (MHA)
This 2019 session was offered, following the day conference held in 2018 , which explored our welcome to those living with mental ill-health. The 2018 day was designed to equip people who would like to better understand mental health and enable them to offer some direction and support, while the 2019 session gave more detailed insight into named conditions, from experts working in this field.
Below are the training notes and handouts from October 2019:
- MHA 19-10-19 – Anxiety
- MHA 19-10-19 – Depression
- MHA19-10-19 – Bipolar Disorder
- MHA 19-10-19 – Eating Disorders
- MHA 19-10-19 – OCD
- MHA 19-10-19 – Personality Disorders
- MHA 19-10-19 – Schizophrenia
- MHA 19-10-19 – Training Notes
- MHA 19-10-19 – Active Listening, Helping & Self-Care
Responding to the challenge of mental ill-health within our communities and congregations is essential if our churches and chaplaincies are to be places of welcome and inclusion for people living with mental ill-health.
It was for this reason that a gathering of parish clergy, pastoral teams and professionals working in the field of mental ill-health came together in October 2018 – hosted by the newly formed Mental-Health & Well-Being Network – to explore ways in which practical ideas, based on the needs of their own communities, could be turned into local initiatives of welcome and inclusion. On this occasion, a colleague from MIND brought an insightful presentation, see:
- MIND presentation – No man is an island
- MIND leaflet – MIND in Mid Herts
There are some excellent examples of good, practical projects running in our diocese. Some of these are on a large scale such as the well-established Connect Cafe at Soul Survivor Church in Watford, or The Lantern at St Paul’s Church, St Albans, which offers counselling services and works positively to break down stigma and encourage openness. Others on a smaller scale cater for small numbers of people in ways such as one-to-one befriending and listening.
Our ongoing aim is to make known and share good practice generally, to encourage one another. No church needs to do anything on its own if it isn’t confident or doesn’t think it has the resources. In almost every locality there will be opportunity to work ecumenically, with other church denominations, or across faiths. Also it is helpful to collaborate with other organisations and charities – see: Useful Links
If you are looking for help with a new initiative or have some good ideas to share, please send your question to the Mission and Ministry Team at the diocesan office, – this will be directed to a member of the Mental-Health & Well-Being Network.
Pray this prayer with us – written for World Mental Health Day by Alison Webster, the Oxford Diocesan Deputy Director of Mission (Social Responsibility) – shown here with permission:
