Mental Health Sunday - any church can!

Below is a link to our November 20, 2022 Mental Health Sunday service at Monmouth Christian Church.  You'll see that after our first worship song,  we do an anonymous survey with the congregation.  Spoiler alert:  by the end the majority of folks are standing, representing someone else in the congregation who has experienced mental health challenges in the last year.  It's a profound "this is us" moment.  Bring tissues.

After that it's "worship song, Scripture, and prayer"  times 4, and then, as always, communion.  Just a bit different than a regular service, but, most importantly, possible!  Possible to use your liturgy and music, possible to give your congregation hope and comfort  and connection in the process of connecting with each other and with Christ.  Possible to normalize the conversation about mental health.  

If you would like to consult about creating a mental health service at your church, please contact me at hmh@mymcc.cc.   

Blessings!

Berta Aronson

Coordinator, Hope for Mental Health,

a ministry of MonmouthChristian Church


Mental Health Sunday


Popular posts from this blog

Blue Christmas - thoughts of a Jewish Christian

Image
Blue Christmas - it's a thing!  I just discovered that some churches do special services for those struggling during the holidays - brilliant!   (I'm thinking we may do one next year at MCC, as, at this point, bandwidth is limited:) Anyway, I've always been glad to be Jewish, especially at Christmas time, when I felt free of all the commercial madness.  Since I've become a Christian, my perspective has changed, naturally, but - I still don't have the expectation many life long Christians have of it being a wonderful family time.  So, I light candles, listen to the Messiah, call/text family and friends, and call it good.   However, having made it through Thanksgiving, I'm well aware of, and have experienced lots of angst.  I'm also aware (see last month's post Here Come the Holidays), that it's a tough time for many people for many reasons. Grief, loneliness, expectations, mental health challenges, mental and physical illness (add your list he...
Read more

Mental Health Ministries monthly post

Image
Mental health ministries come in a great variety of forms, from a resource list posted in the front office, to hosting groups & classes, to renting space to professional counselors. Bottom line : every church can do something, and it doesn't require lots of  money or a professional level of training.   Therefore, firmly believing that the Church is our hope for improving mental health & increasing mental health resources,  each month I will have a post about Christian resources.  This month, I want to feature a few local mental health ministries that offer both in-person & online groups:  Salem Alliance Church, Salem, OR Hope Connection is a monthly support group for people with a family member living with a mental  illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or anxiety.  It meets on the first Monday of the month, 6:30-8:30pm in room 303 of the Broadway Commons, 1300 Broadway St. NE, in Salem.  There is no registrati...
Read more

About our mental health resource blog & our ministry

Image
Why a ministry?  Everyone experiences mental health challenges, and needs mental health skills & support!   As a person who has had life-long practice at coping with depression, anxiety, & trauma, I'm here to tell you there's hope!   As a Christian, I'm here to tell you that faith & science are a great team! As a retired mental health social worker,  I'm intimate with the resource problems in our communities.  (I'm trying not to rant, so I'll just say it's frustrating & heartbreaking.) It's important to note that our mental health ministry at Monmouth Christian started with a $79 "Hope for Mental Health" kit from Saddle Back Church, one pastor, and one volunteer.   Our main goals were to normalize the conversation, and have resource information available.  We instituted a yearly Mental Health Sunday insuring that the conversation has become part of our rhythm.  Donations have helped provide materials, & recently, tech tr...
Read more