On behalf of our Board, ministry team and the MHATC2024 Program Committee, I would like to invite leaders with impactful or innovative ideas and strategies for churches seeking to minister with individuals and families impacted by mental health concerns to conserve applying to be part of our speaking team for Mental Health and the Church, Key Ministry’s first national conference focused specifically upon mental health ministry, to be held at Bay Presbyterian Church in suburban Cleveland on September 26-27, 2024.
In an earlier “Save the Date” post, we described why we made the decision to host Mental Health and the Church.
By gathering together in-person, we hope to explore how ministry organizations serving the mental health community can work collaboratively to maximize our impact in the North American church. We hope to share ideas for expanding the availability of care and support for individuals and families who have a connection with a local church, while offering strategies for evangelism and outreach with persons impacted by mental illness - the largest unserved and underserved population by the church in America. We hope to launch a mental health ministry movement in which every church and every person directed by the Holy Spirit to recognize the need has a vital role to play - especially individuals and families with firsthand experience of the struggles persons with mental health concerns experience on a daily basis. We hope to play a role in fostering the same type of ministry community growing by leaps and bounds that is serving the disability community.
For speakers familiar with our Disability and the Church conference, the process we’re using for putting together this conference is significantly different. The vast preponderance of teaching and content for Disability and the Church comes from our open application process. For this conference, we issued personal invitations to leaders from organizations active in mental health ministry doing important work who we know from other initiatives and gatherings. In addition to offering a great training experience for pastors, church leaders and volunteers, an equally important goal of our conference is to promote connection and collaboration among leaders operating within this ministry space. We want our speaking team to have the opportunity to build relationships with other leaders doing important work. Many of the speaking and breakout slots have already been filled by leaders who needed to be part of this event, as you’ll see below. We anticipate the selection process will be highly competitive.
While we’re personally inviting a number of speakers to be part of MHATC, one of Key Ministry’s foundational values is that ministry is not a “closed club.” One attribute of our national conferences that has not changed and will not change is our open speaker application process. We very much desire to provide leaders with important ideas for the mental health ministry movement with opportunities to make themselves and their ideas better known, and encourage prospective speakers with firsthand experience of mental illness to apply to speak at MHATC2024.
We are specifically interested in proposals that will advance the mental health ministry movement through content that is innovative, creative, inspired, and non-programmatic. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Engaging lead pastors in promotion and implementation of mental health ministry
Inspired ideas and strategies for outreach and evangelism
Ministry leadership by persons with mental health needs ("peer leaders")
Innovative church-community partnerships focused on mental health support
Innovative approaches to church-based mental health ministry
Ministry with persons impacted by trauma
New and impactful family support models
Mental health ministry approaches for underserved populations
Research on mental health ministry best practices and outcomes
Mental health supports in Christian schools, colleges and universities
Here’s the link to apply for the MHATC speaking team. We have a hard deadline for submissions of 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 19th. Speakers will be notified of decisions by Thursday, June 27th. We plan to open registration for the conference on Sunday, June 30th.
Here’s a preview of some of the speakers who will be featured on the Main Stage at Mental Health and the Church, in addition to Catherine Boyle and myself from the Key Ministry team:
Kay Warren is nationally renowned for her mental health advocacy within the church. She recently launched Hope for Brighter Tomorrows, a Christian-based nonprofit with a mission mission to strengthen families impacted by mental health challenges and equip churches to support these families through events, complimentary resources, and strategic collaborations.
Brad Hoefs is a pastor who currently serves as the founder of Fresh Hope, an organization involved with providing Biblically-based mental health peer support in hundreds of churches in the U.S. and beyond. Key Ministry recently collaborated with Fresh Hope to create Key to Hope, a Biblically-based support model for parents of kids with disabilities or mental health challenges.
Rachel Medefind serves with the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) as Director of the CAFO Institute for Family-Centered Healing and Health. She works within CAFO to promote the vital role of the Christian family in promoting positive mental health and well-being.
Kelly Rosati previously served at Focus on the Family as Vice President of Advocacy for Children, where she served as the ministry spokesperson on child advocacy issues. She oversaw efforts that include the Foster Care & Adoption program, Option Ultrasound and community care outreach. She was recently appointed to serve as President of Hope for Brighter Tomorrows.
We also plan to have Main Stage panel discussions featuring members of our speaking team, focused around the following topics:
How we can better provide care and support for individuals and families who are currently connected with the church.
How we can become more impactful in sharing the love of Christ with affected individuals and families outside of the church
How our churches can better care for and support children and families impacted by mental illness and trauma
Other members of our speaking team who have committed to being part of MHATC2024:
Kimberly Britt serves as Executive Director of Anchor International, a Christ-centered organization dedicated to helping people affected by mental health struggles find support and belonging in their local faith communities through equipping churches and ministries to host peer-led support groups.
DJ Chuang is a digital strategy consultant who serves as the Executive director of Catalyst Wellness Alliance. Its program, Christian Asian Mental Health, is advancing compassion and care in Asian & Asian American churches. He also co-hosts the Erasing Shame podcast and authored MultiAsian.Church: A Future for Asian Americans in a Multiethnic World.
Kristin Evans is a special needs mom, caregiver, award-winning author, speaker, and a Licensed Master Social Worker. Her greatest passion is walking with other parent caregivers on their journeys to deeper faith and stronger emotional and mental health. Kristin and her husband (Todd) recently coauthored How to Build a Thriving Marriage as You Care for Children with Disabilities.
Jonathan Holmes serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Fieldstone Counseling, a large, Biblical counseling group practice based in Northeast Ohio. He is on the board of the Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF) and the Council Board of the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC). His next book, Grounded in Grace: Helping Kids Build their Identity in Christ is scheduled to be released in early September.
Dr. Mark Mayfield is an author, speaker, leadership coach, counselor, and professor. He founded Mayfield Counseling Centers, a non-profit in Colorado Springs which serves over 25,000 appointments a year. Clinically, Dr. Mayfield is an expert in working with families affected by trauma. He authored HELP! My Teen is Self-Injuring: A Crisis Manual for Parents, The Path Out of Loneliness: Finding and Fostering Connection to God, Ourselves and One Another, and The Path To Wholeness: Managing Emotions, Finding Healing, and Becoming Our Best Selves.
Jim Sells is a professor for the School of Psychology & Counseling at Regent University and the Rosemarie S. Hughes Endowed Chair of Christian Thought in Mental Health Practice. He is the co-author, along with Heather Sells of Beyond the Clinical Hour: How Counselors Can Partner with the Church to Address the Mental Health Crisis.
Luan Sy was recently appointed as Program Director of Hope for Brighter Tomorrows, after having previously served as Pastor and Director of Care & Recovery at Mariners Church in Southern California. Luan previously served on advocacy committees with both NAMI-OC and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Carole Terkula serves a a ministry associate with The Lutheran Foundation, an organization based in Northeast Indiana that supports Lutheran and community organizations to advance Gospel sharing and promote mental wellness that silences the stigma of mental illness.
We plan to open registration for Mental Health and the Church on Sunday, June 30th. If you’d like e-mail updates on the conference, sign up here and you’ll be notified when registration is open. And if you’d like to be considered to join the speaking team, sign up here by Wednesday, June 19th.
Our team can’t wait to see you in Cleveland this September and we’re excitedly looking forward to what God has in store for the mental health ministry movement.
