We’d like everybody with an interest in mental health ministry to have an opportunity to be part of Mental Health and the Church. In order to make this event accessible to everyone interested in being part of the growing movement in the Church to care for and support everyone impacted by mental illness, we’re making all of our main stage sessions available online, free of charge, to all who wish to attend through Key Ministry’s YouTube Channel.
I’d strongly encourage you to join us in person for the conference at Bay Presbyterian Church in suburban Cleveland, if it’s possible for you to come. We’ve got lots of outstanding content to share in our breakouts that won’t be available online. There’s great benefit to the networking and relationships that result from spending time learning together, worshiping together and eating together for a couple of days. The opportunity to be in the physical presence of friends and colleagues makes online relationships better during the times we’re unable to be together in person.
Delnora Reed
We’re making the free livestream available—specifically for pastors and church leaders with an interest in mental health ministry, who are unable to travel to be part of conferences like this one—who serve in congregations lacking the financial resources to send staff and volunteers to national conferences. We also welcome individual Christians with personal experiences of mental illness, or friends and family impacted by mental illness, to join us online for as much of the conference as they are able to attend. Whether you sense a call as an individual to witness to and provide care and support for people with mental illness, or serve as a ministry leader with a similar call, I’m confident whether you join us in-person or online, you will come away from the conference with new ideas and resources for sharing Christ’s love with those in your spheres of influence who need hope and support.
What will you experience if you join us online for Mental Health and the Church?
You’ll learn of the work Kay Warren and her team at Hope for Brighter Tomorrows are doing to provide respite care for mothers of children and adults with serious mental illness, along with the supports their ministry is making available online.
You’ll discover opportunities for providing Biblically-based mental health peer support inside and outside of the church.
You’ll experience panel discussions on
(a) how we can better care for persons in the church with mental health concerns,
(b) how we might reach families for whom mental illness represents an obstacle to being part of church,
(c) how we might support vulnerable youth both inside and outside of the church, and
(d) how and when churches might make use of services offered by licensed mental health professionals, as well as biblical counseling.
You’ll have access to all of our “Quick Takes” - “TED talk” style presentations covering the scope of mental health ministry interventions and strategies. Some of the topics to be highlighted in the Quick Takes include:
Building cultures of care in the church
Addressing perceptions in the church that mental illness isn’t real
How the church can lead a mental health revolution
How the church can help heal the wounds of those who have experienced trauma
How churches can develop an impactful mental health outreach and inclusion strategy.
If you’re able to join us in person, registration is still open. If you’d like to join us at Mental Health and the Church for the free livestream, go to Key Ministry’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KeyMinistryOfficial.
Thanks for sharing the link with anyone interested in being part of the growing movement in the Church to address the unprecedented mental health crisis impacting our culture!
