Tag Archives: mental health ministry

Stuck…by Rhonda Martin

Rhonda Martin’s new book, Stuck, is an invaluable resource for kids with OCD and their families because it helps kids and parents to recognize that others experience similar types distressing thoughts, irrational fears and compulsive behaviors. The ability to attach a name to symptoms is often the first step in the process of seeking help. The kids I see in my practice have often suffered in silence for years. The availability of Stuck will undoubtedly result in thousands of kids and families seeking help who wouldn’t have otherwise experienced relief from a condition that prevents them from becoming the people God created them to be. Continue reading

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What Pastors Believe About Mental Illness

I would think that churches inclined to view depression or other mental disorders as conditions associated with a lack of faith in God would be most committed to efforts to reach and build relationships with persons suffering from these conditions. After all, to fail to do so would be analogous to building a hospital and subsequently deciding to do as little as possible to let sick people know that the hospital was open. Continue reading

Posted in Depression, Leadership, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How the Church Can Help Families of Kids With Bipolar Disorder

Not every kid has to come to church to be ministered to by the church. Parents have far more time and opportunity to influence their children than the church does. Parents of a child with bipolar disorder are more likely to know the best strategies for communicating with them in different mood states. Continue reading

Posted in Bipolar Disorder, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health, Ministry Environments, Strategies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How might bipolar disorder affect church participation and spiritual development?

It’s more likely in our practice that a family of a child with an autism spectrum disorder will be involved with church than a family of a child with bipolar disorder. Continue reading

Posted in Bipolar Disorder, Families, Hidden Disabilities, Key Ministry, Mental Health, Spiritual Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Challenges do Families of Kids With Bipolar Disorder Face?

During a severe mood episode, kids or teens with bipolar disorder have problems with emotional self-regulation that are unimaginable to those who have never been through the experience. Continue reading

Posted in Anxiety Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Mental Health, Ministry Environments, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Church, We’ve Got a Problem

How will the church serve a generation of families with kids who have issues with emotions or behavior that interfere with their ability to function on a day to day basis?

Kids with “hidden disabilities” like these are gradually becoming the new normal. Check out this study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. To summarize:

22 % of U.S. children entering first grade met criteria for at least one mental disorder. Continue reading

Posted in ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Key Ministry, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Never the twain shall meet

Once my church friends get a handle on the families in their communities who come to practices like mine, we can problem-solve together just how to welcome them into our environments, include them in the stuff we do so they can come to know Jesus, accept him as Lord, and grow to be more like him. Just like we do. Continue reading

Posted in Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments