​What’s the connection between faith and our mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being – our mental health? Since our mental health is inextricably intertwined with our physical and spiritual health, whatever affects one affects all the rest. We’re not separate mind, body, and spirit. Rather we are one being.

We can think of mental health, just like physical health, on a continuum:

Very healthy -----------------------------------------Average----------------------------------Very unhealthy, disturbed.

Just like physical health, there are many things we can do to improve our mental health.

We can’t always change a physical condition or mental health diagnosis, but we can find ways that help us cope with whatever life presents. Faith just might be the most important coping mechanism we can have.

Coping mechanism are ways to reduce stress and painful and distressing emotions. There are any number of helpful behaviors we can engage in - like exercise or journaling, or taking a bubble bath. These can help us cope, so why might faith be even more important? Because the above don’t impact our foundational beliefs about what life is all about. They can’t generate meaning. They are useful additions to faith, but faith is a foundation upon which to build everything else.

Faith is complete trust in something greater than ourselves. It’s that which we understand God to be. The key here is who or what we believe God to be. To see how faith can help or hinder our mental health and well-being, we have to look at what is believed and how what we believe impacts us.

Healthy understandings of God

There are many ways to understand God. The major world religions have different beliefs and practices, but interestingly, the core of all of them is the belief in a benevolent creator. It is very sad how individuals interpret their religion, act on those beliefs and create horrors in the name of religion. Sometimes it’s even done in the name of Jesus!

Faith can be a source of comfort, emotional support and hope especially in difficult times. Belief in a God who loves us is very powerful and positive. To know we are loved by God can produce a prevailing sense of hope and connection even in times when we might despair.

Faith provides a framework for coping with stress and other difficulties life presents. Beliefs and practices offer a sense of purpose and meaning for our lives which can help us navigate all sorts of challenging or problematic situations.

Faith can generate and nurture resilience is a number of ways. Trust in God instills hope and optimism allowing us to see beyond our present circumstances. Even in deepest grief or mental illness, resilience generated by faith helps us to know that what we are experiencing now will not last, things will improve -- Light will overcome the darkness we are in. Even when situations don’t change (our loved one has died), faith leads us through that darkness when we know that our loving God is there with us. This really helps us cope. (I know this from much personal experience).

Practicing faith can become a strong coping mechanism. Spiritual practices like prayer, meditation, participation in rites or worship services can generate a sense of calm and inner peace, even joy, that reduces stress. It can provide a sense of connection with God and others.
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Faith communities that share a faith in a loving, encouraging, inclusive God can be of enormous benefit to our mental health. A healthy faith community can help us feel safe and loved, as well as give us a sense of belonging. All of this serves to improve the quality of our overall well-being. 

Unhealthy understandings of God

On the other hand, if we believe in a God of punishment and score keeping, we are likely to be afraid of God and behave in ways we think we “should” to earn points and escape punishment in the hope of going to heaven. This certainly isn’t comforting. It can actually increase stress and anxiety.

If we belong to a faith community that has unhealthy standards we believe we must live up to, shame and guilt are generated instead of a sense of calm and well-being. We feel judged and inadequate rather that accepted.

Exclusion and isolation can result when a faith community stigmatizes or marginalizes people with mental health issues, gender diversity, race or anything other than how the group wants to define itself as good. Instead of a sense of support and belonging, this generates deep distress and can have a devastating impact on mental health. Exclusion is deadly.

A strict adherence to dogma and fundamentalism can stifle critical thinking and individuality. It can create cognitive dissonance or contradictory thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs which can create significant emotional distress. A closed mind is an unhealthy mind.
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Faith-based rejection of mental health support can also be a problem. Some individuals and faith communities believe that faith alone is sufficient to address mental health issues and concerns. This can easily lead to a rejection of psychiatric or professional counseling help, thus hindering access to effective treatment and support. Being told that your faith is inadequate, otherwise you would be healed, has a devastating impact on a person’s mental health. That is religion used as a weapon -- Not faith in a loving God.

Acceptance of mental health treatment is part of faithful living. As Fr. Rob puts it, “Some expressions of faith seem to forget that God works through more than just the institutional Church. God is at work wherever people promote healing. God works through behavioral health professionals, and through medications that help to manage anxiety or other symptoms. A healthy spirituality recognizes that good medical and behavioral health treatments are tools God can use to help restore us in mind, body, and spirit.” 

Communal and individual healing practices

Discovering ways to deepen our faith can improve our relationship with God, with others and with ourselves. Participation in any activities in a loving faith community can be healing. When we find a faith community that encourages and demonstrates these things, we will likely thrive from its support.

What might a healthy faith community look like? Episcopalians are often known as "people of the book," the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). In it are found prayers of every type, and words from scripture upon which to meditate. The vast majority of the language--some 85%--in the Prayer Book is direct quotation from the Bible! There are services or rites for every day, even several times a day. Some are designed for individual or family use, others for corporate worship. The BCP provides a framework for numerous healthy faith practices. It can be a good launching point from which to broaden and expand faith practices. Faith practices help us stay connected to God, to those in our prayers and to ourselves. Healthy connections help the health of a community which in turn helps the health of the individuals in it.

A fundamental belief of a healthy faith community is in our Baptismal Covenant (BCP 304). A key promise is to "respect the dignity of every human being." A healthy faith community tries to do so "with God’s help." This means acceptance of all people no matter who you might be and no matter where you might be on the mental health continuum.

To sum it up, it’s important to know what we believe and examine how it impacts our mental health. What faith communities believe and what they believe about mental health issues is also important. Bishop Michael Curry says, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” If our faith is about God who is Love, we are in a very good place to utilize our faith to strength our mental health and support the mental well-being of others.
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Blessings,
Dr. Jeanne

​I wonder how many baptisms of infants and children you have witnessed in your lifetime? Do you ever wonder where those children are now? Many are still among us, sitting in the pews. Some may be all grown up while others are still young children. Our Baptismal Covenant proclaimed at all Baptisms is not just between the candidate and God. The sacrament of Baptism is for the whole congregation! Our Book of Common Prayers makes that clear on page 303 when it asks everyone present, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” I am sure you respond to that question each time with a resounding, “We will.”

​Our St. Paul’s community has been working on doing just that: supporting all persons in their life in Christ.

Last year many gathered in our parish hall to determine what we want to provide for our children. The overwhelming responses were the following:

• We want children to know that they are loved by God and the church community.
• We want children to feel safe and cared for
• We want the children to have a relationship with God through prayer and through the stories in the Bible.

We are in the process of cultivating these wishes through two important programs: Children’s Chapel and Godly Play.
 
We seek to nurture in every child a desire for God and the capacity to know God as real, gracious, and accessible. In Godly Play, all the senses and the imagination of  children are engaged to help them experience God’s presence and learn God’s story. Children are deeply spiritual beings that seek a language for their spirituality, so we teach them through sacred stories. As a Christian family, we all need to learn how our stories are intricately connected to these sacred stories.

What is at stake for our children in worship and faith formation?

When we proclaim to our children the familiar words of Jesus from John’s gospel, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me,” we aren’t just reciting a bit of Scripture. We are not just giving them words. We are giving voice and expression to the stirrings of their young hearts and minds. They already know God. What they need is the name of God. What we try to do in Christian formation and in our worship is to help them discover God’s name.

God creates. God is light. God is love. God forgives. God is the Good Shepherd. God feels. God is breath. God suffers. God calls us into relationship. It is a process of inviting them, helping them, to fall in love with God.​

As Christians – children, youth, and adults – we recognize this love in expressions of joy and justice, forgiveness and grace, hospitality, and compassion. And Love is so very close to children, who are themselves so rich in love. Only by honoring and nurturing that love relationship with God can we truly guide our children into a more mature commitment of faith: to live with grace and peace with others, all made in God’s own image.

Why teach children in our chapel?

The chapel is considered sacred space, and we want our children to experience the sacred in a space they feel belongs to them, too. As children are met at the threshold of the chapel door, they are personally greeted and welcomed into a sacred circle. The children recognize that this space is different. It is not a classroom with whiteboards, screens, and posters on the walls. They notice the holy and are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The space is designed to encircle them with sacred stories about God and the people of God and their journey together.

What does the Godly Play Space in the chapel communicate to our St. Paul’s Church families?

Our hope is that this space lets our families know that they are welcome. Their children are welcome. We want them to see that we put intentional time, effort, care, and love into supporting these persons in their life in Christ.

But, if you really want to know what the Godly Play space communicates to our children ask them. Ask their parents. I am sure they can tell you wonderful stories that will connect us all to each other as a body of Christ.

An invitation to you:

You are invited to enter the chapel, and to recognize that when you walk through the Godly Play space you are literally walking through the Bible. You are coming close to the holy. Take some time to sit in the chapel and feel the presence of our children while surrounded by the communion of saints and the God who is Love. You could also sit in with the children on a Godly Play story during the 9:00 AM Sunday school hour beginning Sept. 10 and have a first-hand encounter with the Good Shepherd.