|
NAMI FaithNet
Newsletter: January
5, 2007
In this issue:
-
The Reverend
Chet Watson:
Warrior and
Saint
-
Grassroots
Strategy: Focus
on Caregiving
Ministries
-
An Open Letter
to Pastors
-
Wanted:
Interfaith
Resources
The Reverend Chet
Watson: Warrior and
Saint
Since
his son was
diagnosed with a
serious mental
illness 17 years
ago, Rev. Chet
Watson has been both
warrior and saint on
behalf of those with
mental illnesses and
their families.
Whether he is
soothing the
battered hearts of
those with mental
illnesses or
challenging
policymakers or
fellow clergy to
open their eyes to
how critical mental
health issues are,
Fr. Chet leaves a
big wake wherever he
goes.
In
a recent interview,
Fr. Chet talked
about how
individuals and
churches can have a
greater impact in
the lives of those
affected by mental
illness.
Read more...
Grassroots Strategy:
Focus on Caregiving
Ministries
NAMI member Carlene
Byron has developed
a two-hour training
course for helping
congregations
respond to mental
illness. However, as
she notes, it takes
somewhat of a
"sideways" approach.
Instead of trying to
reach general
audiences, the
training is targeted
toward a particular
group: lay people
already involved in
caregiving
ministries.
These
people--Stephen
Ministers,
diaconates, and so
forth--are already
committed to
caregiving as a
primary form of
service within the
congregation, she
says, but often feel
unequal to the task
of helping
congregants
challenged by their
own or their
relative's mental
illness.
That's
where her training
course comes in.
Read more...
An
Open Letter to
Pastors
Marja Bergen
recently had a
friend with bipolar
disorder say to her,
"I've gone to church
nearly all my life
and I've just heard
about mental
illnesses mentioned
once, and just in
passing. When I was
hospitalized, some
people came from the
church, but they
just prayed for the
devil to leave me."
As a person with
mental illness
herself, and a
person of faith, Ms.
Bergen found this
tragic. So she
posted a letter on
her blog calling for
congregations --
specifically,
pastors -- to do
something about it.
Read more...
Wanted: Interfaith
Resources
The
mission of NAMI's
FaithNet is to
support people of
all religious faiths
in mental illness
outreach, education,
and advocacy. In
order to fulfill
that mission, we
need information and
resources from a
broader variety of
faith traditions
than we currently
have.
If
you are aware of
materials,
publications,
events, Web sites,
or persons that
address mental
illness from a faith
perspective, please
let us know about
them by replying to
this newsletter or
e-mailing
faithnet@nami.org.
This might include
articles, sermons,
blogs,
presentations,
courses,
newsletters, etc. We
need you to be our
eyes and ears so we
can truly support
the entire faith
community.
Pass It On!
Know
of someone who could
benefit from the
information in this
newsletter? Please
forward it on, and
encourage them to
sign-up for their
own subscription by
registering at
NAMI.org. New
editions are
published every 3-4
weeks.
|
