Care in Christ’s community

MENTAL HEALTH AND YOUR CHURCH:
A Handbook for Biblical Care
By Helen Thorne & Steve Midgley
Good Book Company. 144 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 784 987 787

There is, we are often told, a mental health crisis in the country. From my limited interactions with people, I can believe it.

For sure, it’s a theory that’s difficult to validate and even harder to explain, but anyone stuck into church life will recognise that there is a greater and greater need to understand and minister to those struggling with mental health.

But, for most of us, it’s also a daunting area of life. We are petrified of doing or saying the wrong thing, imagining the harm it might do. We feel ill-equipped to even know where to begin in most cases. And that’s why Helen and Steve’s book is such a help.

Upfront I must declare that I know both Helen and Steve and something of their backgrounds; but rather than clouding my judgment on the value of their book, I hope it allows me to say what great confidence I have in allowing them to lead me through this topic in such a helpful and uncluttered way.

This volume is a primer – it is an introduction to the issues we have to understand and strategies we must adopt – but it is no less useful for that. I wish I’d had it when I began pastoring, and I’m glad to have read it now.

The book is divided into three sections: a brief overview of mental illness; an outline of how we can help those struggling; and then some worked examples based on imagined characters. Though it may sound a little feeble, I actually found these case studies extraordinarily moving. They are made-up examples, I realise, but given Helen and Steve’s experiences I know that behind each one is a real-life (or multiple real-life) situation.

Reading how basic and wise gospel care can make such a difference is hugely encouraging. Overall, I was struck by how it is by exhibiting basic godly virtues and the fruit of the Spirit that those with struggles are best helped. There is much to be said for kindness and gentleness and patience, and so on. Indeed, if I had one critique it would be that there could be even more of the reassurance readers need that, filled with the Spirit’s wisdom and fruit, we are well-equipped to be a help to those in need, often by doing what Christians have always, at their best, done. The thoughtful reader will make this connection, of course, and the book is on my essential reading list for leaders and church members alike.