Many people are struggling with mental-health conditions, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and life in our image-conscious culture. Statistics tell us that, worldwide, one in six of us will have experienced a mental-health struggle in the past week, and serious depression is the second-leading cause of disability (Mental Health Foundation).
That means there are brothers and sisters in our church families battling with thoughts, feelings, impulses, and even voices that distract, drag down, and nudge them towards despair. But when it comes to helping, it can be tricky to know where to begin, especially if we have very little knowledge of mental illnesses and are afraid of making things worse by saying and doing the wrong things.
This wise, compassionate, and practical book is written by Steve Midgley, who worked in psychiatry and then as a pastor and is now Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK, and Helen Thorne, Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. It will help readers understand and respond with biblical wisdom to people who are struggling with their mental health.
While acknowledging the importance of liaising responsibly with medics and counsellors, this book focuses on equipping readers to play their part in making churches places where those who struggle with mental-health conditions are welcomed, understood, nurtured, and supported: a foretaste of the new creation.
This is a useful book for anyone who cares for others pastorally: pastors, elders, small-group leaders, and congregation members.
Jonathan D. Holmes
Pastor of Counseling, Parkside Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Author, Counsel for Couples
Steve and Helen have achieved the seemingly impossible task of taking a complex issue and framing it for a local church audience. This book brims with a helpful distillation of mental health—terms, definitions, explanations—while also presenting the beauty and depth of the gospel. Readers will be educated, encouraged, equipped, and edified for the privilege of caring for souls.
Christopher Ash
Director, Cornhill Training Course
I am so grateful for this outstanding and timely book. Every church will benefit from reading it in book groups, as individuals, and in pastoral teams. The writing is warm, soaked in grace and informed by years of caring, listening, and loving. The content is intensely and realistically practical: I look forward to reading it again and learning to put it into practice.
“Expert Advice and Biblical”
I've struggled to find a good book in this sort of price range that does both biblical wisdom and good practical advice. The books I've found before have either been almost medical textbooks but without a connection to God's Word, or they've been expositions of parts of the Bible but without the solid grounding of what this might look like in practice from a mental health expert. This book from Thorne and Midgley is the first I've found that does both, and without overstating what we can do. It covers some common mental health conditions, offers us advice about how to relate with people experiencing them and how to care for them well, as well as giving good signposting advice, encouraging us to not take on more than we can cope with or are capable of. I'd recommend this, especially to Christian pastors who are looking to understand mental health and perhaps even to resource their pastoral care team to better care for their congregations.
“Expert Advice and Biblical”
(Review written for 'Mental Health and Your Church')
I've struggled to find a good book in this sort of price range that does both biblical wisdom and good practical advice. The books I've found before have either been almost medical textbooks but without a connection to God's Word, or they've been expositions of parts of the Bible but without the solid grounding of what this might look like in practice from a mental health expert. This book from Thorne and Midgley is the first I've found that does both, and without overstating what we can do. It covers some common mental health conditions, offers us advice about how to relate with people experiencing them and how to care for them well, as well as giving good signposting advice, encouraging us to not take on more than we can cope with or are capable of. I'd recommend this, especially to Christian pastors who are looking to understand mental health and perhaps even to resource their pastoral care team to better care for their congregations.
