“Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been imagining killing myself,” the pastor said. I was on a Zoom call recently with 10 pastors across three denominations, when one of the participants shared a struggle with…
Q&A: Is that grief or depression you’re experiencing due to COVID-19?
People are recoiling from multiple aspects of the reality that’s impacting their lives on social, emotional and financial levels.
I was a pastor struggling with depression. The evangelical community offered virtually no helpful resources
Depression stole my soul and buried it so deeply that (with apologies to the Apostle Paul) for me, to live was not Christ at all, but to die most assuredly would have been gain.
Listening to depression as a spiritual and political practice
The bad news that our world isn’t fine, that life is profoundly unfair, misaligned and wobbly and violently broken should tell us all something important about depression – namely, that depression isn’t wrong to declare life on earth uninhabitable; it’s just terribly misguided about what causes our maladies and exactly what solutions provide their remedy.
Pastor says mental illness drove church member’s fatal restaurant crash
A North Carolina man accused of killing two relatives by crashing his car into a restaurant after Sunday church recently struggled with severe mental illness, his pastor said at a news conference Monday morning.
Mental fitness and humility: You can’t have one without the other
President Trump would not be the only political or religious figure ever to be questioned about fitness for a position. The alchemy of autocratic decision-making with the presumption of self-sufficiency makes for a toxic concoction.
Minister learns hard lesson: offer professional help for mental health
As Joe Padilla visits with pastors and church leaders about mental health, he often finds hearts willing to help but ill-equipped to do so. After walking through his own personal journey when his wife was diagnosed as bipolar, Padilla realized the church needed…
Campbell Divinity to host summit on pastor health
Campbell University Divinity School will address the difficult topic of pastor health in a June 2 gathering at the university’s main campus in Buies Creek, N.C. The purpose of the inaugural Pastor’s Health Summit is to inspire ministers to take…
How can clergy achieve positive mental health?
A study has found that certain conditions correspond to both a lower likelihood of depression and anxiety and to higher levels of positive mental health. By promoting these, churches can help their clergy thrive.