The program called Faith in Mental Health is hosting an event on Monday, Mar. 16 and invites churches to become community partners to address mental health and substance use disorders.
Karl Johnson, PhD, is a team member of the Rural Academic Health Dept at Granville Vance Public Health.
The upcoming event is a continuation of a program that, so far, has had participation from roughly 100 people from about 40 churches in the area. The March 16 event will be held at The Masonic Home for Children in Oxford from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
There are several different levels of certification, Johnson told WIZS’s Scout Hughes on Monday’s TownTalk.
The first level is more like an orientation to let participants know what types of services are available in the area for people who struggle with mental health issues or substance use disorder.
“The goal is to better equip and empower churches to address the mental health and substance use,” he said, whether within their own congregation or in the broader community.
Help needs to go beyond the biomedical aspects of clients’ issues, he said.
There simply aren’t enough medical providers to tend to everyone’s needs, so reaching out to churches seemed to be a natural next step.
The church is “one of those communities that people go to for a sense of hope, belonging, for a sense of camaraderie and support,” Johnson said. It makes sense, he added, to partner with churches to give them tools to help.
“It’s a way for others to care for and tend to their loved ones (or) neighbors who struggle with these kinds of challenges,” he said.
There’s been a tremendous response in the area so far, Johnson said. “Churches really are eager and willing to step up” with participation by pastors and lay leaders alike.
After completing that level 1 certification, Johnson said some churches have gone on to host forums, provide additional trainings and establish support groups.
Some pastors periodically devote sermons to the topic and even create ministries devoted to the work.
Different churches take different approaches to trying to help, and that’s just fine, Johnson said.
“The deeper goal is for them to become better equipped to address this need in their community,” he said.
If you’d like to learn more, contact Johnson at 616.298.5626 or email him at kjohnson@gvph.org.
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