About the book

Serving the Mentally Ill in Our Churches is a collection of short essays and discussion questions that uses the church year as a basis. Each chapter addresses a special day or season in the church year (Lent, Easter, All Saints Day), asking the question, “How can we find a message that pertains to those struggling with mental illness in this special time?”

Each chapter also contains new words for a well-known hymn tune. Meaning to fill in where hymns addressing mental illness are needed, these hymns deal with issues faced by those who have mental health challenges.

This book is intended to be used as a guidebook for a mental illness support group in a church that follows the church year. Rather than holding a meeting of a support group on the days called out in the book, meetings can be weekly or monthly. Discussion of All Saints Day, for example, need not take place on or near All Saints Day. The topics are applicable at any time.