Resources
Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Through our Mental Health Initiative, the NBA is contributing to this campaign online by sharing webinars, blog posts, and videos from Disciples across the life of the church. Find our most recent resources below, along with additional webinars and videos to the right. Raise your awareness of mental health and wellness during this special month, and share these materials with your ministry, congregation, and community, now and throughout the year.
Video: What is Mental Health?
Presented by the NBA Mental Health Initiative Task Teams
Webinar: Building a Congregation-Based Mental Health Ministry
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES
Blog: Talking to Our Children About School Shootings
Sarah Serrano, LCSW, Guest Blogger
Sarah Serrano “School safety is once more at the forefront of the nation’s mind, with every school talking about it. Our children are hearing about this from teachers, counselors, and law enforcement. They hear about it on the news, at little league, social media, and even kidschurch. But, what do parents’ conversations with their children about this topic look like?”
Sermon: Let’s Go From Here
Angela Whitenhill, M.Div., LCSW, NBA Mental Health Initiative Manager
Pastoral Prayer: Prayer for the Journey
Rev. Rick Powell, pastor at Christian Temple in Baltimore, Maryland
O God of life,
We so often ask you to comfort those of us who are afflicted,
And to afflict those of us who are comfortable,
Today, we ask you to help us be more careful with that request.
Today, O god we recognize that there are so many among us,
Whose spirits are troubled,
And whose families feel afflicted,
And whose lives feel like a struggle just to get through one more day,
Help us be more careful about asking you, ever, to afflict us.
And, if we are to be afflicted, O God, may it be an affliction that leads us
To pay more attention to those around us who are not well.
How much better would this world be,
If we all treated one another as people who are beautiful and gifted,
But also as people who are troubled, burdened,
and in need of the simple gifts of kindness,
We are in positions to give.
Remind us today, O God whose will is for us to experience joy,
That the symptoms of some illnesses include embarrassment and even shame.
If there is a way for us to be more tender-hearted,
More quick to listen and slow to speak,
If there is a way for us to take more time with each other,
To absorb even the anger we feel from others more with curiosity than with judgment,
If we can do any of these things, perhaps we will find ourselves just a little closer
To offering the presence of Christ,
Who seemed to have a way with people who weren’t feeling their best, and in whose name we pray, Amen.
