How can the church help to improve mental health issues for preachers and the people they are preaching to?
I am approached by a gifted young Christian leader at a conference that I am speaking at. It is a conversation I have had hundreds of times in the 13 years since we started The Mind and Soul Foundation. Here is another passionate leader and brilliant communicator of the gospel who is becoming aware of the juxtaposition between their mental state and the message that they are delivering to others.
My empathy is rooted, in part, in the fact that I can see something of myself in the struggles of this young preacher. Having experienced a sudden and terrifying descent into generalized anxiety disorder more than a decade ago, I know the sense of disbelief Christian leaders encounter when they realise they are not immune to the 1:4 statistic. (The prevalence of mental health issues amongst church leaders is at the higher end of the national average.1
My empathy is rooted, in part, in the fact that I can see something of myself in the struggles of this young preacher. Having experienced a sudden and terrifying descent into generalized anxiety disorder more than a decade ago, I know the sense of disbelief Christian leaders encounter when they realise they are not immune to the 1:4 statistic.
