When someone walks into a hospital they expect to encounter suffering, healing, and healers. Hospitals are built to respond to the physical suffering that is part of life. When it comes to mental health suffering, churches are the primary physical location of God’s caregivers. The reality is that walking into a church in the United States evokes many expectations. It would be helpful to ask if those expectations include the presence of suffering, healing, and healers.
Asking a church family to take an active role in suffering is a big ask. Prior to bringing your church members into the strategy, it’s important to engage in some serious self-awareness among your board, leadership, and staff. Here are a few question to ask yourselves:
- How often do you hear or see suffering at your church?
- Does your church have a shared theology of suffering? How is that theology communicated?
- If you were an attendee at your church who is overwhelmed by something in life, would you know how to ask for support at your church?
- How often, and in what ways does your church acknowledge suffering as part of God’s plan?
- Do you have a strategy for your ministry leadership team to talk about and support each other’s suffering?