Mental Health & Well-being

Conference-wide Initiative Announced to Bolster Clergy and Congregational Well-being
Originally published April 14, 2025 It started with a question: How is the Holy Spirit inviting the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference to tend to our mental health and well-being within the
Mental Health Guide Team
Courtney Lawson | Chair
Rev. Marie C. King | Chaplain
Rev. Melinda Young Britt
Rev. Roger Brown
Rev. Renee Dillard
Rev. Keller Hawkins
Rev. Timothy Holton
Amy J. Hurd
Audrey Jordan
Mandy Mitchell
Rev. Ken Murray
Melinda Parker
Rev. Nancy Johnston Varden
Recursos
Addiction & Recovery
State of Tennessee Faith-Based Initiatives– The state offers free trainings on: adverse childhood experiences and building strong brains, trauma-informed care, suicide prevention trainings, mental health 101, The Addicted Brain, and Overdose Reversal Training to houses of faith throughout the state. There is an online portal of resources for faith and community leaders that includes podcasts, on-demand trainings, and video discussions. They have held 6000 education forums, with 900 certified recovery congregations in place.
Tennessee Recovery Congregations – A How-To Tool Kit
Atención al clero
Common Table Collaborative – stewarding connection among people and organizations who are called to clergy and congregational well-being. Offers excellent webinar trainings. Co-led by Thad Austin
Center for Clergy Renewal at Holy Wisdom Monastery (Madison, Wisconsin) offers opportunities for pastors to experience contemplative renewal through a 2-year cohort experience of individual renewal retreat. This is a Lilly Funded program.
Clergy Health Initiative, Duke Divinity School
Emotional Well-Being, Wespath
Well-being: The Five Essential Elements, Tom Rath and Jim Harter
Clergy Resilience, Margaret Clarke
A Lifelong Call to Learn: Continuing Education for Religious Leaders, Robert E. Reber
The Church at the Mental Health Frontline
Common Table Collaborative – stewarding connection among people and organizations who are called to clergy and congregational well-being. Offers excellent webinar trainings. Co-led by Thad Austin, TWK Clergy.
The Church as Frontline Mental Health Workers, Common Table
Ethical Storytelling – seeks to gather nonprofits to develop a new standard of storytelling that honors and protects those impacted by trauma
Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Columbia University – exists to integrate spiritual life into our society in order to see a more loving, spiritually aware, and positive society. One pillar is around mental health and wellness. Grants and trainings are available.
Well-being: The Five Essential Elements, Tom Rath and Jim Harter
A Lifelong Call to Learn: Continuing Education for Religious Leaders, Robert E. Reber
The Church and the Response to the Mental Health Crisis, Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Compassion in Action: A Guide for Faith Communities Serving People Experiencing Mental Illness and Their Caregivers, The Partnership Center, Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Trauma-Informed Care in Churches and Faith-based Programs, Urban Alliance
Suicide Prevention
Soul Shop – a faith-based suicide prevention
Faith. Hope. Life. – a campaign aimed at involved every faith community in the U.S., regardless of creed, in suicide prevention.
Trauma-Informed Ministry
Trauma-Informed Evangelism, Charles Kiser and Elaine A. Heath
Sacred Series Toolkit: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Faith Community, North Carolina Council of Church
Trauma-Informed Ministry Series, West Ohio Conference
Creating Trauma-Informed Congregations, Office of Women’s Health at the U.S> Department of Health & Human Services
Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma-Informed Theology, Sarah Travis
Best Practices for Trauma Informed Speaking, Rodney A. Palmer
A Biblical Perspective on Trauma, Lewis Center for Church Leadership
4 Promises for Church Leaders Healing Trauma in Congregations, Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Adverse Community Experience and Resilience, Prevention Institute
Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care 101 Training, by Rev. Dawn Bennett, The Table Nashville
Youth & Young People
Study: Religion and spirituality can aid youth mental health crisis, Religion News
Youth Mental Health and Well-Being in Faith and Community Settings, Health and Human Services
Campus ministries, counselors join to tackle mental health, Associated Press
Trauma-Informed Children’s Ministry, Michigan Conference