Fascinating Barna research data that came out in May 2021: “three-quarters of non-practicing Christians (74%) say they would be interested in churches if they offered preaching and programs on mental health.”[1] That is a lot of people who are searching. Will we respond?
Our response is not simply offering more program, it requires us to focus on the health of our church and her leaders. If we ourselves are glossing over unresolved hurts, or medicating our emotional pain to conceal it, how can we hope to be present with others who are hurting?
In a recent ChurchPulse Weekly Interview with Peter Scazzero, the need for holistic well-being within churches was highlighted in a powerful way. During a season in which social life is so frayed and strained, society has a deep need for “people of compassion.” We need to be aware of and tend to our own emotional and spiritual health to best live as disciples of Jesus who have eyes of compassion.
This focus on healthy leaders and healthy churches is integrally connected with our SDB Pulse church health process (click here). In fact, one of our SDB churches currently engaged in Pulse is utilizing Emotionally Healthy resources (https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/) and has witnessed significant blessings.
If you would like to learn more about emotionally healthy resources, or specific ways that the SDB General Conference encourages holistic health among church leadership, please contact John Pethtel, SDB Director of Church Development at jpethtel@seventhdaybaptist.org.
[1] From Barna’s Cities initiative with Gloo at https://www.barna.com/research/cpw-scazzero-2/, accessed May 25, 2021. “About the Research. The data in this article represents the responses of 2,007 U.S. adults, collected through an online survey with adults between April 23–May 4, 2021. The sample error is +/- 2.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence interval.”
