FLORISSANT – Many people struggle to have a right understanding of mental health. It seems like a modern buzzword batted around by social media influencers and self-help authors. Some might even assume mental health doesn’t have a place in Christianity or the church. But that’s where the people at Cross Keys Baptist Church would disagree.
Deb Mueller, the director of behavioral health at Cross Keys, acknowledges that mental health issues are a real struggle for some individuals, and that getting help isn’t always easy. A big part of this struggle comes from the various misconceptions about mental health issues. Mueller says one of the biggest ones the Cross Keys community has come across is “people thinking that someone with mental illness is satanic. I’ve also experienced people that just say things like, ‘Get over it,’ and that’s very sad because they don’t understand what’s going on in that person’s head.”
Deb Mueller, director of behavioral health at Cross Keys Baptist Church
Pastor Raymond Cabello adds that he also sees people’s inability to understand and sympathize. “I think it’s the mentality of ‘it’s not real’—it’s not a real sickness; it’s not a real thing you’re going through, it’s all mental. So people aren’t really prone to pray for those who struggle with mental illness, yet they’ll pray for healing for somebody with cancer or a physical sickness.”
People treat it like it’s all in your head, when often physical struggles can arise from these mental issues. But when it comes to acknowledging these struggles and coming alongside those who suffer, Mueller says, “We cower from it or tend to negate it.”
The church body at Cross Keys is seeking to combat this fear and misunderstanding of mental health issues through their behavioral health ministry. They partner with Bridges to Care and Recovery, a mental and behavioral health organization, to raise awareness of and help people who are involved with mental and behavioral health issues. Cross Keys is in their third year of this ministry.
Their behavioral health ministry points people to professionals and gives resources to aid their search for help. Mueller describes what they do as on the side of “advocacy, ears and helping hands.”
Where can people find these resources? One place is the Cross Keys church building. Mueller says, “We have a table at our church with a list of organizations. There are things about specific diagnoses, but there are also helps for determining what’s going on in someone’s head.”
There are many resources available for those struggling with mental health issues, but what does this have to do with the ministry of the church? If we look at the bigger picture, the church is supposed to be a body of people caring for one another. How does Cross Keys’s mental and behavioral health ministry fit into that bigger picture?
Mueller notes that for one thing, it helps break down prejudices against those who suffer from mental illness. “The stigma of mental health issues is so powerful that the first thing we would like to do is to allow people to understand it better and also to find resources to help people through those kinds of times,” she says.
Secondly, this ministry provides a biblical way to deal with mental and behavioral health issues. Mueller shares the importance of being quick to listen to people when they are being counseled: “We have to listen and ask questions that help that person give us a picture of where they are. And once we have a picture of where they are, then we can offer them Scriptures and those kinds of organizations that will touch them without being too secular….It’s just amazing how many different ways people can be helped if we just know where they’re coming from.”
Raymond Cabello, pastor, Cross Keys Baptist Church
Thirdly, it emphasizes the importance of non-judgmental care for others. Pastor Cabello spoke of the struggles of many who were helped by Cross Keys’s ministry: “Most people, when they’re struggling with mental health, have the ‘I don’t want people to judge me.’ So, try to be compassionate and loving and kind, but also firm with it—‘I love you enough to tell you to go get the help that you need.’”
Since implementing this ministry, Mueller has seen a growing interest in the church body in learning more about mental wellness. “I believe the church body is very interested in understanding it better,” she says. “We’re helping the people in our church know how to deal with some of the issues.”
Pastor Cabello adds, “We want our people to really be informed on how they can help in their own sphere. We have a lot of church members who either struggle with mental illness or they love somebody who struggles with mental illness. It allows them to be that support person for their loved ones, but also to understand that you can love Jesus and have a therapist, too.”
He expressed his wishes for the future of Cross Keys’s mental health ministry by saying, “I would love to see our church, or even churches in the community, have at least one licensed therapist or counselor on staff…someone who’s a believer, but also a licensed therapist to have on staff at a local church.” He said that their job would just be having availability at any time if somebody needs help. In addition, Cross Keys’s mental health seminars bring people in from the surrounding community, opening up another avenue for more individuals to get information and resources.
How do they know they’re having an impact? Mueller says that she measures success one person at a time: “One life, one difference at a time, is huge….If one person who’s in crisis has a resource that will help them get through it and help them to see that they got through that because the Lord loves them, a lot has happened.” Working faithfully and relying on God for results is the best course of action in every endeavor, in mental health matters and anywhere else you might be.