Excerpt from The Sanctuary Course coursebook The subject of mental illnesses doesn’t just raise questions for us as individuals. As Christians, it also challenges us to think deeply about how we are to respond to people experiencing mental illnesses within the Church. We know that Christians can and do experience mental illnesses. And with that knowledge comes an opportunity to learn more about the subject and to examine some of our own assumptions so that we can better care for those of us with lived experiences of mental health challenges in our communities. For this month’s blog, we are goi ..read more

I met a friend while serving with an international non-profit overseas. We were both in “helping roles” that seemed impressive on paper and to our church communities back home. My friend and I arrived in this new country with zest, ready to offer our whole hearts, serve, and be put to use. But just below the surface of that feeling, cracks were beginning to form. We were both separately experiencing mental health challenges. She was learning about her new diagnosis of anxiety, and I was trying to push away the feelings of isolation I felt living in a new country, without structures to support ..read more

A few weeks ago, I went on vacation to Bangkok, Thailand with my parents and some family friends, whom I affectionately refer to as my aunts and uncles. We spent ten days haggling in markets, feasting on seafood, and blasting the latest Afrobeat songs. By our final day, I was happily exhausted and ready to go home. But just before boarding the twelve-hour flight to our layover in Amsterdam, I fell horribly sick. Something I had eaten the previous night revolted against my body and I was not prepared for the fight. How would I get through a journey halfway across the world, trapped in a metal t ..read more

In his poem “New Year’s,” Dana Gioia calls January 1 “the most mundane and secular holiday.” A cultural frenzy to celebrate newness and possibility accompanies the initial moments of a fresh calendar year. A ritual of this secular holiday for many is to set goals, make resolutions, and enter the new year with vision and resolve. But this can be a lot of pressure, and as we know, even those of us motivated enough to create resolutions often break them by mid-January. For many, just getting out of bed is challenge enough. We are human beings, and the demands of everyday life are hard. We face re ..read more

For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, these are cold and dark days. Today—December 21—is the darkest of them all.  I have a sort of desperate energy as I search for little glimpses of light wherever I can find them, watching out my window for pockets of sun between the clouds. But by 4:00pm, I’m mid-work project and the sun has already slipped out of my grasp yet again. I usually resolve to white-knuckle my way through winter, closing my eyes tight until someone taps me on the shoulder to tell me that the summer months of lingering warm light have returned.  For some, th ..read more

“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” “Hope for Everyone” So many of the songs we sing at Christmas remind us of the importance of hope. Before the infant Jesus took his first breath in that Bethlehem stable, before the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son, and long before anyone knew exactly how, when, or where the Messiah would appear, there was hope—a hope that God would draw near with healing, justice, and redemption for humanity. This hope reminded people of faith to continue anticipating and looking for the Messiah, sustaining them while they wai ..read more

Job is one of those characters, and books of the Bible, that people either love or hate. “Patient Job,” as he is often called, is a difficult figure. He suffers great misfortune, sees his life crumble around him, and struggles to make sense of life in the midst of death, pain, and trauma. This is as much as we all agree on. But what else you think happens, depends on how you read the book. Job is often nicknamed “patient Job,” and held up as a model of patient endurance in the midst of suffering, and patient waiting for God to restore him. Some find this helpful as a model; others (like me) fi ..read more

How can a church become a sanctuary—a place where individuals living with mental health challenges feel safe, supported, and a sense of belonging? Throughout the month of October, Sanctuary is exploring this question with our annual Mental Health Awareness Month campaign. To paraphrase Sanctuary Ambassador John Swinton, belonging means being seen, known, and wanted in community. The refrain of belonging could be, ”I’m glad you are here, and you are missed when you’re gone.” In honour of World Mental Health Day (October 10), we’ve asked members of the Sanctuary team to share their reflections o ..read more

For the past few years, Sanctuary has set aside October for an annual mental health awareness month campaign. With Mental Illness Awareness Week observed October 1-7 in Canada and the United States, and World Mental Health Day on October 10, it is a fitting time of year to focus on mental health awareness. This year, our theme is inspired by Sanctuary’s vision of seeing churches become sanctuaries—places where those who are living with mental health challenges can feel safe, supported, and a sense of belonging.  We all have a desire to belong, to be loved, seen, known and accepted. When p ..read more

What does it mean to truly be seen by another person? Isn’t that something we all long for—to be seen, known, and accepted for who we are? In this excerpt from Jonathan Browning’s short book of reflections on pastoral ministry and mental health care, he explores this human longing and how being seen is especially meaningful and healing for people experiencing mental health challenges. Adaptation from Do You See Me? by Jonathan Browning  “One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.” – John O’Donohue: Anam Cara  We begin with that most vulnerable of questions—perh ..read more