Slides accompanying sermons presented at Fredericktown UMC in Fredericton, OH, October 21, 2018. Link to full text here: https://www.keyministry.org/church4everychild/2018/10/20/discovering-gods-purposes-in-mental-illness

1. Discovering God’s Purposes
in Mental Illness
Stephen Grcevich, MD
President and Founder, Key Ministry
Fredericktown United Methodist Church
Fredericktown, OH
October 21, 2018

2. Coming alongside churches
interested in disability ministry

3. A strategy for including families
affected by mental illness

4. John 9:1-3
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from
birth. And his disciples asked him ”Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It
was not that this man sinned, or his
parents, but that the works of God might
be displayed in him.” (ESV)

5. A perception churches need to
overcome among outsiders

6. Kids with mental health conditions are
less likely to experience church!
• Children with autism spectrum disorders are
1.84 times more likely to never attend church.
• Children with depression are 1.73 times more
likely to never attend church.
• Children with Oppositional Defiant
Disorder are 1.48 times more likely to never
attend church.
• Children with anxiety are 1.45 times more
likely to never attend church.
• Children with ADD/ADHD are 1.19 times more
likely to never attend church.
Whitehead AL. J Scientific Study Religion 2018;57(2)377-395.

7. “People in the church believe they can
tell when a disability ends and bad
parenting begins.”

8. Why is church involvement difficult for
families affected by mental illness?
• Attributes of
common mental
conditions produce
challenges in
common ministry
environments.
• Church culture – our
expectations for how
people should act
when we gather
together

9. Seven barriers to including families
impacted by mental illness at church
• Stigma
• Anxiety
• Capacity for self-
discipline
• Sensory processing
• Social communication
• Social isolation
• Past experiences of
church

10. God’s purposes in mental illness?
•God uses the discomfort and
distress associated with our
experience of mental illness to
draw us into a closer relationship
with him.

11. God’s purposes in mental illness?
•God may use the experience of
mental illness to cultivate within
us a greater awareness of his
sovereignty and an ability to
manifest contentment in the midst
of our distress that presents an
unmistakable witness to his
power and character.

12. Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the
peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.” (ESV)

13. God’s purposes in mental illness?
•God may use people with
firsthand experience of mental
illness to comfort and minister to
others who are affected.

14. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort those who are
in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God. For as we
share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so
through Christ we share abundantly in comfort
too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and
salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your
comfort, which you experience when you
patiently endure the same sufferings that we
suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we
know that as you share in our sufferings, you
will also share in our comfort. (ESV)

15. God’s purposes in mental illness?
God might be using mental health
concerns as an instrument for
bringing about the salvation of
those affected.

16. Talking about mental illness

17. How Freddie UMC might bless families
affected by mental illness
• Casseroles
• Respite
• Referral services
• Short-term financial support
for treatment needs
• Supporting parents at
school meetings
• Education and support
groups
• Inclusion at church

18. Who are YOU going to invite
to church?

19. Connect with Key Ministry
• www.keyministry.org
• Twitter: @KeyMinistry
• www.facebook.com/keyministry
• www.keyministry.org/contact/