This document discusses the need for churches to establish mental health inclusion ministries. It notes that children with conditions like depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities are less likely to attend church. The author advocates applying strategies like making environments welcoming, focusing on essential spiritual activities, effective communication, and education to promote inclusion. Key Ministry provides training and resources to help churches implement mental health inclusion strategies through an approach focused on welcoming and serving people with mental illness.

1. Why Your Church
Needs a Mental Health
Inclusion Ministry
Stephen Grcevich, MD
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
President and Founder, Key Ministry
Presented at Wonderfully Made Conference
Grace Church, Overland Park, Kansas
October 25, 2018

2. Building a bridge between two worlds…

3. The most common type of disability

4. Who’s missing from your 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 learning disabilities are 1.36 times
more likely to never attend church.
• Kids with ADD/ADHD are 1.19 times more likely to
never attend church.
Whitehead AL. J Scientific Study Religion 2018;57(2)377-395.

5. One parent’s lament…
“People in the
church believe they
can tell when a
disability ends and
bad parenting
begins.”

6. Why is church involvement so difficult?
• Attributes of common
mental conditions
cause difficulty
functioning in
common ministry
environments.
• Church culture – our
expectations for how
people should act
when we gather
together

7. Seven barriers to including
families impacted by mental illness
at church…
• Stigma
• Anxiety
• Self-discipline
(executive
functioning)
• Sensory processing
differences
• Necessary social
communication
skills
• Social isolation
• Past experiences of
church

8. The foundation of Key Ministry’s mental health inclusion
ministry model
• Recognize non-essential attributes
of our ministry environments,
practices that make church
attendance more difficult.
• Implementation of a set of
strategies across your ministry
environments to welcome
individuals and families into
activities most critical for spiritual
growth.

9. Seven strategies for promoting mental health
inclusion (TEACHER)
• Assemble your inclusion team
• Create welcoming ministry environments.
• Focus on ministry activities most essential to spiritual growth
• Communicate effectively
• Help families with their most heartfelt needs
• Offer education and support
• Empower your people to assume responsibility for ministry

10. Key considerations for an effective mental
health inclusion strategy…
• Mental health inclusion is a mindset – not a program
• A good strategy benefits everyone and doesn’t
require anyone to self-identify
• No church will be able to include everyone with
mental illness, but every church can welcome,
serve and include more people with mental illness

11. Help from Key Ministry
• Training
• Conferences
• Video training
• Book study
• Consultation
• Available to church teams
• Resources
• Networking with other ministries
• Social media, sermon videos, research to support your
ministry
• Support

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