Mental Health and the Mission of the Church: Part 1
In New England, where many churches minister in spiritually resistant, highly secularized, and often isolated environments, the call to love and shepherd the hurting has never been more urgent. Mental Health and Your Church: A Handbook for Biblical Care by Steve Midgley and Helen Thorne is a thoughtful, theologically grounded, and pastorally wise resource that speaks directly to the heart of that calling.
Written by two leaders with deep experience in biblical counseling and pastoral ministry, this book challenges churches to reject the assumption that mental health struggles belong only in the realm of professionals. Without minimizing the value of counseling, therapy, or medication, the authors offer a clear and hopeful vision of how ordinary local churches—even small, under-resourced ones like many in New England—can become extraordinary places of gospel-shaped care.
The authors, writing from the United Kingdom, offer insight from a context that in many ways resembles New England—where secularism is advanced, mental health struggles are often hidden, and the church must work thoughtfully and relationally to engage both with grace and truth.
The Church’s Calling in a Hurting World
The authors realize the church is not primarily a clinic, it is the household of God—a place of compassion, community, and Christ-centered hope. The authors affirm that mental health challenges are complex and deeply human. Depression, anxiety, addiction, and trauma are not signs of weak faith; they are part of life in a fallen world. The solution isn’t to pretend these struggles don’t exist or to offer spiritual clichés, but to walk with people patiently in grace and truth.
In the Introduction to Section 2 “What Can We Do”, the authors challenge us to live in the tension of “Doing nothing is not an option” with “Doing everything is not an option either” (Midgley & Thorne, p. 67).
As New England pastors and church leaders know, many church members and neighbors carry wounds they don’t know how to name. This book gives leaders language and biblical categories to engage those concerns without fear or oversimplification. It helps churches to be present with people—not to fix them, but to walk with them faithfully.
A Framework for Care Rooted in Community
At the heart of the book is a relational model for pastoral care. The authors describe key components that any church member can learn to practice: showing compassion, being present, listening well, speaking biblical truth gently, and praying faithfully.
Churches don’t need licensed counselors to embody this model. What they do need is a culture that reflects the many “one anothers” of the New Testament—bearing one another’s burdens, encouraging the fainthearted, and comforting the grieving. Congregations already practicing these rhythms of care are well prepared to apply the principles of this book.
The authors also include several case studies—various scenarios of real people facing panic, depression, trauma, anxiety, or emotional shutdown—that bring to life the challenges and opportunities in caring for struggling individuals. These stories offer helpful insights and provide a framework for church leaders trying to discern how best to respond in complicated situations.
Recognizing Our Limits
Importantly, the authors make a strong case for wise referral. When someone expresses suicidal thoughts, displays signs of psychosis, or faces clinical addiction, church leaders must know when to step back and bring professionals alongside.
At the same time, the authors are clear: professional help doesn’t end the church’s role. Ongoing prayer, encouragement, hospitality, and spiritual shepherding are essential—offering a kind of long-haul support that no clinical setting can replicate.
This is particularly valuable for BCNE churches with bivocational pastors. You don’t need to become a mental health expert—but you do need to recognize red flags and form connections with trustworthy counselors and crisis supports in your area.
A Culture of Grace, Not Just a Program
The book’s closing chapters call churches to cultivate a culture of care, not just launch a ministry program, rather cultivate a whole-church culture of grace. That means modeling vulnerability from the pulpit, training leaders in basic care, and making space for lament and struggle in the life of the church.
In New England, where loneliness and spiritual isolation are widespread, this vision is especially powerful. Many of our churches may be small in number— but, even small congregations can become sanctuaries of grace and truth—places where the hurting are seen, heard, and reminded of God’s presence.
A Needed Word for a Pressing Hour
In a region where skepticism toward both faith and institutions runs deep, many neighbors will never trust a church until they know it cares. Mental Health and Your Church reminds us that pastoral care is not a distraction from the mission—it is mission in action, especially among the hurting.
This book is accessible, richly biblical, and full of gospel hope. It doesn’t offer easy answers—but it gives churches confidence that, by God’s grace, they can walk faithfully with those who suffer.
For New England churches within the BCNE network, Mental Health and Your Church is especially valuable. Its biblical grounding, pastoral realism, and cultural relevance make it an ideal tool for leaders who want their churches to reflect Christ’s compassion in a hurting world. This readable book might be shared with other leaders in the local church; perhaps using book and discussion questions as a group study for church leaders.
Highly recommended for pastors, ministry leaders, small group facilitators, and anyone who wants their church to be a refuge for the weary and wounded.
Robby Pitt is Coordinator of Pastoral Development for the Baptist Churches of New England. This article is part 1 of a 5-part series highlighting valuable books that explore the intersection of the church, leadership, and mental health. He would be glad to think through these issues in your own ministry context, and you can reach out to him at rpitt@bcne.net.