Mental Illness is real. Will the Church get real?
This book is a collection of essays from various authors: men and women, pastors and congregants, counselors and nurses, parents and children. All have a unique view of how mental health conditions affect people, and how the church has responded to these circumstances.
Whispers in the Pews tackles how the mentally ill have been, and still are, treated in the church at large by sharing stories. This is not fundamentally a teaching book, but a book of moments and lives, knitted together by the common theme of mental health. No sermons will be included, though lessons learned from difficulties and their foundations in Scripture are encouraged.
This collection will expand your vision, and your heart, about what the church does well for the mentally ill, and where we can improve.
Tabella dei contenuti
Why I Created This Book 1
Suicide Feels Like a Dirty Word 7
In the Corner 15
A Little Less Alone 23
I Thought I Was Normal 31
Scared of My Own Voice 45
Something That Will Not Let Go 51
Am I a Whole Person? 63
Two Things I Learned about the Church in a Psych Ward 69
I’m Tired of Wearing a Mask 73
An Inconvenient Truth 79
Stalked by Depression 91
A Realm of Hope 103
Jesus Holds Me Together 109
Coming to the End to Find My Beginning 119
Depressed to Thriving—How One Church Made a Difference 125
Dragon Fighters 133
Smiling at the Wrong Story 141
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose 147
About the Authors 159