Thoughts on preaching and teaching on mental health in our church

“I have mental health issues”, said no Asian parent ever.

One of the most confronting and challenging aspects of pastoring in our immigrant church for the past few years has been the deluge of mental health issues we’ve had to navigate and walk alongside. Something that Radio New Zealand recently reported on as a “silent crisis” in New Zealand, but very rarely openly discussed or addressed in Asian contexts. Whether it’s immigration-related trauma and loss; the ongoing identity challenges among the 1.5 and 2nd generation who constantly cross cultures at church, work and home; battles with trying to project a “model minority” appearance while simultaneously carrying the scars of ongoing rejection and shame, every Sunday at PCBC there are brothers and sisters who carry many silent wounds and hidden hurts.

The idea to focus on mental health in our worship services has sat in the back of my mind for a long time, as I’ve heard story after story of depression, anxiety, and unresolved trauma from brothers and sisters. All the while, I’ve felt severely under-equipped to pastor and counsel well. We tested the waters on this topic a bit last year with a one-off sermon on Psalm 88 on NZ’s Mental Health Awareness Week. But when the opportunity arose to preach a topical series this year, our English ministry team decided to shape our gathered worship and ministry for the whole month around this topic.

In order to address mental health as a church holistically, we leaned in on four key phrases:

WORRY / Psalm 131 is a brief psalm that has helped many who struggle with anxiety, and I was grateful to have the chance to preach from it;
REFUGE / Psalm 46. We had the joy of welcoming Dave Giesbers back from the brink as he shared his own journey of seeking refuge in God our fortress during his life-changing near-death experience in 2024;
UNIQUE / Psalm 139:13-18. Ps Albert showed us two priceless truths in the midst of our broken bodies and souls: that we’re uniquely made, and we’re graciously preserved;
Q&A – After a short 6 minute sermon on Jesus being the perfect counsellor to a grieving family (John 11), we heard lots of helpful answers from a two-person panel: Eva Chiu (our resident theologian and a mental health first-aid trained member) and Felistas Muodza – a member of Papakura Baptist and a relatable and knowledgable certified counsellor.

The Q&A format let our church members ask questions that would have been much harder to voice out in person, such as the usefulness of medication, how to respond when someone expresses a desire to commit suicide, and many other topics. Not only did Felistas bring her practical experience to our worship service, she was also kind enough to share a couple of extra seminars for us to be better equipped together on common mental health issues like anxiety, depression, ADHD and trauma.

During the month, we also heard two special testimonies from Eva and Jess (one of our friends from our visiting mission team in April) who courageously shared their experiences with anxiety, depression and other health issues with the wisdom of God’s Word and the hope of Jesus Christ.

To hear in our church context so much practical and Scripture-soaked advice on anxiety, depression, religious trauma and more was not only unprecedented in the life of PCBC English, but also so necessary as we continue to learn how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus our Suffering Servant.

Here’s a couple of my own thoughts around preparing, planning and preaching on this topic:

Do it. For the sake of your church. The stigma around discussing this topic (especially in non-Western cultures) is huge, but the cost of not addressing it is even more so. In our Q&A session, Felistas helpfully reminded us that the issues we grapple with “in these last days” (2 Tim 3:1-2) includes struggles around our identity, purpose and hope in the soul.
Do it with help. Our world is so complex today and labels carry all kinds of meanings and assumptions (e.g. condition/disorder; autistic/neurodiverse). Don’t go into this area assuming you have all the answers (none of us do!) Ask around for trusted advisors: doctors, counsellors, parents raising children with special needs. Involve them in your thinking, prayers and planning. Read widely on this topic. Two easy-to-read books I found helpful in informing my preparation and prayer were: “Caring for One Another” by Ed Welch (a Christian counsellor), “Mental Health and your church” by Dr Steve Midgely and Helen Thorne-Allenson, but there are plenty of other good resources out there.
Do it with God’s Word. There are definitely ways that Scripture can be used and abused we should avoid (I interviewed Tore, a religious-trauma trained counsellor about this about a year ago). Still, in an age of professionalised help and care for every area of life, it’s important to remind ourselves that the world doesn’t have all the answers. A topical series on mental health isn’t just a chance to take a break from sermon preparation – by no means! While you won’t find the exact phrase “mental health” in the Bible, God’s Word in fact has more to say about the struggles of our soul than our physical ailments. As Jess shared with us in her testimony, it’s no accident perhaps the oldest book of the Bible, Job, is 42 chapters full of one man’s mental anguish poured out as Holy Scripture. Or that 1/3 of the Psalms are laments. I think too of that God’s prophets often spoke in times of extreme distress and trauma – the decimation and exile of a people group through war and genocide, for example. And think for example of how frequently the people Jesus met and transformed struggled not just from a broken leg, but tortured minds and muddled thoughts.
Do it with God’s Word explained. A topical series can be as short or as long as your church needs, but should still be grounded in Scripture. For us, spending four weeks on four specific psalms fit well with school holidays, speaker availabilities and other factors. As our church previously spent the previous half year pacing through 1 & 2 Timothy, the Psalms (OT poetry) offered a good contrast in genre and approach. Other helpful books and Scriptures to ground in a focus on mental health / soul struggles include Jeremiah (the weeping prophet), Lamentations or Habakkuk; selections from John 11-17 focusing on Jesus’s “talking therapy” with his disciples; or Job (a book I’ve preached through in the past), though we need to be careful not to let the topic of mental health override the key message of each book in its context of salvation history.
Do it with care. There is a sad (and often unbiblical) tendency to spiritualise mental health as a lack of faith that prayer will surely solve, or a purely secular issue that therapists, not Christians, can help with. As with everything, nuance is needed. Yes, those in Christ do and will have victory over all death and disease. But just as a cancer sufferer doesn’t always get healing in this earthly life, it’s unbiblical to treat mental health issues the same way. Amidst our unanswered “why” questions, a Christian worldview speaks to our groaning world that God made it good, sin marred everything including our mental health, and Jesus will redeem and restore everything as part of God’s unfolding revelation.
Do follow with pastoral care. Be available and prepared for the questions and pastoral conversations, and the secondary trauma you might carry as you listen deeply and empathise with the horrors and sorrows people open up with you and others about.
Do follow with self-care. Mental health is a confronting topic, and Felistas reminded us that there is such a thing as secondary trauma that even she herself as a counsellor needs to process in healthy ways. Do give yourself permission to enjoy your own mental health break: whether a favourite hobby, a bathtub-filling experience, a space to unwind, a friend to debrief with together, even as you bear one another’s burdens and fulfil the law of Christ (Gal 6:1).

One of the many sunrises I enjoyed God paint on my daily run/walk/pray during this preaching series.

In God’s timing, we also walked through this series confronted with significant changes in our English ministry, including the start of a church-wide process to restructure PCBC English in what one leader called “a time of pruning” for us (you can hear more about it here). Our family have also faced an unusually large number of trials, hardships and attacks over the past 12 or so months personally, apart from the ongoing challenges of normal life as saved sinners in our fallen world. In many ways, the first “mental health” sermon Sunday was me preaching about anxiety to my own heart first – and being so freshly aware of my Heavenly Father’s deep, intimate love and care for me amidst our tear-filled ministry.

Because as we continue to grapple with anxiety, depression, trauma and grief, we can be grateful that the struggles of our soul are real, they’re seen, and they’re known personally by God Himself. More than anyone, our Lord sympathises with our weaknesses. He could calm the storms and comfort the weeping. Yet no one was more anxious than He was the night before Good Friday, surrounded by olive trees in a garden of tears. In His anguish, He quieted his anxious heart for us and then bled and died for our sins, so we can now cast our cares upon Him (1 Pet 5:7) with childlike faith.

If you’re interested, do check out all the talks and resources from this series here: Mental Health and our Church (PCBC English).

Sermons I’ve preached in connection with mental health: