Faith Group
Organizations and Networks
The following is a listing of faith group networks and the offices to contact for further information. If the faith group has passed a resolution on mental illness, but has no network developed or staff assigned to this area of ministry, the national office is listed with no specific division or area noted.
American Baptist Churches in the USA, Chaplaincy Director, American Baptist Churches in the USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (215) 768-2000. Has a statement on mental illness.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 222 S. Downey Ave., P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46202-1986; (317) 353-1491. It has passed a resolution on mental illness. Those who formed the United Church of Christ Mental Illness Network are also welcoming members of the Disciples to their network.
Christian Reformed Church in America, Disability Concerns, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49560; (616) 224-0801 or (616) 224-0844; A packet of informational materials and a videotape is available from this office. You can access their newsletter at www.thebanner.org. This faith group's network is Christians Concerned About Mental Illness. Information on mental illness is included in the newsletter Breaking Barriers published by Disability Concerns.
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Box 2420, Anderson, IN 46018; (317) 642-0256. It has passed a resolution on mental illness voted by the Commission on Social Concerns.
The Episcopal Church USA has an Episcopal Mental Illness Network (EMIN), a ministry that grew out of the Presiding Bishop's Task Force on Accessibility (now defunct). (There is no staff at the national level assigned to mental illness.) EMIN Publishes EMIN News, a free semi-annual newsletter. It also has an informative website at www.eminnews.org. Contact: Caroline Stephenson, 5125 Stonewall Rd, Little Rock, AR 72207 or Bean Murray, 3604 Oakwood Rd., Little Rock, AR 72202. E-mail: eminnews@msn.com
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ministry with Person with Handicapping Conditions, 8765 West Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631; (773) 380-2692 is the office that has an informational packet, educational and liturgical resources, and several videotapes. There is a Lutheran Mental Illness Network that publishes a newsletter and holds periodic meetings and workshops.
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Ministerial Health/Health & Healing Ministries, 133 S. Kirkwood Rd., St. Louis, MO 63122; (314) 965-9000; www.lcms.org. This office has an informational packet on mental illness and is the contact point for the Mental Illness Network.
Mennonite/Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet), PO Box 959, Goshen, IN 46527-0959. Phone: (574) 535-7053. E-mail: adnet@adnetonline.org. Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) is a national membership organization of families, friends, and persons living with mental illness and/or other disabilities related to Anabaptist church groups. ADNet began in late 2002 to carry on the previous national inter-Mennonite advocacy work in disabilities and mental illness. The mission of ADNet is to provide encouragement and resources to congregations, families, and persons with disabilities as they identify and embrace their God-given gifts and abilities in ministry to each other and to the larger church. Note: the following link deals with mental health issues: http://www.adnetonline.org/Topics/MentalHealth/
Mennonite Central Committee, CANADA: Mental Health and Disabilities Program
provides information and educational resources for congregations around
issues of mental illness. www.mcc.org/canada/health.
Mental Health Chaplaincy, Seattle, WA. Web site: www.mentalhealthchaplain.org This chaplaincy was founded by the Rev. Dr. Craig Rennebohm in 1987 to serve homeless people who are mentally ill. Outreach workers offer companionship to people on the street and assist them in obtaining medical services, housing, and other aid, including spiritual support. The Chaplaincy works with the mental health program at Seattle's Harborview Hospital and other local facilities, as well as the Health Care for the Homeless Network, Pathways to Promise, NAMI, and other national and regional organizations. In addition, the Chaplaincy offers training and consultation services to church communities, and fosters advocacy activities on behalf of those suffering from mental illness. The Chaplaincy was founded in 1987 and initially sponsored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle. Since 1997, it has been an ecumenical outreach program of Prospect Congregational Church (UCC), with major support from its downtown base in Plymouth Congregational Church.
Mental Health Ministries, www.mentalhealthministries.net, is an ecumenical, interfaith outreach founded by Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder in 2001. The mission of Mental Health Ministries is to provide educational resources to help erase the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities and help congregations become caring congregations for persons living with a mental illness and their families. User friendly media and print resource that can be adapted to the unique needs of each congregation are available on the website. Many of the downloadable resources are available in Spanish. Mental Health Ministries also collaborates with faith communities, advocacy groups, community organizations and mental health professionals to lift up the importance of using a person’s faith and spirituality as part of the overall treatment and recovery process.
National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD) 415 Michigan Avenue, N.E. Suite 240, Washington, DC 20017; (202) 529-2933, (202) 529-2934 (tty); www.ncpd.org coordinates the activities of the Roman Catholic Church in this area of ministry.
National Health Ministries,
www.pcusa.org/health/national,
(888) 728-7228, extension 8011.
E-mail: health@ctr.pcusa.org
National Health Ministries promotes health awareness and resources and works for equity and access.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): www.pcusa.org,
100 Witherspoon Street,
Louisville, KY 40202
Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network (PSMIN),
a network of the Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association
(PHEWA), www.pcusa.org/phewa/psmin,
(888) 728-7228, extension 5800. E-mail: sstack@ctr.pcusa.org
PSMIN is a grassroots network of persons, congregations, and middle governing bodies who advocate, seek equity, justice, human dignity and full acceptance into the life of the church and society. Resources and models of ministry can be found on their Web site.
Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform), Department of Jewish Family Concerns, 633 3rd Ave., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017; (212) 650-4296; Congregational manual available in 2003.
Unitarian Universalist Mental Health Caucus UU Mental Health Caucus, Equual Access, Unitarian Universalist Association, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108; Contacts: Bob P. Skrocki bpskrocki@comcast.net and Rev. Barbara F. Meyers com_minister@mpuuc.org The UU accessibility group, Equual Access, sponsors a Mental Health Caucus that provides coordination and promotion of mental health ministry development within the Unitarian Universalist Association, and a UU community minister has a model mental health ministry with rich online resources at www.mpuuc.org/mentalhealth/.
United Church of Christ coordinates its work on mental illness through the Office of Parish Life and Leadership/Inclusive Ministry, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115-1100; (216) 736-3838; www.min-ucc.org It has informational and educational materials and enables the work of the United Church of Christ Mental Illness Network.
United Methodist Church, Ministry of God's Human Community, General Board of Church & Society, 100 Maryland Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20002; (202) 488-5654; www.umc-gbcs.org. It has informational and educational resources available and coordinates the activities of the United Methodist Mental Illness Network.
United Synagogue of America, the Association of Conservative Congregations, 155 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010-6802; (212) 533-7800. It has passed a resolution on mental illness.
Virginia Interfaith Committee on Mental Illness Ministries (VICOMIM), Virginia Annual Conference, Room 113, P.O. Box 1719, Glen Allen, VA 23060; www.vaumc.org/gm/micom.htm; Committed to educating clergy and laity towards an awareness and sensitivity within the faith communities about mental illness.
