The Justice and Peace Unit is sponsoring a workshop February 11 on mental health and how church goers can better respond to people with mental health issues. The presenter is Dr. John Toews, professor of psychiatry at the University of Calgary.
According to a 2004 Health Canada report, 20 percent of all Canadians will personally experience a mental illness during their lifetime. It affects people of all ages, educational and income levels and cultures. Nearly everyone in our church pews has been affected in some way, personally or through a family member.
Some suffer in silence because of the stigma that is still there. And others just stop coming to church because they are not receiving the support they so desperately need. Many may become detached from their faith which can be an important source of healing, wholeness and hope in their time of personal darkness.
Through such workshops, the unit hopes that lay persons will become more involved working towards the inclusion of persons with mental illness and their families in the life of their church.
Details:
The Church and Mental Health
Workshop at St. Laurence Church, 825 St. Laurence Street, Coquitlam, 10 am to 4 pm, $10, for information 604 684-6306, Ext. 221 or email: ddranchuk@vancouver.anglican.ca