Kay Warren Shares Powerful Tips for Ministering to Those Struggling with Mental Illness, Suicidal Thoughts

Leah Marieann Klett : Oct 17, 2017
GospelHerald.com

"If we weren't so afraid of talking honestly about suicidal thoughts, we could provide the kind of listening ear, warm arm around the shoulder, and tender care that could walk struggling people through a crisis." -Kay Warren

[GospelHerald.com] After losing their 27-year-old son, Matthew, to suicide in 2013, Kay and Rick Warren have become major mental health advocates in the Church, organizing conferences on the issue and calling for more Christian involvement. (Photo: Rick and Kay Warren/via GospelHerald.com)

Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren, has offered some advice on ministering to those struggling with mental illness or considering suicide and said that while it can be "messy work," we are called by Jesus to come alongside people in their "most desperate times."

"All church members can play a role in helping people with mental illness," Warren, best-selling author and Bible teacher who co-founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, told Christianity Today. "It starts with a decision to care as Jesus would and then commit to receive training so that we can walk compassionately alongside of these brothers and sisters in pain."

The Church should care about those struggling with mental illness, Warren said, because of the example Jesus set for us during His time on earth.

"When people were cast out by society, like the woman at the well or the lepers, Jesus offered them His presence," she said. "He didn't withhold Himself from them, so why should we? If anything, He ran toward them and met them with compassion when they came His direction."

Warren admitted that ministering to people with severe mental illness or suicidal thoughts is "messy work," because "sometimes people are hanging on by a fingernail."

"We become a voice of love that whispers that they still matter, even in their illness and struggle," she said. "They have dignity-they're made in the image of God and have worth. When we come alongside and provide practical care by cleaning their house, holding their hand, and being with them in their most disheveled and frightened state, we remind them that they have worth."

After losing their 27-year-old son, Matthew, to suicide in 2013, Kay and Rick Warren have become major mental health advocates in the Church, organizing conferences on the issue and calling for more...

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