TACKLING mental ill-health inside and outdoors the Church have to be considered a mission priority, the General Synod heard on the Wednesday morning.
Introducing a motion to affirm the work already under way, including the national working group led by the Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Atkinson, Dr Jamie Harrison (Durham) said that, despite growing awareness, mental health didn’t appear to be improving across society.
It was easy to have doubts and concerns when affected by mental ill-health: “Where is God on this? Where can I find relief?” His motion asked dioceses to review the mental-health training offered to each ordinands and clergy.
It also asked the National Society to arrange additional materials for church schools on the topic. Dr Harrison also wished the Liturgical Commission to have a deeper deal with how its texts might affect someone scuffling with their mental health, and to interact with “how the Holy Spirit can heal”.
The support offered variable, he suggested. “This is a missional and gospel imperative.” The Church should bear excellent news on mental health slightly than feel “powerless and impotent”.
Beginning the controversy, Katia D’Arcy-Cumber (Chelmsford) said that ethnic-minority people were disproportionately detained under the Mental Health Act: Black British people were detained at 12 times the speed for white British people. The pressures of being a black or brown person within the UK were immense, she said. She was a born-and-bred British citizen with two British parents, and was frequently told that she didn’t belong here, amongst other expressions of racial hostility. There was a “constant barrage you can not escape”, even in speeches within the Synod chamber, she said. The Church, subsequently, had a vital part to play in supporting those whose mental health was affected by wider problems with social injustice.
Professor Muriel Robinson (Lincoln) drew attention to clergy mental health, suggesting that a mental-health placement needs to be offered to all ordinands. Her father had been chaplain to a big mental-health hospital, but had been completely out of his depth, she said, whilst an experienced parish priest. Today, given the ever-growing scale of mental ill-health, it was crucial to arrange the priesthood properly, she said. Dioceses should consider what else they may do to lift the burden of stress from their clergy, even including covering the prices of a vicarage gardener, for example.
Canon Kate Wharton (Liverpool) said that it was shocking that the Synod had in a roundabout way debated mental health since 2008, whilst the understanding of mental health had grown. Her ordination training didn’t cover mental health in any respect, despite her ministry frequently bringing her into contact with the difficulty. She said that she had suffered from periods of “severe depression and anxiety. I’m not ashamed of the mental-health challenges I actually have faced, but they’ve been difficult to discuss as a church leader.” The Church needs to be the safest possible space to share vulnerably about personal struggles, she said; but, sadly, it was not all the time.
Joel Plant (Youth Representatives), who’s currently undertaking a Master’s degree in mental-health studies, said that he had been diagnosed with OCD seven years ago. People who struggled with OCD could often struggle with moral issues, which was called scrupulosity, he said. The Church had not all the time been a “great space” for him while he handled this. Moving forward, he said, it might be useful to have a mental-health expert involved in liturgical work. Although mental-health issues were separate from neurodiversity, this needs to be included within the paper.
Geoff Crawford/Church TimesKatia D’Arcy-Cumber (Chelmsford)
The Revd William Harwood (Truro) recommend an amendment that sought a less “modest” approach to the topic, because there was a “mental-health crisis across our society”. It would make supporting individuals with mental-health issues more explicit in training. There was an overlap between the spiritual and theological world, he said, and he called for mental-health first-aid training. The clergy should learn to recognise mental-health issues and have the opportunity to signpost people to professionals.
Dr Harrison accepted the amendment.
Before his ordination, the Revd Jonathan Macy (Southwark) had run care homes for individuals with learning disabilities, and had since been a chaplain in secure wards. The churches with the fewest resources often faced the best needs, he said, especially on housing estates and in low-income areas. As a priest, he had needed to go on a “mad learning curve” to choose up knowledge about mental health, as his training had not begun to arrange him. He supported the amendment.
Dr Nick Land (York) said that churches could make mistakes at each ends. Some discouraged people from in search of skilled mental-health treatment, even when it was desperately needed, while others “uncritically accepted” all medical interventions, when good pastoral care was a more appropriate first line of response. He urged the Church to interact with well-being on the psychological, social, spiritual, and biological levels. “We must not overlook the healing potential of a great church,” he concluded, “because it brings people into relationship with the living God through word and sacrament.”
Helen Lamb (Oxford) said that her church was on the doorstep of a university, and, subsequently, frequently encountered young adults in “great distress”. She asked whether the training for clergy could include ways to mobilise lay resources: “Clergy, you usually are not on your personal.” It was also vital that clergy knew methods to signpost people to better-resourced support services elsewhere slightly than assume that that they had to repair all the pieces themselves.
Dr Laura Oliver (Blackburn), a GP, strongly supported the motion and amendment. People needed medication and therapy from professionals, in addition to gospel truths about finding rest in Jesus. Often, her patients said that the trigger for finally in search of medical help was a conversation with a friend or member of the family. Were clergy being trained to recognise the signs in order that they may also signpost?
Rebecca Chapman (Southwark) moved an amendment to handle support for kids and young people and their carers. She had been raised by a single mother, and so her childhood had been difficult, she said. She couldn’t all the time understand why her “depressed and suicidal” mother couldn’t get away from bed some days, or would disappear for hours at a time. Her church had been a spot of safety and a shield from the challenges of home life. It was easy to overlook young people and young carers, however the Church could help to interrupt patterns going back generations, she said.
Dr Harrison accepted the amendment.
The Revd James McCluskey (Chelmsford) spoke of an incident wherein he was attacked by a stranger who entered the church during a family event. He was told that the attacker was affected by mental-health issues and addiction. On one other occasion, he had felt ill-equipped to take care of a lady whose protected house was breached. Subsequently, he made contact with the community-interest ompany in his parish, which provided resources, and worked with the NHS and health professionals.
Canon Mark Bennet (Oxford) spoke about Space Makers, a resource designed by his diocese to satisfy the growing mental-health needs of young people. He said that dozens of faculties used these materials to assist young people to learn preventative techniques and to equip them with resilience.
The Revd Captain Nicholas Lebey CA (Southwark) supported the amendments and emphasised the must be well equipped in ministry. He described his experience as a youth employee, and of young individuals who “look OK” on the skin, but were struggling inside.
The Revd Lesley Jones (Durham) spoke about community, wherein, she believed, it was clearer to see when people were struggling, and subsequently easier to supply support and improve the standard of pastoral care. She urged members to think about ongoing training.
Geoff Crawford/Church TimesThe Revd Alice Kemp (Bristol)
The amendment was carried.
Moving an additional amendment on clergy well-being, Mr Harwood spoke concerning the disparities in discussing physical-health and mental-health issues. He was sometimes hesitant, he said, to debate his own mental health, as he didn’t want to seem “weak” or a “broken man in need of psychological support”. His diocese had paid for his therapy sessions, but not all dioceses can be the identical.
Dr Harrison accepted the amendment.
The Dean of St Edmundsbury, the Very Revd Joe Hawes (Southern Deans), considered himself to be a “shop steward” to the clergy in his diocese. He warned of the burden felt by those receiving large sums of cash from the national Church for mission initiatives. The expectations on project leaders must turn into more “realistic”, to avoid a “substantial cost” to mental health, he urged.
Elizabeth Olsen (Chester) said that the media had recently reported that as much as 30 per cent of the clergy may be experiencing depression at anyone time. She hoped that there may very well be free, long-term, confidential Christian counselling. “We are not looking for to lose our clergy, and the NHS is overwhelmed when mental health is anxious.”
The Revd Mark Miller (Durham) spoke of the clergy well-being covenant, a commitment that the Church had made to good relationships, listening, and culture. Clergy were increasingly overstretched “on the coalface”, and mental health couldn’t be addressed only by higher training or support: there also needed to be efforts to stop a crisis before it arose, he said. Dioceses and bishops have to be attentive and have realistic expectations of the clergy.
The Interim Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, said that her combination of nursing training and ordination training had taught her to take care of the needs of the entire person. She welcomed the motion’s emphasis on mental-health training and provision for clergy, but she wanted to increase it to a requirement for all priests to have pastoral supervision.
Emma Robarts (St Albans) couldn’t support this “sticking plaster” of an amendment. Parish clergy posts were being relentlessly cut, putting ever greater pressure on serving priests. No doubt clergy were affected by poor mental health, but the most effective solution was more priests, she suggested. “The Church Commissioners have loads of money; so let’s spend it quickly on this,” she argued.
The amendment was carried.
Canon Alice Kemp (Bristol) said that she had lived with mental-health challenges, on and off, besides supporting family and friends with their very own struggles. When she felt unwell, she struggled to interact with the Church, she said, finding liturgy and offers to wish for healing unhelpful. How could churches be made places of sanctuary as an alternative of unintentionally excluding people? Her diocese offered mental-health first-aid training for all curates.
How churches approached mental health could have a deep impact on well-being, Kat Alldread (Derby) said. She had been a part of churches that had implied that mental ill-health was a results of an absence of religion; and this brought isolation and “great shame”. Her church now was open and affirming for those scuffling with their mental health, and this had been “lifegiving”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury praised members who had spoken of their personal experiences. She referred to the “huge impact” of the pandemic on mental health, loneliness, and isolation, and hailed the motion for addressing young people, the laity, and the clergy. While mental-health services were overstretched and underfunded, even secular research had recognised the helpful effect on mental health of being a part of a faith community, she said.
“There is way excellent work occurring in our churches,” the Archbishop said, speaking of examples of collaboration between the NHS, local government, and churches in south London. “This motion offers a chance to show our power into practical motion.”
Paul Waddell (Southwark) supported the motion and particularly Ms Chapman’s amendment. He had been raised, he said, by a mentally unwell and sometimes abusive single mother, who occasionally pushed him to run away from home, he said. Becoming a part of a church choir had been a “source of joy” — until his vicar tried to “excommunicate” his mother to “make the issue go away”. But a church that he joined later had been transformative, he said.
The Bishop of Beverley, the Rt Revd Stephen Race (Northern Suffragans), said that, as a trustee of charities that helped individuals with mental-health needs, he knew how overwhelmed the health services were. When offering support, he relied heavily on his “intuition” and the families of those affected, but this was “not ideal”, he said.
The Revd Robert Lawrance (Newcastle) supported the motion and amendments, but emphasised that it was “essential to not reinvent the wheel”. He really useful online forums, retreats, and charities for resources and support.
The amended motion was carried. It read:
That this Synod, affirming the work of the national mental health working group, and recognising the high prevalence of mental health conditions within the population, especially post-COVID, and the close relationship between spiritual and mental wellbeing, believes that responding to people’s mental health needs in an informed, prayerful, and compassionate way is integral to our mission, and subsequently:
a) call on diocesan ministry training leads to incorporate specific content of their IME and CME courses on methods to support those facing mental-health challenges;
b) request the National Society to develop further training materials on responding to mental health challenges to be used in Church Schools and youngsters’s groups, with a spotlight not only on those directly affected, but additionally for those children and young individuals who live with, or are carers for, others with mental health challenges,
c) request the Liturgical Commission to make sure that the church’s liturgical materials are drafted with attention to the needs of, and impact upon, people facing mental health challenges and supported by guidance notes regarding their use in the actual circumstances of those facing mental health challenges;
d) recognising the 2025 report from St Luke’s for Clergy Wellbeing on counselling provision for clergy, call upon all dioceses to make sure that their offering of mental health support for clergy provides accessibility, independence; and clarity in order that the most effective practice celebrated within the report could be reflected across all parts of the Church of England.
Read more reports from the General Synod Digest here
