50 - Preaching About Mental Health (feat. Mary Alice Birdwhistell)

This week, we’re joined by Waco-area pastor Mary Alice Birdwhistell to talk about preaching on mental health. Why is it important? How can pastors do it well? Can we get Mary Alice to read us an entire sermon she’s written? We get answers to all of these and more!

Things we mention in this episode/other resources:
- Gravity: A Center for Contemplative Activism
- Chris Heuertz
- Phileena Heuertz
- NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Other resources we recommend including books, podcasts, websites, and more.
- As usual, someone ends up mentioning Brené Brown

Connect with Mary Alice on Facebook or on Calvary Baptist Church’s website.

Quotes:
- “People can sniff out fakeness a mile away.” (tweet)
- “The church has to start talking about things that are real, and mental health is at the top of that list.” (tweet)
- “Having a counselor is one of the healthiest things I can do as a pastor, but also as a person.” (tweet)
- “We desperately need to start talking about mental health. We can’t afford not to. And what better place for that conversation to happen than in the church?” (tweet)
- “All of us, in some way, at some point, experience some kind of mental health challenge. All of us.” (tweet)
- “When in doubt, refer.” (tweet)
- “It’s all mental health related if it has to do with [us] & [our] well-being.” (tweet)

Connect with Robert on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Connect with Holly on her website or Twitter.

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Intro/Outro music for this episode is ‘Fall Down’ by Rivers & Robots.