A three-day conference at a Carlisle city centre church will explore how Christians can best respond to a spiralling mental health crisis.
The Living Word conference, at St John the Evangelist Church on London Road, is an annual gathering, organised by leaders and musicians from a range of Carlisle churches and is part of the wider fellowship of the Keswick Convention.
This year’s event – Mental Health and the Church – will run from Tuesday May 6 to Thursday May 8, with a particular focus on what churches can do to support those affected by mental health challenges.
The Rev Tudor Boddam-Whetham, vicar of St John’s and chair of the Living Word committee, said: “Research from various mental health charities, such as Mind, have found that in the UK the scale and severity of mental health need is spiralling, and worryingly both adults and young people alike feel their wellbeing is getting worse.
“It’s also very concerning to note research which has found the rate of depression in Cumbria is over a third higher than the England average. So, the conference will be looking at what we as Christians can do to support those affected as we learn from the Bible’s wisdom and reach out with Jesus’ love.”
The conference’s guest speaker is Steve Midgley, who over the past 10 years has been involved in teaching courses in biblical counselling at Oak Hill Theological College and leads the Biblical Counselling UK team.
He is on the boards of both the Christian Counselling and Educational Foundation and the Biblical Counselling Coalition. Formerly the vicar of Christ Church Cambridge, Steve continues to serve the church family there. Before ordination he trained as a psychiatrist.
He said: “These struggles really hurt. I’m not sure the church has always done very well in this area. I’m convinced we can do better and I’m looking forward to exploring this with you at the conference.”
The sessions will run from 10.30am and will be repeated at 7.30pm. All are welcome to attend.
