When St. Andrew began developing its own mental health practice, we first looked externally to see what other churches were doing.  What we found was a lack of comprehensive programming. Many churches have mental health resources on their websites and offer lay-led support groups. Still others have affiliations with counselors.  And some partner with local mental providers to provide some level of education. What St. Andrew needed, and what will be offered, is a comprehensive and integrated framework that includes awareness, education, proprietary curriculum, treatment options and a complete ‘how-to’ playbook on implementation.

Mental health has certainly become more complex since the pandemic. With more than 380,000 churches throughout country, and each positioned as trusted community partners, churches are ideally suited to address mental health. For many people, their local church is the first place they turn in times of uncertainty. We believe this is the case with mental health as well. The opportunity is to better prepare churches to meet this need.

Designed exclusively for churches, Beacon of Light’s offering will provide a turn-key and easy to implement mental health framework featuring evidence-based programming and clinical resources. The goal is to make professional mental services as accessible as possible, delivered through a Christ-centered lens. Importantly, new content will be distributed regularly to participating churches. Content will include blogs, podcasts, webinars, videos, and hard-form training materials – all featuring a professional production value.