“I just need to talk with someone.”
This is a cry for help that Cairine Domzella (RP), Director of Care Support, for Woodside Bible Fellowship in Elmira, ON is ready to respond to. Although Woodside Bible Fellowship relies on life groups (their version of small groups) to meet many of the care and connection needs within the church, there are situations that require help beyond which a life group can handle and there are people who are not in life groups who need to be cared for. This is where Cairine and her team of volunteers steps in.
They manage a benevolence fund, one-to-one care support, senior visitation, and a helping hands ministry that provides practical care such as meals, transportation and odd jobs. As the body of Christ, they take seriously the call from Jesus to love one another – especially the household of faith. Whether it’s job loss or single parenting or leaving an abusive relationship – these things all have spiritual, emotional and financial implications. And Woodside Bible Fellowship is there to make sure people are looked after.
Recently, prompted by the question above, Cairine organized a mental health workshop for the congregants of Woodside to help raise awareness, destigmatize, and learn how to better support and care for each other in the area of mental health and mental illness. The reality is that we are all in supportive relationships at some point. The mental health workshop was “life altering,” as one participant remarked. It helped participants understand themselves and each other, as well as the importance of boundaries, and self-care.
Understanding that as biological-psychological-social-spiritual beings, people are complex. Therefore, addressing mental health concerns is a necessary part of discipleship in our current times. Equipping the Woodside congregation with these skills is just one more way to love their neighbour, just as Jesus commanded.
Photo creds: Kelly Sikkema (Unsplash)