Mind Matters

mindmattersThe Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) states that mental illness is diagnosed in one in four people.  At the same time, CMHA affirms that mental illness affects 100% of us.

Rev. Deane Proctor believes it is important for churches to create space for ongoing conversations regarding mental health and the Church.  Deane has served as Lead Pastor at Queensway Baptist Church (queensway.org) in Brantford since 2009. In 2008, Deane was diagnosed with major depression. “[I] became aware of the negative stigma attached to mental illness in our society and sadly found things to be worse inside the church. I longed for ‘church leadership’ to do something to help the church mature on this topic and then one day it struck me: I am church leadership! It began simply with sermon content referencing my depression diagnosis. From there I strove to be transparent in a variety of settings where mental illness was the topic.”

In the spring of 2014, Deane began co-hosting a podcast called Mind Matters, which seeks to foster conversation between the church and those dealing with mental illnesses. You can listen to the podcast and learn more about it at http://mindmatters.podomatic.com/. You can continue the conversation online via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mindmatterspodcast/?fref=ts.

Deane will be sharing at an event in Kingston April 15th -16th at Bayridge Alliance Church http://bayridgealliance.ca/.

deane proctorDeane will also be co-leading a workshop at Assembly http://baptist.ca/assembly (June 11th) called, Mental Illness and the Church: An Essential Conversation. This important conversation will provide some firsthand perspectives and the encouragement for participants to start conversations within their own congregation.

3 thoughts on “Mind Matters”

  1. Hey Dallas,
    Thanks for a good article. This is a much needed area of focus.
    There is group at Eucharist called ‘Sharing Spoons’ which is addressing this same area by engaging in dialogue and conversation about mental illness. It is attended by many in the church who struggle with some form of mental health/illness concern and provides a place for folks to share stories, struggles and strategies and to receive support. Thought you should know about it.

  2. We have a son who suffers from schizophrenia and we need people to converse with so we can help our church to minister in this area.
    Will look forward to this conversation at Assembly. Thank you for recognizing this great need.

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