Journeying Together: Faith, Spirituality and Mental Health

NAMI Conference

2017 Spiritual Mental Health Conf Flyer-update

Did You Know?

  • 1 in 4 persons sitting in our pews has a family member struggling with mental health issues;
  • 1 in 5 of our youth experience mental health problems;
  • A majority of individuals with a mental health issue go first to a pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, minister, faith leader for help;
  • Studies show that clergy are the least effective in providing appropriate support and referral information;
  • Our faith communities can be caring congregations for persons living with a mental illness and their family members.

Learn…. Share…. Pray…. Break Bread…Be Inspired to:

  • End the Silence in Our Faith Communities about Mental Health Disorders;
  • Reduce the Stigma of Mental Illness;
  • Leave with skills, resources, and ethical framework for being with and advocating for individuals and families affected by Mental Health issues.

SPEAKERS: Rev. Dana Bainbridge; Evelyn Tirumasali, MPH; Margaret R. McLean, Ph.D.; Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D.; George Pappageorge, LMFT; Rev. Kim Englander Simran Singh, MD; Sr. Nancy Kehoe, Ph.D

$25, lunch included
Register: www.dsj.org/SMH

NOTE: No walk-in registration accepted

NAMI Faith Leaders Luncheon

For two years, NAMI SCC has been hosting quarterly lunches for faith leaders to visit the NAMI office, learn about mental illness and identify next steps for becoming more supportive of persons with mental illness and their families.

If you know of any faith leaders we should invite, please email Cindy at cmccalmont@namisantaclara.org

Palo Alto Faith Leaders Luncheon

Our next luncheon gathering will be on Tuesday, September 1 at noon at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Our host will be The Rev. Margaret Boles. The church will provide lunch and kosher and vegetarian options will be available. Donations for lunch are appreciated, but not required.

In addition to time to socialize, two items will be up for discussion. Margaret Boles will lead a discussion about our interfaith Thanksgiving service (currently scheduled for November 24). Rabbi Shelly Lewis and Rev. Diana Gibson will facilitate a brainstorming session about the possibility of developing a public event with an interfaith panel sharing sacred texts that bear on racism. This would be in support of the wonderful leadership that Rev. Kaloma Smith and others at University AME Zion have already begun to facilitate community conversations about racism after the mass shooting in June at Emanuel AME in Charleston. A recent story on Palo Alto Online summarizes these efforts.