Six Best Practices for Starting a Mental Health Ministry at Your Church

From its earliest days, the slogan of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was one word: “Think.” IBM was a large, established company with a traditional way of doing things, even as leaders in the computing space. 

Then, in 1997, the upstart company Apple launched their own slogan: “Think different.” 

Not only was the upstart poking at the old guard, it was also declaring an important truth. Just thinking isn’t enough, because our thoughts usually repeat what we already know. To change something, we have to “think different.” 

Suddenly, Apple was everywhere. A decade later, the company had indeed launched something very different: the iPhone. Soon a new digital ecosystem had evolved, one that most of us live in every day. 

Thinking differently led to an entirely new normal. 

Churches today must do the same by absorbing and implementing the best practices of other forward-thinkers. Here are some best practices to help integrate mental health ministry into the life and mission of the church. 

1. View mental health ministry as essential to the ultimate mission. 

Mental health ministry supports and sustains the primary mission of the church. Churches thrive when care, discipleship, missions, and evangelism are part of the church’s DNA. 

This is why many churches with mental health ministries provide their services for free for church members. (Often, this is a lay counseling type of service, but it may include professional care as well.) 

Many leaders we surveyed echoed the sentiment of this care pastor: “The elders determined that this is a discipleship ministry, so it should be free to the congregants just as it would be if they walked into a discipleship class or a small group.” 

2. Incorporate mental health ministry as part of discipleship and evangelism. 

Churches with thriving care ministries almost universally urged church leaders to see mental health ministry not as being in competition with discipleship and evangelism but as being central to it—and then organizing it as such. Mental health ministries are most beneficial when they focus not on feeling good but on becoming godly. 

3. Look for ways your mental health ministry can be a solution for the community. 

Churches that saw their mental health ministry as part of outreach often had many opportunities come to them. One church leader in a major metro area described how government and school district policies had often created barriers to churches. But after his church began offering mental health services at all levels of the church triangle, more and more people in the community began coming in the doors. 

4. Use the available technology to facilitate ministry. 

I think we can all agree: most of us now think with our thumbs. Digital technology is a huge part of how people access and respond to information, needs, and opportunities. Since this is part of our new world, the church must be there too. 

To facilitate and build a care ministry, we must add a digital dimension to the way we think about human care. We can accelerate the number of lay volunteers through training options that don’t require everyone to be in the fellowship hall at 7 p.m. on a Thursday night. 

As you think about what your mental health ministry will look like, be sure to include a digital dimension. 

5. Use your space as a resource. 

One of the resources many churches have to offer is space that can be used for ministry during the week. While some churches already use every nook and cranny of their building for schools, programs, and food pantries, others have room available. When you take stock of the resources available to help you further your mental health ministry goals, make sure to consider any available space and how it might be used. 

6. Ensure the process is full of grace. 

One of the frequent cautions we heard from church leaders who had successful mental health ministries was this: “Take stock of whether your church—and especially the lay helpers—can show the grace hurting people need.” 

As one pastor said, “People are broken, whether in public or in private. Knowing that their pastors and church members see them with grace and love helps them realize that God receives the real them with grace and love.” 

Another pastor, who is also a licensed clinician, added this challenge: “People sometimes think the solution to brokenness is to just try harder, read your Bible more, pray more. But that won’t bring transformation. Salvation is not a finish line. It’s a starting line. Moving toward mental and emotional health must be viewed as a process, and it’s essential that people are allowed to go through that process without judgment.” 

None of these practices will be perfect. But as you implement the strategies that work for you, in the way they work for you, you and your people will be far more confident as you step into this area of ministry. 

Adapted from When Hurting People Come to Church: How People of Faith Can Help Solve the Mental Health Crisis by Shaunti Feldhahn and James N. Sells, releasing in September 2025. Published with permission from Tyndale House Publishers.