EQUIPPING THE CHURCH TO SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
OUR GOAL: $300,000
Let's Journey Together
This year our Christmas campaign focuses on the power of journeying together. We're reflecting on the journey of the Magi and the gifts that they brought the baby Jesus as a way of reminding us that all of us have gifts that we carry, wherever we are in our mental health journeys.
Having someone, or a community, to walk alongside you in the journey can help people feel seen, known, and loved.
At Sanctuary, our work helps churches to support people living with mental health challenges: bringing hope, presence, and compassion to all. If you’d like to walk alongside those churches and all who use our resources, would you consider making a monthly donation?
OUR GOAL: $300,000
This year our Christmas campaign focuses on the power of journeying together. We're reflecting on the journey of the Magi and the gifts that they brought the baby Jesus as a way of reminding us that all of us have gifts that we carry, wherever we are in our mental health journeys.
At Sanctuary, our work helps churches to support people living with mental health challenges: bringing hope, presence, and compassion to all. If you’d like to walk alongside those churches and all who use our resources, would you consider making a monthly donation?
THE SANCTUARY YOUTH SERIES
The Sanctuary Youth Series is a free resource centred on the pressing questions young people are asking about faith and mental health. Questions like: "What does the Bible say about mental health? and "How can I help my friend.? It's designed to be used in small groups, youth ministries, and school-settings for students aged eleven to fifteen.
Help the next generation navigate mental health and faith with The Sanctuary Youth Series.
This eight-session course explores the realities of mental health and illness, as well as the vital need for faith-based community conversations about these topics. The sessions are accompanied by compelling films that feature the stories of Catholics living with mental health challenges, along with the insights of archbishops, theologians, and psychologists.
The Sanctuary Course for Catholics and The Sanctuary Course para Católicos (Español) are available for free on our online resource portal.
This eight-session course explores the realities of mental health and illness, as well as the vital need for faith-based community conversations about these topics. The sessions are accompanied by compelling films that feature the stories of Catholics living with mental health challenges, along with the insights of archbishops, theologians, and psychologists.
The Sanctuary Course for Catholics is available on our website and through partner distributors, and The Sanctuary Course para Católicos (Español) is available on FORMED.
OUR LATEST ANNUAL REPORT IS HERE
Within our 2024 Annual Report, you'll read stories of people impacted through the work Sanctuary does in equipping the Church to support mental health and wellbeing—people like Cal, Suzie, Josh and many others. You can also read about the impact by the numbers, such as the 71,010 participants in The Sanctuary Course and The Sanctuary Course for Catholics last year, or the 1.9 million people who've encountered our content in the YouVersion Bible app.
SANCTUARY SPOTLIGHT: CURT THOMPSON, MD
Sanctuary Spotlight is a monthly feature celebrating artists, creatives, thought leaders, and friends whose work responds to and illuminates themes of mental health and faith.
This month, we’re turning the spotlight on our newest Sanctuary Ambassador Curt Thompson, MD. Curt Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist, speaker, author, and podcaster Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known.
SANCTUARY SPOTLIGHT: LEVI THE POET
SANCTUARY SPOTLIGHT: LEVI THE POET
Introducing Sanctuary Spotlight: a monthly feature celebrating artists, creatives, thought leaders, and friends whose art responds to and illuminates themes of mental health and faith.
This month, we’re turning the spotlight on Levi the Poet, a touring spoken word artist, published author, creative coach, and mental health advocate. His writing, performances, and keynote speaking reflect a passion for inclusivity and the inherent belovedness and dignity of each and every human being.
HOW ARE CANADIAN CONGREGATIONS RESPONDING TO MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AND ILLNESS?
Do church leaders and congregants feel equipped to support people experiencing mental health challenges and illnesses? Do churchgoers living with mental health challenges feel supported in their faith communities?
To explore these questions, Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries partnered with the Flourishing Congregations Institute to survey 969 participants from Canadian churches in early 2024.
READ THE BLOGACCESS THE REPORT
HOW ARE CANADIAN CONGREGATIONS RESPONDING TO MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AND ILLNESS?
Do church leaders and congregants feel equipped to support people experiencing mental health challenges and illnesses? Do churchgoers living with mental health challenges feel supported in their faith communities?
To explore these questions, Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries partnered with the Flourishing Congregations Institute to survey 969 participants from Canadian churches in early 2024.
SANCTUARY SONGS
NOW STREAMING ON ALL PLATFORMS
Sanctuary and The Porter's Gate have created an album about mental health and faith, titled Sanctuary Songs. It centres around the lived experience of people who are often marginalized in churches, and models life-giving and healing ways for congregants to talk (and sing) about mental health challenges.
SANCTUARY SONGS
NOW STREAMING ON ALL PLATFORMS
Sanctuary and The Porter's Gate have created an album about mental health and faith, titled Sanctuary Songs. It centres around the lived experience of people who are often marginalized in churches, and models life-giving and healing ways for congregants to talk (and sing) about mental health challenges,
JOIN ALONGSIDE
Sanctuary's monthly donor club
If you're passionate about supporting mental health and wellbeing, then Alongside is for you. By joining Alongside, you join a community of people who want to ensure that the Church is a place where all can experience a sense of belonging.
We welcome you to journey with Sanctuary and every person who is impacted by our resources. Perhaps you're moved to come alongside due to your own lived experience or that of a loved one. Whatever the reason, we look forward to partnering with you in our mission to equip the Church to support mental health and wellbeing.
THE LATEST PROJECTS FROM SANCTUARY
In the film below, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith shares about her loved ones who live with mental health challenges and their experiences in the Church. She also discusses the impact that The Sanctuary Course had on her church.
The excellent quality of the course materials made facilitation of the course easy. The videos alone elicited rich discussions amongst our group. Without exception, the participants praised the experience and asked "what next?!"
Our group participants range in age from mid twenties to late sixties, and from students to retirees. Everyone is finding the material relevant and helpful. Small churches like ours often don’t have the financial or personnel resources to offer such high quality programming. Your gift to us is so generous.
I’m loving the range of lived experience that we have been introduced to, the sensitive way that people have been invited to tell their stories, and the way their stories have been framed by information from other sources. I find it really rich, very engaging, meaningful, and I’m going away each week with a spiral of thoughts continuing on, influencing my conversations later in the week, or how I hear those conversations, particularly with people I see in my practice as a massage therapist. It has been a gift.
