Creating Welcoming Faith Communities for People With Serious Mental Illnesses

Congregational inclusion committees will participate in monthly training meetings for approximately 1 year. Each month a new inclusion practice will be introduced and then the committee will be asked to implement it in their congregation. The 11 practice areas are:1) assessing inclusion needs of members, 2) providing opportunities for members with serious mental illness (SMI) to take on roles and responsibilities, 3) creating an inclusion committee, 4) ensuring that members with SMI are welcomed to all events, 5) creating sensory friendly spaces, 6) offer participation opportunities in multiple formats, 7) adopt policies and practices to support inclusion, 8) using inclusive language, 9) ensure that external communications indicate the congregation is welcoming to all, 10) providing support to family members of individuals with SMI, and 11) conducing outreach to mental health support systems. Goals may vary per congregation based on their current practices, needs, and preferences.