When their teenage son Nathan took his own life, Jon and Sarah Kocmond's pain was too heavy to bear alone. So they turned to the place where they knew they would be comforted and heard: Christ Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina -- and, eventually, its Survivors of Suicide (SOS) group.
"If we need love to overcome sorrow, what greater source than God?" Jon Kocmond said. "The thing that has sustained me is my faith. I've become closer to God and the Holy Spirit. The act of sharing stories with others, sharing grief with others, is therapeutic."
The support group was formed after the congregation was rocked by a half-dozen suicides within five years -- a series of traumas that affected nearly everyone at the church, the largest Episcopal congregation in North Carolina.
The experience helped spur the congregation to make mental health a top priority, inspired by Jesus' words in the Gospel of John to a man who had been ill for 38 years: "Do you want to be made well?" (John 5:6 NRSV).
In addition to the SOS group, the church has invested in mental health support and awareness in a number of ways.
It has helped one member establish a nonprofit residential mental health center and another launch a one-woman crusade to educate people about bipolar disorder. It has hosted two appearances by bestselling author Brené Brown to share her message that asking for help is a sign of strength.
And most significantly, the church has begun a search for a wellness director, a new full-time position that will focus on mental health as part of a holistic understanding of what it means to be well.
While the trend is too new to be reflected in hard numbers, mental health advocates and faith leaders say that a growing number of houses of worship across the nation are ministering to those with mental health challenges. Few have discerned the church's call to nurture body, soul and mind as dramatically as Christ Church.
