Book review | The Mental Health Handbook For Ministry

The Mental Health Handbook For Ministry (Baker Books, 2025)

by Dr Mark Mayfield (ed)

Reviewer: Mark Woods

Every so often a book comes along that is a real conundrum. It's been written by dedicated Christian mental health professionals who want to equip pastors and lay leaders to handle mental health issues. What's not to like?

On the positive side, this deals comprehensively with things like depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide, addiction and personality disorders. The authors outline the symptoms and give wise advice, and most chapters have sections on 'What interventions are appropriate for a lay person?' and 'When to refer to a mental health professional'.

More negatively: the book comes out of an American evangelical sub-culture, and this is where both its professional and religious moorings are fixed. It is entirely US-focused, and I constantly found myself having to 'translate' stories and references, often with the uneasy sense that 'it's just not like that over here'.

There were some odd moments, too. We're told (p.12) that many individuals who come through a pastor's door will have been 'irresponsibly' diagnosed. Why on earth would that be true, unless there's a suspicion of the whole psychiatric profession? A case study of 'Juan' features a teacher prescribed drugs and psychotherapy for anxiety, whose priest encourages him to go to a Christian counsellor instead. I'm not sure amateurs should be contradicting professionals like this. The story of Adam and Eve is taken absolutely literally and used to explain how sin has 'corrupted our DNA'.

On sexuality, the author is clear that 'heterosexuality and sexual expression within a covenant marriage between husband and wife' is the 'biblical' way – but this brief chapter is thoughtful and non-judgmental, and probably very challenging for people who share its worldview.

Hence the conundrum. There's good stuff in here, but I'm not sure it has travelled well across the Atlantic, and I'm not sure how the book would actually be used. Read it by all means, but critically and cautiously.

Reviewer

Mark Woods is head of communications at Bible Society