Emotional & mental health

The COVID-19 pandemic is damaging people’s emotional and mental health. Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss how the church can equip people to help those who are hurting.

0:22 Lee has had a lot of conversations with people who are struggling emotionally. He says a lot of people are wrestling with a lack of purpose in this season.

1:14 Danny says working from home has caused some people to lose purpose.

2:11 Lee discusses how different preaching to a screen and camera is from preaching to a live audience.

3:33 Danny talks about how we were created to be in community and need genuine encouragement as people and pastors.

4:15 Lee asks Danny what advice he has for pastors and church leaders knowing that purpose is an issue right now.

4:27 Danny suggests starting with the teaching element — teaching with authenticity.

5:09 Danny asks Lee what his church is doing beyond the sermon.

5:23 Lee says the No. 1 thing is trying to get people more engaged.

5:45 Leverage everything you can to help people understand evangelism needs to happen continuously outside of the one-hour Sunday experience that we’re used to.

6:35 How are we training and equipping our people to understand that God has, in essence, scattered the church, but that doesn’t mean the mission has stopped?

6:53 Danny asks Lee for practical examples of how his church is helping people engage their neighbors.  

7:34 Lee says his church readjusted all of its series in this season. Some of the questions they are answering: Why is the church important? Why did God create the church and even more, helping people understand why God calls us the bride of Christ? How do you love your neighbor? How do you be the Good Samaritan in this season?

8:56 Help people look for open doors that God’s created right in their backyard, that maybe before they were too busy to notice.

9:12 Danny says when you reach out to the community, you might offend some people.

9:54 Lee says volunteers can help by calling people who have been to your church to check in and see how they are doing.

10:26 Danny asks Lee what pastors and planters can do to help people struggling with mental health issues.

10:59 Lee says, first, you have to let people know that there is a way to get help. What’s the next step?

11:27 Talk regularly about how to get help, communicate it to your people via text, email, social media and even add into your sermons.

11:36 Lee’s church created a "we care" webpage (harvestflorida.org/we-care) for scheduling time to meet with a pastor, professional counseling and benevolence needs.

13:49 Lee says this what the church needs to be about: How are we resourcing our people? How are we enabling them to continue to carry out the mission?

14:09 Lee encourages listeners to reach out to Danny or him if they are wrestling with a lack of purpose.